Norwich

Norwich has a compact, walkable centre, so where you stay makes less difference to your feet than in most cities of its size - but it still shapes the kind of trip you have. Choose a hotel around the Cathedral Quarter or Tombland and you wake up among the medieval streets themselves, a short stroll from Elm Hill, the Cathedral Close and the river. Stay near the railway station and Riverside instead, and you are closer to restaurants, nightlife and an easy onward journey, at the cost of a slightly less historic outlook.

The eight properties below cover that range, from long-established hotels with centuries of history to modern country house hotels with spas just outside the city, and smaller B&Bs and guest houses that put you inside a Georgian terrace or a quiet residential lane. Star ratings and price brackets vary considerably across the year - Norwich sees a steady flow of business travellers in term time and during trade events at the city's exhibition and conference venues, on top of leisure visitors drawn by the cathedral, the shopping and the Broads, so it is worth booking ahead for weekends and the summer months in particular. Several of the hotels below also have their own restaurants and bars worth booking regardless of where you are staying, from formal dining rooms in period buildings to more relaxed brasserie-style menus built around Norfolk produce.

Norwich rewards slow exploration on foot, but a handful of sights anchor any visit.

• Norwich Cathedral - a largely unaltered Norman building begun in 1096, with the second-highest spire and one of the largest collections of medieval roof bosses in the country, set around a tranquil close.
• Norwich Castle - a Norman keep refaced in Victorian times, now housing a museum and art gallery with an important collection of Norwich School landscape paintings and displays on the castle's former life as a prison.
• Elm Hill - a single cobbled street of Tudor merchants' houses that survived a 1507 fire and later slum clearance, widely reckoned the best-preserved medieval street in England.
• Norwich Market - one of the largest and oldest open-air markets in the country, its striped stall roofs covering everything from Norfolk produce to street food and second-hand books.
• Dragon Hall - a rare surviving medieval merchant's trading hall on King Street, with an exposed timber roof and a small exhibition on the city's medieval cloth trade.
• The Norwich Lanes - a warren of narrow streets between the market and St Benedict's Street, now filled with independent cafes, vintage shops and small galleries.
• Plantation Garden - a Victorian gothic garden tucked behind a busy road, with a flint fountain, terraces and a rustic bridge, restored by volunteers and easy to miss.
• The Broads and Norfolk coast - Wroxham and Hoveton, the unofficial "capital of the Broads", are a short drive or train ride away, with the beaches at Cromer and Sheringham a little further beyond.

Norwich's food identity still leans on Colman's, the mustard maker founded in the city in 1814; the old Colman's shop and mustard museum on the Royal Arcade, though it has changed over the years, remains a point of reference for the brand's long local history. Norfolk's agricultural hinterland shows up strongly on menus around the city, from Cromer crab and coastal seafood to game, asparagus and soft fruit in season, much of it sold directly at Norwich Market's food stalls alongside longer-established butchers, cheesemongers and bakers. The Assembly House, an eighteenth-century assembly rooms building near the theatre, is well known locally for afternoon tea and a more formal dining room in period surroundings. Established local restaurants such as Roger Hickman's have built a reputation for modern British cooking using Norfolk produce, while Grosvenor Fish Bar, a long-running chip shop in the Norwich Lanes, is often cited as one of the best in the country. Norwich also has a strong real-ale pub scene, anchored by the Fat Cat on Woodcock Road and a clutch of small breweries and taprooms across the city, alongside a growing number of independent coffee roasters and cafes concentrated around the Lanes and St Benedict's Street.

Norwich itself has one long-established touring site within the city boundary, on the south side by the River Yare, which makes it possible to pitch up and walk or cycle into the cathedral and market within twenty minutes. For anything beyond a small touring pitch close to the centre, the choice opens out into the Norfolk countryside around the city, where a handful of well-run parks combine easy access back into Norwich with a much quieter, greener setting.

Head north towards Aylsham and the sites sit in mature woodland, popular with families and dog owners looking for space rather than a full programme of entertainment; head northeast towards Wroxham and Hoveton and you are on the fringe of the Norfolk Broads themselves, with mooring, boat hire and the network of rivers and lakes on your doorstep. All three campsites below welcome touring caravans and motorhomes as well as tents, and between them cover a spread of prices and facilities, from a simple, well-located club site to parks with their own shops, play areas and static glamping options for a shorter break without your own kit.