Connect Norwich with Slow Ways
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Many Slow Ways have several route options. Some will be better than others, or good for different reasons.
Our goal is for each Slow Way to have at least one route that is verified and surveyed. To be verified – and get its snail badge – a route needs at least three positive reviews.
Give a hike and help get a for every one of Norwich’s Slow Ways.
Walk to Norwich from further afield
Slow Way | Route | To do | ||||||||
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Horsham St Faith—Norwich
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Hornor one |
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U U |
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Review me | Distance 11km/7mi | Ascent 61m | Descent 81m | |
Horsham St Faith—Norwich
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Hornor two |
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U U |
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Survey me | Distance 9km/6mi | Ascent 85m | Descent 69m | ||
Mulbarton—Norwich
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Mulnor one |
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3 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 14km/9mi | Ascent 100m | Descent 144m | ||
Norwich—Acle
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Noracl one |
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3 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 22km/14mi | Ascent 128m | Descent 126m | |
Norwich—Loddon
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Norlod one |
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U U |
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Verify me | Distance 21km/13mi | Ascent 174m | Descent 181m | ||
Norwich—Hoveton
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Norwhov five |
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U U |
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Survey me | Distance 17km/10mi | Ascent 118m | Descent 120m | ||
Taverham—Norwich
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Tavnor one |
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U U |
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Survey me | Distance 13km/8mi | Ascent 67m | Descent 101m | ||
Taverham—Norwich
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Tavnor two |
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U U |
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Survey me | Distance 12km/8mi | Ascent 47m | Descent 78m | |
Wymondham—Norwich
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Wymnor one |
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U U |
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Verify me | Distance 16km/10mi | Ascent 116m | Descent 79m | |
Wymondham—Norwich
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Wymnor two |
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5 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 18km/11mi | Ascent 142m | Descent 105m |
Fancy stretching your legs a bit more?
If you’ve polished off all of the routes between Norwich and its neighbours, how about walking its whole web?
This includes the great ring of routes that join its neighbours to each other!
Collective progress
75% of Norwich’s seven route options are drawn, reviewed, surveyed and/or verified
10/10
10/10
3/10
7/10
61 people have contributed to Norwich’s Slow Ways
68 people have pledged to walk and review a route
3 people have surveyed a route in Norwich
153km out of 153km have been walked and reviewed
1,131km of reviews have been shared in Norwich
Latest Updates
Now you head straight out of Norwich along this road for a few miles until you reach Church road on your left. Take care crossing this busy road to head left up Beeston road across to Buxton road....
Paul Skippings
The road turning off from the train station is slightly different to the map, you're unable to cross the river on the Lizard Circular walk so we had to continue on the road for a short while until it turns to the right but the footpath continues onwards until the A11 where it then turns left and crosses the river. We took Bluebell road towards Eaton park which we thought to be a much more interesting route, the park itself being home to a cafe and ponds with lovely architecture so well worth a visit if you have time and not too far out of the way either....
Patrick b
(Lizard circular) We carried along road alongside houses till we got the field pointing to Ketts country path. It was fine until you get closer to the Main road where the nettles were extremely hard to navigate. Turn off the road onto edge of field track. We then re joined the route by going right at Mile End road....
Amelia Elvins
Started with a closed track (lizard circular track) so had to detour around it, down lizard road and then a track. Once the lizard circular track is re opened it would be great. Turned into a very pretty track with overhanging bush and trees which has horses and cows on your adjacent fields....
James Spychal
As other routes have mentioned, it routes along a lot of busy roads, and travels tantalisingly close to Catton Park, which provides a welcome break as a slight detour. The only slightly unpleasant part was having to hurry across the dual carriageway next to a roundabout, but otherwise no complaints!...
Thomas Lukins
Suggested that the route could be adapted so it takes the road next to the NDR opposed the current route into Horsham st Faith as there is a section without pavement and little verge ....
James Knibb
There is one section where crossing the A1270 (Broadland Northway) that looks like it could be difficult on the map, however there is a crossing section at the round about and the road wasn't busy at the time of the walk....
