Holidays in Great Yarmouth
With a plethora of attractions in the town and beyond within a short distance, guests are spoilt for choice for things to do and see in and around Great Yarmouth. Families will love all the many attractions of the sea front, including the Sea Life Centre, amusements, beach and traditional seaside fun galore.
A resort rich in history and character
Towns and villages around offer lots more too, the historic bustling cathedral city of Norwich is only thirty minutes by car, and the beautiful Norfolk Broads are not far, you can hire a boat for the day to explore this vast waterway. Even out of season there are lovely beach walks, the seal colonies at Winterton on Sea, cosy pubs and local towns and villages to explore.
Rich in History
What many people don’t know is that, as well as being a well established and much loved seaside town, with its well known pier, Golden Mile, and many attractions, Great Yarmouth has some truly fascinating history.
Unique Landmarks
It has some unique landmarks, not least that it has the second most complete and best preserved medieval town wall in the UK, building started around 1285, and it still has eleven of its original 18 towers mostly intact. Some interesting walks, and guided walks are available from July to October, starting from Great Yarmouth Minster.
Tales of Interest
The Tolhouse Gaol is one of the UK’s oldest gaols, dating from the 12th century, now a museum where you can discover the fate of the thieves, smugglers, witches, pirates and murderers who were confined there.
Discover the Town
The Time and Tide Museum, housed in a converted Victorian herring curing works, and where you can discover Great Yarmouth’s history from the Ice Age to the present day.
Remains of a day gone by
Great Yarmouth Row Houses, typical 17th century row houses, Great Yarmouth’s Rows are another fascinating part of its history, delve into the past and see these beautifully presented houses, and also Greyfriars Cloisters nearby, the remains of a 13th century Franciscan Friary.
A Range of Museums
Elizabethan House Museum on the quayside, built in 1596, it now hosts a museum, where you can explore this Elizabethan merchant’s house and see for yourself how life was in Victorian times, ‘upstairs and downstairs’ see what it was like to work in the kitchen and scullery, and decide for yourself whether the plot to execute King Charles I was hatched in the ‘conspiracy room’
Many More Sites to See!
So many historic sites to see, from the Market for which records go back to 1384, and is currently subject to a £4.6m redevelopment, the historic 1903 Hippodrome Circus, the only surviving total circus building in the UK, with its unique floor that is lowered to form a water pool for acts to perform in, the Venetian Waterways, The Pier, the soon to be restored Winter Gardens, Merrivale Model Village with its Penny Arcade with old slot machines to try out with old penny tokens, and even the Lydia Eva, the world’s last surviving steam powered herring drifter, and listed as part of the National Historic Fleet.
