For our Top Ten cafés/ pubs/ bookshops in Norfolk we’ve selected ones that stand out because they have something different or unique about them.
Our first choice is The Adam and Eve pub, located in the Cathedral Quarter in Norwich
It is believed to be the oldest public house in the city still serving and may even be haunted hence it makes our Top Ten. It has tales to tell of revolutions and rebellions.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, a great family pub making our list of Top 10 cafés/ pubs/ bookshops is the Cock Norwich pub
The Cock, to be found in Old Lakenham, makes our list as it is kid friendly, has outside dining, plenty of free parking and free wi-fi. It offers great value for family or business dining. The kids’ play area is at the heart of the beer garden. Great food, great atmosphere, great value.
Simply for its outstanding architecture
Our top choice bookshop in our list of Top 10 cafés/ pubs/ bookshops in Norfolk, has to be the Tombland Bookshop, a 2-storey academic, second-hand and antiquarian bookstore within a beamed 15th-century building.
The Book Hive in Norwich is a bit like the city itself, full of nooks and crannies so it makes our list of Top Ten cafés/ pubs/ bookshops in Norfolk
As an independent bookshop, it strives to offer something out of the ordinary, stuffed full of really interesting books and other items you won’t find elsewhere.
For something a bit off the beaten track
We’ve selected a church turned into a shop/restaurant. The Revelation Café in Redwell Street, Norwich, has a good selection of Christian books and offers a place to stop for a coffee break from your sight-seeing.
Moving South out of Norwich, as one of the oldest pubs in England, the Green Dragon at Wymondham, has to make our top list of pubs
It’s been serving ale since the 14th century. It now offers a fine selection of real ales and ciders as well as superbly cooked British pub food.
Because of its great views, we’ve chosen Diss Publishing, in Diss to be in our Top 10 cafés/ pubs/ bookshops
To be found a little bit further on from Wymondham, it also offers a combination of café/ bookshop, selling a nice range of quality books, cards and gifts. The café at the back of the shop has great views across Diss mere.
On the north coast, for its Royal connections, we’ve selected the Sandringham Estate Café & Restaurant
It offers a great setting, lovely walks and a large restaurant that offers big lunches or light lunches. And a gift shop that satisfies any Royalist’s shopping addiction.
Because it’s so dog friendly and only a stone’s throw from the beach
Wells-next-the-Sea Beach Café makes our Top 10 cafés/ pubs/ bookshops list. It is open all year round with roaring log fires in the winter and a beach side location for the summer, what more could you want. Decent food, good value and nice service.
Set in a 1,000 acre historic deer park near Cromer
Isn’t the Gunton Arms, a traditional pub in an unusual location serving of course red meat and an atmosphere of quirky country house with roaring log fires, quintessentially English?