Things to do Summer 2021 – keeping up to date with changes due to covid and seasonal changes – this is a selection of our favourites, many require advance booking, please check online
National Trust
Felbrigg House, Blickling House, Sheringham Park and Horsey
To avoid disappointment please book in advance, especially at busier times such as weekends and bank holidays. However, where space is available on weekdays, pre-booking may not always be necessary. If you do not book they cannot guarantee admission.
Blickling Estate opening hours: House 11am to 3pm daily, Gardens 10am to 4pm daily, Parkland dawn till dusk
Felbrigg opening hours: House 12pm to 4pm daily except Thursdays and Fridays, Gardens 10am to 4pm daily, Parkland 9.30am to 4.30pm daily
Sheringham Park – landscape park and woodland garden with coastal views, open 9.30am to 4.30pm daily
National Trust Horsey – the car park and tea room at Horsey Windpump are both open and you don’t need to book your visit. The Windpump is open from 11am to 4pm daily, tickets are available at visitor reception.
East Ruston Gardens and Tea Room A beautiful 32 acre modern garden which contains many “garden rooms” including herbaceous borders, gravel gardens, sub-tropical gardens, a box parterre, sunken rose garden, Mediterranean garden, Desert Wash, large woodland garden. Open Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays from 12 noon until 5.30pm. You do not need to book.
Amazona Zoo This lovely small zoo on the outskirts of the seaside town of Cromer is open all year round. They have a wonderful variety of South American animals including tapirs, macaws and jaguars. They are open daily from 10am to 5pm, tickets must be purchased in advance.
Wroxham Barns Leisure and shopping complex with boutiques, craft studios, a kids’ farm, funfair and restaurant. Open Daily 10am – 5pm
Mundesley Golf Course We have teamed up with Mundesley Golf club to bring some very exciting deals to customers staying at the Beechwood Hotel.
On any Dinner Bed and Breakfast stay of 2 nights or more at the Beechwood Hotel call us to request your voucher for one full day golfing at Mundesley Golf Club. Their bar is open. Visitors are welcome throughout the year at Mundesley, where a warm welcome awaits. With exceptional panoramic views over the surrounding countryside, where the unmistakable red and white rings of Happisburgh lighthouse are visible on a clear day.
When booking please be aware that the course is reserved every week at the following times:
Wednesday 09:30 – 13:00
Saturday 08:00 – 09:00
Sunday Up till 11:30
Norfolk Wildlife Trust
The Visitor Centre at Cley and Salthouse Marshes is open, with frequent art exhibitions on display
Bird watching hides are open
Hickling Broad visitor centre is open 10am to 5pm daily
Ranworth Broad visitor centre is open 10am to 5pm daily
Guided boat trips are available, please book in advance by phone
Henry Blogg Museum, Cromer
Celebrating the most decorated lifeboatman in RNLI history, who served for 53 years on Cromer’s lifeboats. With the assistance of his crew, he saved 873 lives from the North Sea. Opening hours Thursday-Saturday 10am–4pm
Seal Viewing at Horsey
Horsey is about a 25 minute drive from the Beechwood Hotel, well signposted by brown signs from Stalham for the nearby Horsey Windpump (which remains closed). There are seals on the beach and in the sea at Horsey all year round, and in the winter months the beach is cordoned off so that people do not disturb the pups being born there. Instead you can follow a path along the top of the sand dunes where you can look down over the beach.
Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden
130 acres of cultivated, wild and natural plantings, a haven for wildlife enthusiasts. Open daily 10am to 5pm. Please pre-book online.
Pensthorpe Natural Park
A true showcase for British wildlife, Pensthorpe is a Nature Reserve on the River Wensum with beautiful gardens and adventure play. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
North Walsham and Dilham Canal
There is easy parking at Ebridge Mill just a few minutes’ drive from the Beechwood Hotel. Access to the canal has been improved in recent years, with weeds cleared and the canal opened up, there is a lovely path along the canal for a walk, with an approximately 1 mile journey to Mill Road. There are plenty of opportunities to see wildlife and good fishing as well. The group restoring the canal are always making improvements, with a restored lock, new gates and much more.
The Weavers Way
Named after the once important weaving industry, which flourished in the Middle Ages around North Walsham, Weavers’ Way runs for 61 miles between Cromer and Great Yarmouth. If you come out of the Hotel and turn right, over the traffic lights and on the left hand side you will see an entrance to a footpath. When you come to the road turn right. Follow Skeyton New Road on the left and you will soon find the entrance to the Weavers Way, a footpath through fields which extends as far as Aylsham. This part of the trail has been newly resurfaced and is suitable for cyclists and horse riders.
Deep History Coast
North Norfolk’s Deep History Coast is the 22-mile stretch of coastline between Weybourne and Cart Gap which has revealed the most spectacular finds. Happisburgh became the oldest archaeological site in northern Europe when a 550,000 year old flint axe was discovered there and West Runton has yielded the oldest and largest fossilised mammoth skeleton ever found in the UK.
North Norfolk District Council has installed a Deep History Coast themed Discovery Trail with visitor points at Weybourne, Sheringham, West Runton, East Runton, Cromer, Overstrand, Trimingham, Mundesley, Walcott and Happisburgh
The North Norfolk Information Centre in Cromer has been refurbished to include a Deep History Coast discovery centre offering interactive displays, activities and signposting to local museums.
A Deep History Coast app has been created, where users are able to see what life was like for humans living in the area at that time.
The Sainsbury Centre Norwich
The outdoor Sculpture park is situated across the university campus with 350 acres of attractive parkland is free and open to everyone to enjoy art, architecture and the natural environment. The indoor art and sculpture exhibition area changes seasonally, check their website for ticket prices.
Boat trips on the Broads
Day boat hire:
Broads Tours of Wroxham
Norfolk Broads Direct at Wroxham
Richardsons Day Boat Hire at Stalham and Horning
Herbert Woods at Potter Heigham
Riverside Rentals at Horning
Guided Tours:
Southern Comfort Mississippi Paddleboat from Horning
Miniature Worlds Wroxham
Open Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. The largest indoor modelling attraction in the UK stretching over 10,000 square feet with some of the largest model railways in the world on permanent public display. The attraction is made up of many zones including model railways in various scales, slot car displays, a whole city made from LegoTM bricks, model boat displays, Vintage Penny Arcade, Interactive Flight Simulators, Train Simulators, new railway layouts some of which you can drive yourself, and a host of toys from across the decades there is something for the whole family to enjoy.