May Holiday

[Guest]

Hi

I am new to this forum, i was wondering if anyone could recommend any routes for a week long break in May. We did the broads in 1988 and dont remember much about it.

In the last 10 years we have been on narrowboat holidays, so time for a wee change.

We are starting at Stalham and hope to cover as much of the broads as we can.

If anyone has any recomendations that would be great.

[NorfolkNog]

Hi Barrie and welcome. What are the dates of your holiday and are you hoping to go through Yarmouth to the Southern rivers? Dates would help to plan the tides.

[Guest]

We are arriving on Sat 21st May, yes would like to go down to yarmouth and beyond.

[NorfolkNog]

Hi Barrie

Lots of options – however assume you get away from Richardsons say mid afternoon you would have plenty of time to motor down to Ludham Bridge. There are a lot more moorings there now with some on the opposite bank. Have a stroll up to the Dog inn which is a very good pub.

Sunday you could cruise up the Bure to visit Horning, Ranworth or Wroxham. At that time of year it shouldn’t be too busy, so you should stand a chance of mooring at these popular places. If you visit Wroxham try one of the boatyards or you may get through the Bridge (pilot service to help you).

You could cruise up to Potter Heigham on Monday – low tide there is at 11.30 so you may be able to get through the Bridge but its never certain. Depends on what boat you have of course. You could spend the night at Thurne Dyke (another good pub – the Lion).

If you are prepared for an early start on Tuesday, at about eight you could hit Yarmouth at around 11 just after slack water. Depends if you want to stop at Yarmouth but if not you could carry on to Oulton Broad for the evening. Wednesday you could have a trip to Beccles and with a longish day say return to Somerleyton or St Olaves for the evening.

Thursday you could explore the Yare, perhaps Loddon or even up to Brundall. You could moor up river if you wanted as slack water for your return trip through Yarmouth is not until around 1.30pm on Friday. This should give you time to return up the Bure although you might be best to moor somewhere like Ludham Bridge again or How Hill to be able to get back to Stalham early on Saturday morning.

There are numerous possibilities and everyone has different ideas. The main thing is to take it easy and have a good time! Unfortunately its not really possible to cover the whole network in a week but I’m sure you’ll be back!! Have a good one.

[Guest]

Thanks for that, that will be a great help. Would like to go to Loddon as that is where we hired the boat from in 1988 (The Paragon 2) but I was only 10 at the time so dont remember much about it. I remember the River Chet was narrow and the Breydon water and Reedham and thats about it.

If I remember I will keep a diary and post how we got on.

Thanks for your help.

Barrie

[NorfolkNog]

Hi Barrie

Yes the Chet is quite narrow! But Loddon is certainly worth a visit. You may remember the tides around Breydon/Reedham/St Olaves are quite strong so please take care and bear in mind if you do need to travel against the tide, the trip will take longer especially in these areas.

Have a great time and do please report back, we'd love to hear how you get on!!

[goodall_m1]

If I remember I will keep a diary and post how we got on. Barrie

We have the Holiday Tales section of the forum ready for you to post up the details!

Enjoy your trip, and DON'T get tempted to go through Yarmouth except at or just after slack water,

(It is the Broads equivalent of getting hung up on a lock cill!)

Martin

[Broads01]

Hi there. I love the South Broads as much as the North and when I'm boating for a week I often split the time between the 2. It's very much down to personal preference, and if you like cruising a lot of hours in the day then by all means go south and do some of the routes previously suggested. However, bear in mind that there's tons to see on the North Broads for 4 days, especially if you prefer a bit of time to take in the scenery, plop your mudweight a bit and so on.