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Great ideas for discovering the best of the Broads by cycle

Use a cycle to explore the tranquil beauty and natural treasures of the wetland landscapes that make up the Broads – a unique area characterised by windmills, grazing marshes, boating scenes, vast skies, reedy waters and historic settlements. There are idyllically quiet lanes and virtually no hills.

If you're touring the Broads by boat, you can stop off for a while and hire bikes from several places by the water, and see some of the area's many other attractions.

Cycling in the Broads gets you to places public transport cannot reach, and you see much that you might well miss from a car or even a boat. It’s also a healthy and environmentally friendly way of getting around.

         

Centre: How Hill (photo: Tim Locke); left and right: cycling round the Broads (photos: Broads Authority)

An introduction to how to discover the Broads by bike, this is several itineraries in one. It starts with details of using the Bittern Line to get you to Hoveton & Wroxham, where you can hire a bike and follow Broads Bike Trails, or cycle alongside the Bure Valley Railway; how to join up with the BroadsHopper bus from rail stations; ideas for cycling in the Ludham and Hickling area; and some highlights of Sustrans NCN Route 1 from Norwich. The Broads Bike Hire Network of seven cycle hirers is listed in the last section.

Cycle rides from the Bittern Line
The Bittern Line runs from Norwich to Sheringham, passing through Hoveton & Wroxham station in the northern Broads. The Bittern Line website has information for cyclists. A Cycling Guide Around The Bittern Track has details and a route map of nine cycle rides from Bittern Line stations is available from Norwich Railway station, The Bure Valley Railway and the North Norfolk Railway. This Guide costs £1 or is free when you book your bike on a One Anglia train.

From Hoveton & Wroxham station, hire a bike from Broadland Cycle Hire in Hoveton (10 minutes walk from the station). They will give you copies of the Broads Bike Trails that start from there: trail 3 (7½ miles) takes in Coltishall, Wroxham Barns and Hoveton Hall Gardens, while trail 3a passes Neatishead, Barton Broad, Horning, and Hoveton Hall Gardens.

Barton Broad on the Ra
Cycle from Hoveton and Wroxham station , along lanes north past Wroxham Barns (see below), then east through Neatishead. At Barton Broad you can have a nature-friendly high-tech boating experience on the solar-powered Ra – and a chance to hear about Clear Water 2000, Europe’s leading lake restoration project. Trips take 1 ¼ hours and run daily June-September, weekends, bank holidays, Easter week and local half terms April, May and October. Bookings 01603 782281 or at any Broads Information Centre. Neatishead has a shop, a pub and a restaurant.

Hoveton Hall Gardens
Just 1½ miles north of Hoveton, and near Wroxham Barns (see above), this is a fine 15-acre woodland garden with rhododendrons and azaleas, herbaceous borders and a lakeside walks. Light lunches and teas available. Mid-April to mid-Sept, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondayss. Also Thursday during May and June. Closed Saturdays. For accommodation in the Wroxham area, the Hotel Wroxham and Wroxham Park Lodge are conveniently located. A couple of miles away, East View Farm has self-catering accommodation.

Bure Valley Railway
Cycle alongside the narrow-gauge railway, or take your bike on the train, or combine both! Alongside this steam railway you can cycle the 9-mile Bure Valley Path from Hoveton to Aylsham: join the train (which carries cycles; £3 per bike per trip; no reservations possible for bikes) where you wish. As you cycle, you’ll see trains operated by this private heritage railway that perfectly evoke the old days of rail travel. Hoveton station on the Bure Valley line is just across the street from Hoveton & Wroxham station on the Bittern Line. Aylsham itself has an attractive market place; for snacks visit Bramley’s Restaurant. Bike hire is available at Hoveton (see below). You can stay in comfort at the Hedges B&B in Coltishall, and there are several places to eat in the village (see listings section).