Graham T-B
The route was very easy to walk and there were zero hurdles. The Church of St Mary and St Andrew where the route ends is really remarkable and the visit to the same was mesmerising!...
Samir Joglekar
My only other comment is that the route has an 'elbow' as you approach Rouen Road in Norwich, whereas there are more direct ways to approach the Riverside bridge fom this direction....
Fred Jones
Overall, a much nicer route could have been achieved by using the Marriott's Way route from Spixworth to Horsham - I would recommend anyone doing this walk to take that route instead, and Slowways should also remove this route from the database and replace it with that one, which is a tried and tested footpath - no need to choose an unsafe route instead to get between the same two places....
Sophie Battrick
However the section between Spixworth and Horsham St Faith is unsafe to walk for most, with no footpath, an overgrown steep verge and moderately busy road. A section of Marriott’s way between Spixworth and Horsham st faith (which this walk seems to ignore) is far more suitable and fits the slow ways.principals....
Jon_z
The route is primarily on roads, but outside of Wymondham and Norwich, most are quiet country roads. The route was accurate, apart from when we reached the section which uses the Lizard Circular walk in Wymondham - the bridge over the river has been removed by the landowner and we were unable to cross....
Sally
Underfoot from beginning to Cosstessy is mildy moist underfoot and a bit puddly. We started at The Otter Pub which might have been the wrong starting point, other reviews on this site mention starting at Taverham Garden Centre....
Rick Hollings
After you cross the bypass over the bridge you will walk alongside the loud bypass for a while - this stretch had some pretty major flooding issues that we had to divert up alongside the road to pass this....
Pandora
The route takes you through a varied landscape of field-side footpaths as well as parts of the alongside high roads. Please be mindful of the former reviewer’s recommendations when hiking in wet weather....
Tiril Sofie Berg
Approaching the Norwich Southern Bypass we encountered All Saints Church on Intwood Lane, which has a fascinating tower with its round body built in the 13thC but with a high-level faceted section added later in the 15thC....
Thom Brisco
The route was easy to walk, with barely any hills. Only thing to note is crossing the NDR as it can be quite busy. Other than that was good....
Beth
You do have to cross over a very busy road towards the end of the route, so just to be aware of this....
Ben Allen
Plenty of places to stop for food / shopping before arriving at Norwich Train Station....
Carla Thurgood
All in all, a nice walk to go on and I'm sure would be lovely in the summer....
Brett Cossey
Often however there were parts that brought you alongside busy roads or at one point a need to cross a fairly busy road (the slower of us got left behind for a bit :))....
David Brett
It took us around 4 hours from start to end (including a 40 minute break.) The route is fairly simple with lots of busy roads and the occasional muddy ones. Overall, the route was filled with scenic views and was an enjoyable one - we even spotted a deer! I would recommend carrying light snacks and wearing running shoes for the route....
Aarav Parmar
I give this route a rating of 4 stars out of 5 due to it intersecting North Walsham Road (B1150) twice, making parts of the walk dangerous and some members of the group had to wait a considerable amount of time in order to walk safely. I would recommend this walk to anyone who is local to Norwich and wants to walk along a peaceful route....
Luke Peacock
The long, loud walk along Sprowston road was particularly jarring after coming out of the pleasant Mousehold woodland area. I did notice a good amount of dog poo bins along the way, and would say the walk is definitely appropriate for those with dogs as there were no stiles to obstruct. The latter end of the walk takes you through some nice villages, with interesting houses to look at along the way....
Megan Brain
This route took us about 4 hours to complete, albiet it with several stops for various activities. Alot of this route was along a busy road from Heartsease to Sprowston which doesnt have the most ideal of scenaries. However after this there was lots of nature to see, we spotted Kestrels, Robins, Squirrels and even a lovely cat in Mousehold....
Solomon Blazer
Half of the walk is on pavements/road/walking through towns with the other half on public footpath and only a small portion in mud (given it did rain the previous day)....
