If you come to Norwich by car, you'll probably pass one of the old signs at the boundary that say "Welcome to Norwich, a fine city." And indeed it is.
For most tourists, though, it's easier to reach Norwich by train from London; it takes less than two hours.
Norwich Cathedral - a Fine Norman Church
Visitors shoud make the cathedral their first stop. This fine Norman church was built in the eleventh century, but its Gothic vaults were added later, after rioting townsmen burned the roof.
One of the mirror trolleys let visitors look at the fine roof bosses without cricking their necks. There are more roof bosses in the cloisters, including the Norwich Green Man, some satirical themes – a woman catches a thief trying to steal her laundry – and the story of the Apocalypse.
Then it's time for a stroll in the Cathedral Close. Warm red brick and shiny grey flint are the local vernacular building materials – very different from the fine golden stone of the cathedral, which was brought from Caen in Normandy. At the end of the Close is Pulls Ferry, where the stone was landed.
A walk down the riverside to the medieval Bishop's Bridge passes the playing fields of Norwich School. Here is the Great Hospital, founded by one of the bishops of Norwich in the Middle Ages and still a charitable foundation giving a home to elderly people from the area. (It's only open to visitors on a few special occasions, unfortunately.)
Norwich's Oldest Pub
Nearby is the Adam and Eve with its curly Dutch gables, said to be Norwich's oldest pub. From here, Palace Plain leads past the bishop's palace to Tombland, with the first of the fine half-timbered houses for which Norwich is famed – Augustine Steward's House, leaning crookedly to one side.
Elm Hill leads towards the centre of Norwich, with its picturesque ancient houses on a cobbled street. Incredibly, this whole area was once doomed to demolition under a slum clearance plan – only the opposition of local people saved the lovely buildings. There are some fine shops here, including a little beer shop run by Tipples, a local brewery.
Norwich's Medieval Heritage
Blackfriars Hall is now a concert hall and events venue, but it was originally the church of the Dominican friary – the only friars' church to survive in an English city. Its fine, huge windows are typical of the East Anglian Gothic style. Within walking distance of here are five or six late medieval churches – at one time Norwich is said to have had a church for every week of the year, and a pub for every day!
Shopping in Norwich
A wander through the Norwich Lanesis a must for the eager shopper – the Lanes hold a mix of independent shops from an army surplus shop, to the Horace Blue Gallery, jewellers' shops (this was the goldsmiths' street in the Middle Ages), and fashion boutiques. Another shopping experience entirely is represented by the marketplace, with the biggest daily market in England. It goes back all the way to the Normans.
The marketplace is dominated by the tower of the Scandinavian style 1930s City Hall and the fine Perpendicular tower of St Peter Mancroft. The church is noted for the fine stained glass in the east window – only a tenth of what the church originally possessed. The rest was lost in the 'Great Blow' when a gunpowder magazine blew up during the Civil War.
Not everyone loves the new Forum, a modern glass and red brick building opposite St Peter's. But for many, it's become a good place to get a pizza or a cup of coffee, with a view over the market. If you want a more traditional snack head for Reggie's, on the market, for a bacon roll or mushy peas.
A tour of Norwich can end at the Castle, a fine Norman building in the same fine Caen stone as the cathedral - or at Dragon Hall, a half-timbered merchant's trading hall. But Norwich has one little secret left; just off the market; the Royal Arcade, a gorgeous piece of Art Nouveau with Norwich's best chocolate shop, Digby's.
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