A car-free trip to see The Cromer Pier Show

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Norfolk is a fantastic place to explore at any time of year, but especially during the summer. There’s always so much going on, places to go and things to see. This summer, explore Norfolk a different way, on a car-free day out.

The great thing about planning a day out in Norfolk is that there are so many different options available. Whether you’re planning to travel by train, bus, bike or even walking, you can find a variety of route options on the Travel Norfolk website.

Save money with Group Save

We live in North Walsham so we’re on a great train route between Norwich and Sheringham. This means it’s really easy for us to get to both the city and seaside locations. Trains from Norwich to Cromer run roughly every hour or so and the journey only takes 15-20 minutes. By taking the train, you can forget about parking charges, keeping an eye on the time to make sure you’re back in time, and the cost of fuel.

As a family of four, we always look at the best way to buy tickets, with savings where possible. When travelling by train with 3 or more people ask for a Group Save ticket and save 1/3 on off-peak fares! This saving is valid any day, from any Greater Anglia train station. Our journey cost £13 instead of £18.55 with the Group Save discount!

Lunch and an ice-cream

To make the most of our day out, we headed to Cromer at lunchtime. There are so many options for places to eat such as McDonalds, Morrisons, a variety of cafes and of course, fish and chips! We chose Morrison’s on this occasion to take advantage of their Kids Eat Free offer, cutting our costs for the day even more. Afterwards, following a short walk through Cromer, we enjoyed an ice-cream overlooking the pier!

The Cromer Pier Show

Our day out in Cromer was all about The Cromer Pier Show! We experienced this for the first time last year for the Christmas-themed show and couldn’t wait to go again in the summer. Running from 1st July to 30th September, it’s a great family show with something for absolutely everyone.

Our show started at 4pm and it was nice to walk down to the theatre, watching people crabbing off the side of the pier and enjoying the nice weather. Doors open around 30 minutes before the show starts but you can sit with a drink in the newly refurbished Pavilion Bar before that.

Inside the theatre is really spacious and much more comfortable than some others we have been to. John is over 6ft and sometimes struggles with leg room but he had so much space in the Cromer Pier theatre. Booster seats are available for children, which was pointed out to us by the very helpful staff.

What acts can you expect to see?

Compere and host Phil Reid runs this year’s show and he was fantastic. As a comedian, he draws on things that people can relate to, such as changes to music through the decades. We all found him to be so funny, and the audience participation aspects we’re just amazing. Glad none of us got picked though!

Over the course of the summer, The Cromer Pier Show hosts some guest acts so this could be different depending on when you see it. Kev Orkian was our guest act, someone we’d seen previously elsewhere at Christmas. However, his set was completely different, with hilarious jokes and fantastic music.

To add a bit of excitement to the show is Duo Distanza, aka Jenna and Francisco. From these two you can expect beautiful aerial skills. Joining them on stage are singers, Ferdinand de-Leon and Jessica Pooleas well as dancers Emily Hardy, Milly Glynn, Cameron Taylor, Joe Douglass, Jordan Farrell, Meisha Guest.

An entertaining family show

From the minute the show started we were all hooked. There really is something for everyone in this show and that’s the great thing about variety. The comedy was maybe aimed more at adults, but Erin was still happy enough to laugh along where she thought she should. We all thoroughly enjoyed the singing and dancing numbers. There’s a real range of songs and genres so while you might not know some, you will know others. The Greatest Showman and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang play a big part in this year’s show so it’s very family-friendly.

A relaxing journey home

The show finished at 6:30, which meant we had 30 minutes until the next train home. The pier is only a 10-15 minute walk away from Cromer train station so this gave us plenty of time. The train was much quieter on the way home than it was on the journey to Cromer so we were able to get comfortable at a table seat.

Whenever we travel by train we take something for Erin to do, even on a short journey like this one. She was able to get a sketchbook and coloured pencils out and draw the whole way home. I actually think Erin would have liked to have stayed on the train to carry on with her drawing.

Discounts for travelling car-free

This year, Norfolk has become the first ever Good Journey county, offering discounts at various attractions when you visit car-free. There are so many great places to discover in Norfolk, and a great way to do this is by bus, train, bike or on foot!

If you fancy seeing The Cromer Pier Show for yourself, you can get 20% off when you travel by train or bus. Book via The Cromer Pier Show – Cromer Pier (you will be asked to produce a valid rail or bus ticket).

For all the info you need and to start planning your next car-free day out, make sure to visit the Good Journey site https://www.travelnorfolk.co.uk/good-journey/