Edwin
It was an easy walk, easy to navigate. Not very nice pubs in Wroxham and google maps said the Kings Head was closed but found out later it was open....
ajnarracott
However, Mousehold Heath and it's paths are not very accessible if you are infirm or have difficulties walking in general, very uneven and hilly in parts....
Russell Graham
Did the walk at the end of November after lots of rain and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the path, with not much mud or flooding, a bit of mulch from leaves on the path (as expected for the time of the year)....
Roy Hyde
Regarding the walk it was easy to walk and follow as part was the Marriotts Way, an established walk....
Sarah Marshall
For myself, I have never completed a slow ways route before and would highly recommend this one for beginners as most of the route whilst enjoying the greenbelt surroundings was certainly easy enough for a beginner to walk comfortably over this kind of distance....
Sandra McLachlan
There was one section in town which had steps, just a couple but if you were in a chair or on a bike you may want to find an alternative route through town to get to the start of Marriot's Way....
Seb AO
- In Sprowston on Church Lane there is an entrance which allows you to walk though Barkers Lane Open Space and Millenium Woodland alongside Church Lane which I think is nicer than walking on the pavement. - The walk along Rackheath Lane/Skinners Lane from Spixworth to Wroxham is very nice (photo added) but I couldn't find any benches or suitable points to sit down and it is a long stretch...
Ian Beeden
The road leaving Horsham St Faith is a bit dangerous to walk down, with nowhere to move onto the verge in some places. Once you get to the path at Buxton Road the route becomes a lot easier. Paths are well maintained all the way into the city centre with various points to stop for refreshments on the way....
Tim
Opposite the finishing point ( a car park in Loddon high street) is a great pub - The Swan - serving food and drink outside or in (and also with toilets)....
Guy Haines
We walked on a Thu morning in Aug and the route felt very safe. Parts of the route do get used by cyclists but the path is wide and this did not cause problems? There are public toilets in Sloughbottom Park (roughly halfway along the route, only 2mins away from the route itself)....
Andy Mole
This section makes up about 30 mins of a 3 hour walk, with the entire rest of the walk being on pavements, dedicated paths and city roads, so it's incorrect to state that 'much of the walk is with no path'....
Fred Jones
The only point to be careful is shortly after the start you need to cross the very busy duel carriageway but there are plenty of opportunities to do so....
Joe
Much of this walk was on national speed limit roads with no path....
Thomas Hongsubchat
Crossing the slip roads at Thickthorn is enabled by pedestrian lights, and a new path behind the hedge by Kett's Oak has filled in a much needed gap on the route....
Katy Walters
We got to the field with the 'warning Bull' signs and saw no sign of any livestock but as we neared a narrow corner, about 30 cows/calves and the bull all came around. Overall it wasn't too bad, not much shade if you are doing this on a hot day and probably not very accessible to a wheelchair due to parts of the route being quite overgrown but some nice scenery to take in....
Christie Williamson
Starting in the town centre, there are footpaths out of the town, with traffic lights to enable easy crossing of the main road on the edge of Wymondham. Soon after this, the walk then spent a long period of time on country roads, there was generally space if cars were coming, and the road was fairly quiet, so fairly easy to walk along. Shortly after that you come to a Waitrose supermarket and a pub, before following Newmarket Road into Norwich - where it meets the ring road there is a pedestrian crossing a short distance away to enable easy crossing of this busy road. - although a generally easy route to follow, there were overgrown footpaths at a number of points which wouldn't be easily accessible, and currently actual barriers across part of the footpath just outside Wymondham, suggesting that the path itself maybe shouldn't be used, and this was a slight challenge to navigate (and definitely not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs)...
Matt Tre
hour or so you're on fairly open track with no concerns, until you edge closer to the A47 path that runs alongside it, this is then very overgrown in places with nettles ready to get the unaware. From here you're then forced along a stretch of 60mph road with no path, heading in to oncoming traffic....
Steven Gowing
The route beside the abandoned train track is scenic too but is quite long without any quick access to public toilets. Expect poor visibility during dark and use common sense to not travel this route during that time....
