Great Yarmouth (England)

...town 3 miles outside of Great Yarmouth and I thought I would share our experiences with you and give you an idea of what there is all to do round that area. I'm going to do this one in sections to make it easier and will try to cover everything from the shopping facilities to the pleasure beach as well as some of the attractions that are nearby too. I've been to Yarmouth a couple of times before but the last time was 5 years ago and had forgotten ...
...bit about the shopping in Great Yarmouth is on market days which are run all year round on Wednesdays and Saturdays and in the summer have one on a Friday too. There are a limited number of stalls on a daily basis but this is when you get around 100 stalls available. You can find everything from fruit, veg and meat to clothes, collectables and novelties. Great for picking up stocking fillers or larger gifts. I managed to get a couple of good quality ... more

We have just returned from a week's holiday in Caister which is a small town 3 miles outside of Great Yarmouth and I thought I would share our experiences with you and give you an idea of what there is all to do round that area. I'm going to do this one in sections to make it easier and will try to cover everything from the shopping facilities to the pleasure beach as well as some of the attractions that are nearby too. I've been to Yarmouth a couple of times before but the last time was 5 years ago and had forgotten just how much there is available to do. Being October some of the attractions have limited opening times so unfortunately we missed them because of this but there are a lot of places which stay open the whole year through.

Accommodation

We saw lots of bed and breakfasts just off the sea front road which looked lovely from the outside and had awards galore, and there are a number of hotels as well as caravan sites around so whichever way you want to spend your holiday there is plenty of choice. We stayed in Caister at the Haven site there which cost £280 for a 6 berth chalet which was very comfortable and roomy and included on site activities and entertainment. There is another Haven site on the north coastal route out of Yarmouth called Seashore near the race tracks where I stayed 5 years ago and that was lovely too.

Shopping

The best bit about the shopping in Great Yarmouth is on market days which are run all year round on Wednesdays and Saturdays and in the summer have one on a Friday too. There are a limited number of stalls on a daily basis but this is when you get around 100 stalls available. You can find everything from fruit, veg and meat to clothes, collectables and novelties. Great for picking up stocking fillers or larger gifts. I managed to get a couple of good quality t shirts for only £4 each and some early xmas pressies which I can't mention any more about in case my daughter reads this. Don't want to spoil the surprise. Seriously though I find it great fun to look round the stalls as I used to love going round the market in Selby when I lived there and although Arbroath does have a market it isn't really up to much these days. The market is held in a car parking area in Yarmouth and can take a while to walk round when you are checking out all the bargains.

Right next to the market is a good shopping centre with a variety of chain stores to choose from and there is parking available in the shopping centre from 60p per hour. If you are just stopping off quickly though you can usually find parking spaces free for half an hour at a time. If you don't mind a bit of a walk though there are streets around Trafalgar Square which have free parking with no time limits although finding a space can be tricky at times.

Every good seaside town though has what we lovingly refer to as a 'Tacky Street', you know the place where you can get your cheap souveniers and sticks of rock. Great Yarmouth is no exception and you can find this one in Regent Road which is just off the main shops heading towards the seafront. It has shops which sell buckets and spades, t-shirts with the latest trendy slogans on, souvenier rock, fudge and shortbread selections, shell ornaments and much more of the usual 'tacky' stuff that holidaymakers (especially the children) like to take home as reminders of their holidays. One shop which did catch our eye though was a Chinese shop and no I'm not thinking of food (for once). Inside was a vast treasure trove of gorgeous dragons, hand painted screens, amazing swords, amazing themed chess sets and beautifully made hand crafted jewellery and clothing. It was probably just as well we didn't have much room in the car what with the 3 kids and their many clothes (although I was tempted to try to leave my bloke behind so I could have a set of the screens). The prices were reasonable and I was extremely surprised to find such a quality stock amongst so much of the rubbish in other establishments (no offence meant by this - I love looking through the cheap stuff too).

As far as eating in the centre goes there are many pubs who do meals and welcome families and there are also MacDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut within a stone's throw of each other. Of course for a real seaside experience there are lots of little fish and chip kiosks along the front and most of these offer good value food with excellent portions.

There are 3 supermarkets which we found round about Great Yarmouth although there are probably more. Tesco's can be found at Pasteur Road, Sainsburys is at St Nicholas Road and Asda is at New Acle Road. Plenty of choice whichever you prefer shopping at. We were self catering and found another Tesco's just on the outskirts of Caister which was smaller but had a good selection of food. There is also an Iceland store at the Market Gates shopping centre too if you are looking for frozen food.

