Great Yarmouth, Norfolk: A Family Day Out at the Pleasure Beach

Great Yarmouth is the proper traditional British seaside — the five-mile Golden Mile of arcades, the Pleasure Beach with its vintage Scenic Railway, two piers, the Sea Life Centre, the Hippodrome circus, and the Joyland miniature funfair on the front. It is loud, bright and entirely unrepentant — and exactly what a lot of families want from a day out. Different in character from the quiet North Norfolk coast, and proud of it.

Main things to see and do

1. Pleasure Beach Great Yarmouth. Free entry; pay-per-ride or wristband. The 1932 wooden Scenic Railway is the headline ride and a Grade II listed structure. The park is busiest July–August; quieter midweek and shoulder season.
2. Britannia & Wellington Piers. Britannia Pier hosts shows and arcades; Wellington Pier the bowling alley and family rides. Both free to walk.
3. Joyland. The much-loved 1949 children’s funfair on the front, and a genuine one-off. The Super Snails — gnome-dotted little cars that have trundled the same circuit since opening day — turn 75 this year, and the Tyrolean Tub Twist is the last working descendant of the old Virginia Reel left anywhere in the world. Small wooden rides for under-7s; free to enter, cash and card.
4. Sea Life Great Yarmouth. The aquarium on the seafront — sharks, otters, the ocean tunnel. Pre-book online to save.
5. The Time and Tide Museum. Free local-history museum in a former smokehouse — the herring industry, the WW2 home front. Run by Norfolk Museums Service.
6. Hippodrome Circus. Built in 1903 by the showman George Gilbert, this is one of only two purpose-built circus buildings still working in Britain (Blackpool Tower is the other) and the most complete of its kind — the ring still sinks into a pool for the water finale. A traditional family circus runs through the summer, with a water spectacular at Christmas.
7. The Venetian Waterways. A serene counterpoint to the arcades, a ten-minute walk north along Marine Parade (NR30 4EW). These 1920s ornamental gardens — winding canals, little bridges and thatched shelters — were laid out as relief work for the unemployed after the First World War, fell into decline and closed in 2011, then reopened in 2019 after a £1.7m Heritage Lottery restoration. The Grade II-listed gardens are free to wander; the adjoining Boating Lake hires rowing boats and pedalos through the summer (life jackets for under-12s and non-swimmers), and the Island Café does a proper afternoon tea over the water. Bring a picnic and the Saturday crossword.

And the chips

Yarmouth takes its chips seriously, and the place to settle the matter is the open-air market in the town centre rather than the seafront. The market stalls — Docwra’s has been at it since 1904 — fry in beef dripping and hand them over in a cone with salt and a great deal of vinegar. Eat them walking. It is the standing exception to any number of good intentions, and worth every one.

Where to stay

If you are making a weekend of it, the Suffolk coast has more good self-catering than is reasonable for a coastline its size. We use Sykes Holiday Cottages for most of our family breaks here — their holiday cottages in great yarmouth and along the east norfolk coast cover most of the price brackets and most of the dog-friendly properties. (Affiliate link — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Practical bits

• Postcode: NR30 (centre of town)
• Region: East Norfolk
• OS map: OS Explorer OL40 — The BroadsBuy from OS →
• Public transport: the Coastlink and 99 bus services run the length of the Suffolk coast in summer; check the live timetable with Suffolk On Board.