Samir Joglekar
It's almost entirely along Mariott's way, which I entered near the skate park in Taverham on Pendalsham Rise....
Thomas Hongsubchat
The route did go through the gated field, however as it also contained some eager cows and a bull who were keen to see us and blocked the way, we opted for a detour up to Swardeston cricket ground, and rejoined the route at the common. The latter part of the route wasn't especially scenic as followed the main road into Norwich. - One part of the route required walking allow a narrow country road with no footpath, which had cars frequently passing by...
Rachel L
Some sections along country roads, however very quiet with good room for allowing cars to get past, and only one small section on a larger road near the southern bypass. Definitely would recommend - but check the weather before you go!!...
Jack Purllant
Highly recommend walking boots when it has been rainy, although the walk was still safe, there were quite a few muddy areas. Also would recommend you checking in with the World's End pub towards the end of the walk as they were shut when we rocked up....
Ben Slater
There was a little bit of city road walking at the start but to be expected if you start in city centre, and actually a massive benefit if you start the walk on a rainy day when hail hits you after 10 mins since you can then take cover with an unscheduled pub stop before you set out....
Danny
Route was very good, walked past some nice sights in Norwich (e.g. the castle and cathedral) with pavements for a lot of the way. When there weren't pavements, the terrain was fine to walk on even though it was a little muddy on a path by the airport. There is one crossing over quite a busy road (the NDR) but we crossed without any issues....
Bethan Speed
You have to share the path with runners, cyclists, horses too, but there's plenty of room for all to share and enjoy the route....
Rick Hollings
Completed this enjoyable walk on a cold day in February in just under 4.5hrs, with only short breaks. Route was straightforward and easy to follow, with large portions along roads and paved paths and the remainder through woodland....
Chris W
We completed the walk without stopping, as there was nowhere suitable to stop for the duration of the route (apart from 2 benches in the woods around 2 miles from the finish, by this point we decided it better to crack on and have a sit down at a pub in Acle). There was a noticeable lack of facilities along the duration of the route, nowhere to stop for a toilet break, for example pubs/cafes, which isn’t ideal for a 4-5 hour walk...
Megan Brain
The route on Slow Ways is very accurate, with the Norwich half of the route mainly being along roads/pavement, going into fields/woodland for the Acle half of the route....
David Brett
Not always the most accessible of routes for wheelchair users, however this is a lovely walk that will take about 5 hours with breaks (we walked it in 4 hours 20 without any sizeable breaks). Saw plenty of animals including cows and sheep, not many rivers/lakes to see though so will be the majority of dirt tracks. Would highly recommend this route though and can also enjoy a drink and snack in Acle on arrival....
Solomon Blazer
A nice walk through the countryside, with a variety animals through the many wooded areas. Highlights include kestrels, grouse, squirrels and a white chicken bird. The weather wasn't perfect, and a few parts of the route were quite muddy as a result....
Cameron Clarke
I would recommend putting 4-5 hours aside for this walk, including breaks. I would recommend this walk to anyone who is local to Norwich and wants to walk along a peaceful route....
Luke Peacock
You will be walking on the grass verge or on the road (and at times there may not even be a good grassy verge to stand/walk on). You will get to cut through the always adorable Elm Hill in Norwich, though again, I think it's a pity to go down Prince of Wales Road when you could cut through Cathedral Close at the end for a much better finish to your walk....
Fred Jones
This is an easy to follow route between Horsham St Faith and Norwich....
Slow Ways Darren
This was a lovely walk by the river and Marriott's way, the team completed a litter pick....
chaniece
The road section to Swardeston is unavoidable but quiet, and the first footpath out of Swardeston goes through a field of cattle, but after this it's a pleasant series of footpaths (with some kissing gates, stiles and plank bridges) to Mulbarton Common where you can find Blakey's Bus Cafe plus a pub and, at the official end of the route, a small supermarket....
Katy Walters
A final caution should be given to the part of the route that crosses the B1150 out of Spixworth again quite a lot of traffic both ways here and no pedestrian crossing, something to consider again in terms of accessibility....
