Norwich, a two-cathedral city, is the capital of the English county of Norfolk, within the larger region of East Anglia. It lies some 185 km (115 miles) NNE of London, and as well as being a convenient base for exploring the Broads and the North Norfolk Coast is also a superb destination in its own right, with a lot more to see, do and enjoy than might otherwise be expected from one of England's smallest cities.
Norwich is by no means the United Kingdom's biggest city - indeed, with a population of about 140,000, it ranks as Britain's 41st most populous city, far from a major metropolitan centre. It's frequently, and unfairly, maligned in British culture as an inbred backwater - partly due to the typical (and grossly inaccurate) Norfolk stereotype more generally, but mainly not helped by most peoples' exposure to it being solely through the comedy character Alan Partridge and his various shows portraying it as exactly that. But in reality, Norwich is nothing like what these stereotypes might suggest.
Norwich city centre is fairly compact and can be explored easily on foot; in many cases this will be the quickest and easiest way to reach your destination. It is also a cycle-friendly city, with many major streets having separate bike lanes and also several cycle tracks along the two rivers. That said, whilst on paper there appears a significant network of cycle lanes, in practice many of these are just where somebody with a pot of white paint has marked a narrow strip in the gutter for bicycles or painted an arrow suggesting cyclists share a pavement with pedestrians which just wide enough for mother and baby buggy.
1 Norwich Cathedral (Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity), 65 The Close, NR1 4DH. The 900-year-old Norman cathedral church. Don't miss 'old As I Am', a grinning skeleton on the south aisle wall. The surrounding Close is also very quiet, with statues of Nelson and Wellington. 2 Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery. Norwich castle is one of the dominant features of the city centre. The castle was initially commissioned by William the Conqueror and was completed by his son Henry. During its 900 year history it has had several uses initially as royal place then in later time it served as the city's prison.
Norfolk and Norwich Festival is held in May in the city and beyond. Football: Norwich City FC were relegated in 2022 and now play football in the Championship, the game's second tier. "The Canaries" are a yo-yo team between the two upper tiers; their home ground (capacity 27,000) is Carrow Road NR1 1JE, half a mile south of the railway station. 1 Crystal Seas (Scuba Diving School & Trips), 62 Whiffler Rd, Norwich, NR3 2AY, ☏ +44 1603 485000. PADI & SSI courses, dive centre, dive trips and shop. (updated Apr 2017) 2 SportsPark (Sports Centre), University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, ☏ +44 1603 592398, sportspark@uea.ac.uk.
Norwich has a vast array of small and independent restaurants catering to most tastes and budgets, as well as hosting most of the major chains. Many of the best restaurants can be found clustered around the Norwich Lanes, the loosely-defined area roughly bounded by and including St Benedicts Street, as well as the equally olden Triangle area between Colman Road, Newmarket Road and Earlham Road. In the 1 Norwich Market are a lot of food stalls (updated Feb 2023) 2 Churros For The People, Stall 25, Norwich Market, Gentlemen's Walk. (updated Feb 2023) 3 Fresh, 32 Market Pl. (updated Feb 2023) 4 The Waffle House, 39 St Giles St.
Norwich was once famous for having a church for every week in the year, and a pub for every day of the year. It had the highest number of pubs per square mile in the UK. For real ale enthusiasts, Norwich is home to the multi award-winning Fat Cat, a real ale paradise serving over 25 ales, and the only pub in the UK to twice win the prestigious CAMRA National Pub of the Year. Other popular real ale pubs in the city centre include The Coach & Horses and the historic Adam & Eve.
Although Norwich is generally a safe city to visit, caution should be taken when wandering the city centre at night. Use common sense and avoid back streets; staying in groups is always a good idea. Areas to avoid during the night would be Anglia Square, Eaton Park and Cathedral Close, although there is not much to do there at night so reasons to be there are limited anyway. Prince of Wales Road is the city's main nightlife area, and gets extremely busy and filled with drunk people on a Friday or Saturday night. The immediately adjacent Tombland is another nightlife hotspot that may be best avoided on weekend nights if you wish to avoid drunk people.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Sep, Norwich typically sees ~19°C daytime highs and 9 rainy days.
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