One of the Victorians’ favourite seaside resorts, Great Yarmouth is where the Broads meet the North Sea, with miles of golden sand and enough attractions to keep the whole family enchanted for days.
Where to stay in Great Yarmouth
The Imperial, on Great Yarmouth’s seafront, is a family-run four-star hotel with incredible views.
Owned and managed by the Mobbs family, The Imperial has 39 beautiful rooms and absolutely delicious food.
Choose to eat on the fully-glazed Terrace that gazes out over the sea and North Beach or the cosy adjoining Victoria Suite restaurant, enjoy a drink in Bar Fizz or go below decks to the two AA Rosette Café Cru Restaurant for a wonderful dinner or Sunday lunch.
Menus are packed with local produce and seasonal ingredients and in addition to serving fish caught in the borough and meat raised in the beautiful nearby
countryside.
What to do in Great Yarmouth
Set in one of the UK’s best-preserved Victorian herring curing works, Time and Tide Museum has brilliant ever-changing exhibitions. Currently, Dinosaurium: Re-imagined Creatures is taking a look at our relationship with dinosaurs – from ancient legends of mythical winged beasts to the creatures brought to life in Jurassic Park.
Built in 1903 by the legendary circus showman George Gilbert, the Hippodrome is Britain's only surviving total circus building. It produces four action-packed shows during the year, at Easter, during the summer, at Halloween and Christmas -all culminating with a spectacular watery finale as the circus ring sinks and is transformed into a giant pool.
You can enjoy a taste of Italy at the beautifully restored Venetian Waterways, which features winding canals, miniature bridges, walkways and islands.
Yarmouth has two piers: the 210m Wellington which opened in 1853, and Britannia Pier which opened in 1858. The Wellington is a fun family entertainment centre with a ten-pin bowling alley with diner and amusement arcade while the Britannia has a traditional end-of-the-pier funfair, showbar and theatre and a wood-slatted walkway. Joyland fun park is just next door, with the famous Snails and Tyrolean Tubs.
A trip on the Scenic Railway sounds like it would be a gentle, leisurely excursion - think again, it's actually a wooden roller coaster featuring nine nailbiting drops. Built in 1932, it's one of only two roller coasters of its kind left in the country - the other is at Dreamland in Margate.
That's not to forget the beach, of course. From Winterton-on-Sea in the north to Hopton-on-Sea in the south, there are 15 miles of wide, clean, sandy beach to explore and Central Beach in Yarmouth between the two piers is a glorious place for a paddle.
Where to eat in Great Yarmouth
A visit to Great Yarmouth wouldn’t be the same without a bag of the famous market chips - you've got to try the pickled onion vinegar. Afternoon tea by the sea is a decadent treat. Try Palm Court Hotel or The Imperial Hotel on North Drive - or there are cream teas a-plenty at venues such as Sara’s Tearooms on South Beach Parade.
The Beach Hut is a great place to escape to regardless of the weather. This cute café on the seafront serves everything from posh fish finger ciabattas to salt beef bagels, halloumi stacks to clam chowder, thick shakes (in mouth-watering flavours – try the toffee or mint chocolate) to burgers, full English breakfasts and avocado on toast.
One of Yarmouth’s architectural gems, The Empire, on Marine Parade is now a bar, live music and street food venue filled with vintage props and posters from Yarmouth’s theatrical past. Run by the Jay family of Hippodrome Circus fame - at time of writing, Norwich's Bun Exchange was in residence serving up its out of this world burgers. Also try Café 1903 next door to the Hippodrome, a circus-themed café filled with incredible memorabilia.
And if there's room for ice cream - there's always room for ice cream - Dimascio’s is the name to look out for.
Where to shop in Great Yarmouth
Rock on at Docwras Rock Factory and Shop in Regent Road. It’s a seaside treat that families have got their teeth stuck into for more than a century in Great Yarmouth and in its 1950s and 60s heydays, the Great Yarmouth factory, which had 140 workers, was making 120,000 sticks of rock for resorts across East Anglia and other parts of the UK. Crowds gather in the shop to watch the cocktail of sugar and glucose transformed into colourful sweet souvenirs. There’s an incredible selection of pocket money treats to buy in the shop – and some saucier items for grown-ups!
The main route to the seafront, Regent Road is the place to pick up beach essentials and a souvenir of your visit.
And market has recently had a facelift and is well worth a browse