Jonty_Cakes
These head from The Lizard down into the marshy nature reserve, then up onto a path along an old railway embankment, then down again into an overgrown field. The path through the Lizard nature reserve is a boardwalk across marshy ground. Newmarket Road into Norwich is a wide, shady path and cycle path beside the A11 past the biggest houses in Norwich....
Bostal Boy
A large portion of the walk involves walking in a road (not busy but fairly regular cars), with blind corners and....
Harry
The only actual problem I had was that there's no access through from Duke Street to St George's Street in the way the map suggests as it's been blocked off by university buildings now. Instead, I walked back on to Duke Street and walked along Colegate instead, to then turn right onto St George's Street....
Alicia Huggett
There are currently five suggested routes from Norwich to Hoveton, this one takes the safest option over the Broadland Northway road to the north of Norwich, using a bridge via Spixworth, instead of using a crossing near the roundabout on Wroxham Road. Once you've travelled along Sprowston Road and gone over Blenheim Road, there is a cut through to Church Lane, although this features a kissing gate which may block access for buggies/wheelchairs. The route crosses the North Walsham Road, which can be quite busy, so care needs to be taken here. Once into Wroxham, the route follows Church Street, which does not have pavements although again this road is fairly quiet. once you follow Church Lane, this goes over the railway, before joining the main Norwich Road. Turn left, and follow this through Wroxham, as you reach the boatyards there is a set of traffic lightsq to allow you to cross, as you need to use a footbridge to cross the river which is on the right hand side of the road....
Matt Tre
When coming from Acle, when you get to the top of the steps, you can follow the road (Mary Chapman Close) round to where it meets Dussindale Drive, and turn left, and this will bring you to the junction that goes into the supermarket, and from there you can rejoin the route into Norwich....
Matt Tre
Matt Tre added Hornor two, a new walk from Horsham St Faith to Norwich
Walk this routeThis is just a test review - please ignore (although I have walked it and it is a good route)...
SarahTaigelSW
I really liked this route, as a walker I followed the route as suggested however there is a more direct route with less elevation which follows the river from the station to the start of the Marriott's Way....
SarahTaigelSW
SarahTaigelSW added Tavnor two, a new walk from Taverham to Norwich
Walk this routeI cycled this route rather than on foot, most of the route is a cycle path so do be mindful of this when walking although as it is so wide it is lower risk. There are lots of opportunities to view the river and the path is flat except for one section at the end opposite the station which requires a few steps....
SarahTaigelSW
As the path approaches Drayton, the cycle route signs indicate a left turn. As the path approaches Drayton, the cycle route signs indicate a right turn....
Martin McGovern
There are nicer ways through Norwich from the station to the beginning of Marriot's way near the St Crispin's roundabout. One way goes through the cathedral grounds and then along the river all the way to the roundabout, where it joins Marriot's way. Another option would be to follow the river entirely from the train station (turn right by the Compleat Angler pub over the bridge, go down the stairs and follow the river)....
polkadot
Don't know how to edit a review, wanted to rate 4* for the rest of the route which is really nice....
polkadot
Would be more direct to leave Wymondham via Browick Road. Mainly country lanes until Ketteringham, then some footpaths before outskirts of Norwich. A pleasant walk....
Dave
Slow Ways added Hornor one, a new walk from Horsham St Faith to Norwich
Walk this routeNorwich’s Slow Ways starting point
Grid ref
TG2387908389
Lat / Lon
52.62709° / 1.30653°
Easting / Northing
623,879E / 308,389N
what3words
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Facilities
Users have reported that the following facilities can be found within 1km of Norwich's meeting point
Public toilet
Wheelchair accessible toilet
Supermarket or convenience shop
Restaurant, cafe or pub
Accommodation
Accommodation for under £50 a night
Campsite
Bothy
Free wifi
Mobility scooter hire
Off-road wheelchair hire
Disabled Parking
Train station
Bus stop
Ferry
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