Wroxham Barns
A short 1½ mile detour off the railway at the Wroxham end of the line, a collection of restored 18th-century barns housing traditional and contemporary craft workshops, including apple and cider pressing, stained glass, model ships, wood turning, patchwork and quilting, Also a junior farm with hens, cows, goats, donkeys and ponies for children to stroke and feed, a children’s fun fair, tea room and gift shop.

Blickling Hall
You could cycle here from Aylsham, at the north end of the Bure Valley Railway, or take the BroadsHopper Bus (which runs from Acle (railway station) to Blickling Hall, via South Walsham, Ranworth, Woodbastwick, Salhouse, Wroxham, Hoveton, Coltishall, Horstead, Buxton and Aylsham) and hire a bike here and explore the grounds. Built in rosy brick with turrets, curved Dutch-style gables and a central cupola, this superb Jacobean hall dates from the early 17th century and is surrounded by great yew hedges. It has a superb 120-foot Long Gallery with decorated plaster ceiling. The landscaped grounds include several miles of footpaths and cycle paths and are punctuated by 18th-century follies. You will find a range of wildlife habitats witin the woodlands and river meadows, including locally rare insects, and birds such as great crested grebe, tufted duck and kingfisher on the river, and lesser spotted woodpecker. Cycle hire at Blicking Hall late March–late October; tel: 01263 738015. House and garden open Wednesday–Sunday late March–late October, and Monday in August.

The BroadsHopper Bus
The route is between Salhouse, Aylsham and Blickling Hall (where there is discounted admission for ticket holders). You don’t have to be a cyclist to use the bus, of course.

Cycling around Hickling
The far north-eastern corner of the Broads has a good network of quiet back lanes that make cycling an excellent way of discovering very distinct Broadland landscapes, with opportunities for waterside strolls, boat trips, visiting windmills and strolling on the beach. The Ordnance Survey map 134 is a useful planner: avoid wherever possible the A roads (particularly the A149); generally there are quiet road alternatives, although Bastwick near the bridge over the River Thurne has an unavoidable ¼ -mile stretch along the A149.

If you’re arriving without a cycle, there’s cycle hire available at Ludham Bridge (A1062 between Horning and Ludham; bus 54 from Hoveton to Ludham Bridge): they also rent out electric cycles and run 3-hour boat trips to Ranworth Broad (stopping off to see the church with its magnificent painted medieval screen). From Ludham Bridge cycle hire, for example, you could get to both of these places. There is a pavement by the busy A1062 at Ludham Bridge that is useful for the first half mile before you get on to the back lanes. The two Broads Bike Trail leaflets given out at the cycle hire here cover cycle rides to taking in How Hill, Potter Heigham, Ranworth and Wroxham. You can also follow your own route, taking in How Hill, Stalham, Hickling, Waxham and Horsey.

How Hill and the Electric Eel (bookings: tel: 01692 678763). At How Hill Nature Reserve, take a 50-minute Wildlife Water Trail on the Electric Eel – a six-seater electric craft that takes you into the natural wonders of this nature reserve. Also look into tiny Toad Hole Cottage (free), a former marshman’s cottage which evokes country life in Victorian times and contains a Broads Information Centre.

Boat trips April, Mary and Oct at weekends and Bank Holidays; Easter and half term, hourly 11–3; June–Sept daily 10–5. Not suitable for under 2s.
A Wildlife Walking Trail, fascinating in all seasons of the year, helps you discover more about the creatures and plants of the Broads.
In summer and autumn, you might find insect repellent useful for the boat trip and wildlife walking trail.

