Where To Go Paddleboarding In Norwich

With the fascinating Norfolk Broads including the River Yare in easy reach, Norwich is a city that uniquely fuses the great outdoors with hustle and bustle. The proximity of these waterways also makes Norwich a fantastic place to try paddleboarding, with many of the popular launch points easy to reach even if you don’t have access to a car. Whether you’re local or visiting the city for the first time, check out these 5 awesome SUP spots for a unique city paddleboarding experience.

Time spent in Norwich is not complete until you’ve visited the Broads and there are plenty of areas to choose from including waterways further afield towards the coast. In the city, Whitlingham Great Broad is a particularly great place to go paddleboarding thanks to the ample resources and parking available at the surrounding Country Park. The water itself is calm and gentle, making it a suitable setting for beginners to hone balance and paddling techniques. The surrounding landscapes are packed with lush greenery and local wildlife; whether you stay and potter around on the water all day or escape for a quick SUP after work, you are sure to leave here feeling refreshed and recharged.

Despite the larger of the two, the River Wensum is a tributary of Norwich’s better-known River Yare. It flows east out of the city for 75km, with great access for paddleboarding to be found at Wensum Park. What we particularly love about paddleboarding here is the variety of experiences you can have. Pump up your Red paddleboard and paddle south into the city through the urban landscape and back towards the River Yare or head in the opposite direction, escaping from the city towards marshland and the Wensum Local Nature Reserve. Paddling on a river is typically more challenging than on flatter waters like the Great Broad, so we’d always recommend honing your skills before taking on the Wensum or Yare and wearing a buoyancy aid at all times.

If you kept heading south from Wensum Park, you’d eventually find yourself passing beneath Bishop Bridge: home to another great place to paddleboard in Norwich. There’s a small slipway adjacent to The Red Lion pub (a great spot for a post-paddle drink or bite to eat), with easy access down towards the popular Norwich Riverside area and home of the Canaries, Carrow Road football stadium. This part of the river has a really relaxing feel despite passing by some busy spots and being quite open all the way.

For paddlers seeking an experience that feels worlds away from city life, head east from the city centre on the River Yare towards Bramerton or launch just north of this little village. The river really opens up here making it popular amongst a wide range of water users including boats and water skiers, but there’s still ample opportunity for paddleboarding. You’ll pass some great pubs on the riverside if you fancy stopping off, as well as RSPB marshland home to some wonderful bird species. As is the case with all the places on this list, you will need a license to paddleboard here which can be obtained from Paddle UK.

You’ll find our final suggestion of where to paddleboard in Norwich just minutes from the A47 in Old Lakenham in the south of the city. Here, the River Yare runs just parallel to the River Tas and has a distinctly quaint, out-of-city feel. Park just off Stoke Road for a convenient start to your paddle then head left upriver as if you’re working your way back towards the city. You can saunter along the river for hours if you go past Bracondale Mill or just retrace your route back to the car if you are short on time. If you do want to paddle past the mill, you will need to temporarily leave the water and walk along the public footpath before relaunching your SUP when safe to do so. You will eventually join back up with the main part of the river at Whitlingham where the landscape becomes more open as you exit the marshland.

For more tips about paddleboarding in Norwich, including how to paddle safely on rivers, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.