The Beach

We did manage to venture onto the sands although the tide was quite a bit out and as we weren't expecting as good weather as we got no buckets and spades were packed this time. However my son did have fun searching for elusive shells which seemed to be missing from the sandy area near Britannia Pier and wasn't too disappointed to only find some unusually tiger coloured stones and an old crab's claw instead (he seems to have a fascination for these). Most of the area was clean and tidy although nearer to the Pier there was a lot of empty beer cans and cigarette ends so we swiftly moved along again which was a shame as my son wanted to play hide and seek under the pier. It was a pleasant walk though but shoes were needed as their is a lot of shingle on the beach.

Entertainment

We didn't actually go into Yarmouth for any of our entertainment at night as we had all the entertainment we needed on site but wandering around the centre we saw lots of pubs advertising that they had live bands on in the evenings and there are plenty of shows to be seen depending on the time of year. If we hadn't had the kids with us we would probably have explored this more.

People like Cannon and Ball and Joe Pasquale have appeared at the Britannia Pier over the summer as well as the more adult comedy of Jim Davidson and Chubby Brown. There have also been performances of The Drifters and Abba, The Show for the music fans out there.

Daytime Activities - Look out for a free brochure called What's On in Greater Yarmouth as this has lots of money off tokens for some of the activities mentioned below. Some will entitle a child to get in free with an adult and some have a value of between 25p and £1 per person usually up to a total of 6 people. It also has lots of information of opening times and where to find places in it.

This year the main activity we chose to do in Yarmouth itself was Pirate's Cove. I had been on my previous visit with my girls but this was the first time my bloke and my 3 year old had seen it. It is situated right on the seafront at Marine Parade and is an 18 hole adventure putting course. I've been to a few mini golf attractions in the past and always seem to end up a little bit disappointed but not so here. It is open from 9am til late and is lighted up at dusk although we were there on an unusally warm afternoon for this time of year.

It is £4 for adults and children although my son got in free and was given his own special plastic club and bright orange ball to keep him happy. The rest of us got a putter and a token to choose from blue, red, yellow or green balls. We were also given a score sheet booklet which had details of the par of each hole (thats how many shots it should take you to sink the ball in the hole for the beginners out there) and a Pirate's Cove pencil.

After fighting amongst ourselves we finally decided who would have which colour and set off on our adventure round the course. Each hole is pirate themed and there is a little bit of information about different pirates on boards to read as you go round - so even if you have to wait for people in front to finish there is something to keep you amused. There are cannons, treasure chests, waterfalls to walk under and of course pirates suspended from rigging and in row boats all around you and it really is a fantastic setting. My son loved all this as he has recently attended a pirate day at nursery.

As for the course itself you have to use obstacles such as planks of wood to get balls to go round corners and then there are tunnels which drop your ball through to another level. There is also a water hazard at one of the hole's and my daughter had to fish her ball out at one stage. This caused much amusement from the rest of us of course. On the final hole your ball drops into the hole and gets locked away in a treasure chest and you can return your clubs to the front desk. It took us an hour and a half to get round what with the 5 of us and we felt it was excellent value for money as we had a great time making fun of each other when we missed what looked like the simplest of shots but turned out that the ground around the hole was on a slope.

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There are lots of other places to visit along Marine Parade including some of the other places I had seen previously.

The Model Village, Railway and Gardens is £4 for adults and £3.50 for children although under 3s are free and is another place that is lit up when it starts to get dark although at this time of year it closes at 5pm. There are many things to look at and kids will love spotting the miniature funfair and seeing the firemen at work. There are also cricketers playing on the green and many unusual people to look out for like the bank robber and the streaker. It takes around an hour to walk through this attraction as well as having a go in the old fashioned penny arcade museum. There is also a lovely tea room and a gift shop too.

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The Winter Gardens are free to get into and it is lovely to walk around. It includes family bars, a bistro and and beer garden which is great for the grown ups while the kids enjoy the Jungle Adventure play area which costs £3.25 per child. This is a great place for them to let off steam and go wild in the jungle setting of slides, ball pools and obstacle course.

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The Sea Life Centre is a great one in Yarmouth and has a host of interesting marine life to watch. My favourites are always the seahorses and the rays and this year there is a new Seahorse Breeding Centre and you can learn all about the process here. There are also the the Touchpools where you can have a feel of certain creatures such as starfish, The Lost City of Atlantis and the amazing site of the piranhas. There are also talks and feeding displays throughout the day and you can take note of these on the notice board at the front entrance. I have to drag my bloke out every time we visit a place like this and my son loves anything to do with fish since Nemo came out (there are clownfish too for fans of these colourful creatures).