From How Hill, you could head north through Catfield and Sutton to visit the Museum of the Broads at Stalham. Run by volunteers, this fascinating museum on the history of the Broads is open to the public throughout the summer. The heritage of the waterways and the people who lived there and worked along it are vividly brought to life of Broads' heritage as well as conserving and restoring objects, including boats, which tell a local story. On Wednesdays from the beginning of April to the end of October, the museum runs steam boat tours.
At Sutton, Sutton Mill is the tallest tower windmill in the country and dates from 1789. It is on nine floors and open daily April to October. In Hickling village, the Greyhound is a welcoming and usefully placed pub with bar food, specials and real ale. Dairy Barns outside the village has accommodation geared towards cyclists, with cycle storage and the facilities for minor repairs.

From there, a 1½-mile ride along a dead-end lane takes you to the entrance to Hickling Broad, owned by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.There’s no larger expanse of water than this anywhere else in the Broads, and it is well worth making the effort and getting here by bike. Park your bike near the Visitor Centre (on the north side of the Broad), and explore the boardwalk paths that lead through magically unspoilt marshes and up to the broad. The centre has interpretive displays, a shop, toilets and refreshments; take binoculars and spend time in the birdwatching hides. Winter birds you might see include shoveller, goldeneye, teal and pochard, while in summer look out for bittern, Cetti’s warbler, hobby and marsh harrier as well as swallowtail butterflies and Norfolk hawker dragonflies.

The reserve is open 10–5 all year; the visitor centre is open daily 10–5 April–Sept. admission £3 (children and Norfolk Wildlife Trust members free). And don't miss the boat trip (booking advised): the 2-hour Water Trail (mid-May to mid-September) takes you into the tranquil backwaters and gives access to the Tree Tower, which gives unrivalled views.

From Hickling, cycle out to the coast at Sea Palling, and continue past Waxham, where beside the churchyard is a spectacularly huge 16th-century thatched barn with a café adjoining. Before heading back westwards, you might like to extend your ride and carry on along the coast to Horsey, where the National Trust maintain the Horsey Windpump (open Wednesday–Sunday, April–October, plus weekends in March); there’s a tea room here too, and there is a beautiful walk skirting the north side of Horsey Mere, an internationally important site for wintering wild fowl. There’s access nearby through the dunes to the gloriously long, sandy beach.The Old Chapel at Horsey is a comfortable B&B, and offers evening meals by arrangement.

National Cycle Network Route 1
Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, is setting up the National Cycle Network. In the Broads, the signposted National Cycle Network route 1 leads south-east of Norwich, just south of the Yare to Loddon – along or close to the Wherryman’s Way, and passing through Whitlingham Country Park, (tel 01603 632307; www.nccoutdooreducation.co.uk), the newest of the broads, created in recent years from a disused gravel quarry; there is cycle hire here, and plenty of other outdoor activities, including canoeing, archery, orienteering, abseiling, boating and bird watching. At Rockland St Mary, you can park your bike and wander past Rockland Broad and out to the River Yare to sample a wonderful waterside stretch of the Wherryman’s Way.
Route 1 then heads down southwards to Beccles, following easily managed, quiet country lanes that are sheer pleasure to cycle at whatever pace you choose. Loddon makes a good stopover; you can stay at the charming Hall Green Farmhouse just outside the village. At Beccles itself, there is a good choice of accommodation and places to eat; for a good-value eco-friendly stay, try Pinetrees B&B. Should you want to get closer to the water, you could hire a canoe at Rowancraft, Geldeston (itself on Route 1) and explore the natural charms of the River Waveney. For more on canoeing, see Canoe Safaris in this series of itineraries. Canoe hire costs £15 for a half day and £25 for a full day. Between Beccles and Bungay you can take another signposted route to the delightful old town of Bungay (and its ruined castle) and visit the Otter Trust at Earsham (tel 01986 893470; www.ottertrust.org.uk; April or Good Friday–September 30), dedicated to raising otters and releasing them into the wild. Feeding time is 12 noon and 3pm. The lakes hold important collections of waterfowl, and deer and wallabies roam the grounds freely.

There are cafés and tea-rooms along the route at Loddon, Bungay and Beccles.

Reproduced by kind permission of the Broads Authority © 2006