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Keeping on the theme of creatures there is Amazonia World of Reptiles. I know this wont be to everyone's liking but if you love the unusual species which aren't just soft and cuddly looking then this is the place for you. It costs £4.35 for adults and £3.75 for kids but again under 3's are free. We cash in with this every time as my son is small for his age. Be warned it is very humid in this attraction and it is best to remove jackets before going in. It is set ou brilliantly and the star attraction has to be Goliath who is a full grown American alligator who was born in Flamingoland in North Yorks. near where we used to live. The geckos are another favourite with my family as some of them will copy you as you put your head to one side or bob it up and down. Of course everyone else thinks you are nuts but it's great fun to watch. There are lots of snakes and tortoises too as well as the one bit I always avoid and that is the Insects and Spiders section. I am told they are impressive but I just can't look. The gift shop has a nice selection of goodies including the usual stuff of toys and T-shirts as well as the more unusual real fossils and dinosaur bones. This really is a worthwhile place to visit.

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The Pleasure Beach is unfortunately only open at weekends at this time of year so we didn't manage a visit this time but all day wristbands are available to buy or you can get tokens for 50p each. However most rides do require a up to 4 tokens so this can be an expensive way to do it. Wristbands are either £13 or £15 depending when the park is open to. There are over 70 rides to choose from including the big rollercoaster and log flume to the less frightening tea cups.

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Away from Marine Parade there are a few other worthwhile or interesting places to visit.

You can see how rock is made at the Rock Shop in Regent Road as well as being able to choose from over 70 varieties of rock and novelty items at factory prices. This is the world's largest rock shop.

Time and Tide is a museum which specialises in the fishing history of Great Yarmouth and can be found in Blackfriars Road. See smokehouses and hear stories from the past as you travel back in time here. This is a good place to visit with slightly older children.

There are also open top buses to view the sites of Yarmouth from and lots of amusement arcades to visit if you like that sort of thing.

Nearby attractions

I know this is about Yarmouth itself but I though I would just mention a place we visited this year and a couple of other places that might interest you if you are in that area.

Pettitts Animal Adventure Park which is situated in the village of Reedham is around 15 miles from Yarmouth. It cost £6.95 per person but again luckily under 3's are free. This is a mixture of animals and rides and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful warm sunny day on which to enjoy ourselves.

There are lots of animals to see and there is a petting area included although be very careful of the goats as they tried to escape every time someone opened the gate and they could be a little bit frightening to smaller children. Some of the other animals there are donkeys, miniature horses, tamarins, wallabies (which had some very cute babies), and owls. There is also a reptile house and a koi carp pond where you can get a large handful of fishfood for 20p to feed them with. This delighted my son as they came up for a bite with their mouths wide open.

The rides are all aimed at small children but adults can get on them too and I was really surprised at how my 16 and 13 year old girls enjoyed going on these with my son. Rides include:-

Toad of Toad Hall - Sit in a car and go travel round an area filled with scenes from the stories.

Alice in Wonderland - Same idea but in a train named after one of the characters.

Flying Elephants - You control how high or low you go at the push of a button.

Pirate Ship - Mini version of the larger version for adults.

Cups and Saucers - Sit and spin in this small ride which makes you just as dizzy as some of the more 'dangerous' rides at theme parks

Roller Coaster Runaway Train - Only small but very fast round corners and bumpiness has you holding on.

Pettitts Railway - Takes you round the park to see all the attractions as you sit back and relax.

There is also a crazy golf course (not a patch on Pirate's Cove but fun all the same) a bouncy castle, a snake slide, a giant slide and walks though Gnome village and a peek into Santa's Grotto where at the push of a button music plays inside and mechanical toys start moving. My son was enthralled by this and we had to practically drag him away. A large adventure play area which is themed like Robin Hood with cargo nets, slides, and bridges to climb kept the kids amused too as well as a fantastic zip slide which I loved as much as the kids did. These attractions are all included in the price although there are quite a few small coin rides there too which luckily we managed to avoid.

The last part of this trip was the show by the clown called Bubbly Bingo who does some simple magic tricks and tries to involve a member of the audience as well as creating some massive bubbles too. Although the day we went their was only a small number of visitors to the park (great cause it meant no queuing) he put on a brilliant show. There are usually 3 shows a day so you can choose which one to attend however on quiet days they bring this down to 2 shows.

We had a brilliant day out here and it was well worth the money.

Other places nearby that may be of interest are Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park which was unfortunately closed at this time of year, Caister Castle Car Collection where a vast amount of vintage vehicles are on view, Suffolk Wildlife Park, Sutton Windmill and Broad Museum and Fritton Lake Countryworld which has lots of outdoor activities. There really is something for everyone in this area and we are only sorry we didn't manage to visit more than we did - another holiday at some point round here is definately in order.

So in summary my answer to my original title question has to be everything. We had a fantastic week away and would love to go back in the summer months to see some more of what this great seaside town has on offer.
 

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