We are lucky to have so many amazing places to have a day out here in Norfolk but as a non-driving family I always thought some of them were too hard for us to get to. This was what I thought about Bewilderwood Norfolk! We have been before but I think Erin was about 2 and we were only able to as we had someone drive there. This year we decided to figure it out though and we finally made it back for a day out.
How to get there
As I said, we don’t drive so we had to figure out public transport for our day out at Bewilderwood. We were able to get a train to Hoveton and Wroxham station and then a short taxi ride costing £7 each way. Although this isn’t the easiest way to get there and there is then an additional cost, it does mean that it is possible for a lot of non-drivers.
If you’re driving then you might need to put the postcode (NR12 8JW) into a SatNav. There is a large car park available which is free and you can park there all day. As a rough guide, travel time in a car is about half an hour from either Norwich or Cromer.
What does it cost?
You can find the standard entrance fees below: (accurate as of June 2020)
| Born to BeWILD (under 92cm) | Free |
| Almost WILD (92-105cm) | £17.50 |
| BeWILD Now (over 105cm) | £19.50 |
| Still WILD (65+ years) | £12.50 |
Yearly passes are also available and are priced as follows:
| Almost WILD (92-105cm) | £75 |
| BeWILD Now (over 105cm) | £80 |
| Still WILD (65 years+) | £50 |
Food and drink
One of the great things about Bewilderwood is that you can stay all day but you will definitely need to refuel at some point. There is plenty of space to sit and picnics are welcomed as long as you clean up after yourselves. This is an easy and cheap option especially if you’re with young children who might not want to wait to get other food.
Bewilderwood does also sell a range of food and drink though including hot dogs, baked potatoes, soups and sandwiches. The prices are really quite reasonable for a family attraction like this and there is something to suit everyone. Kids can get a plain cheese or ham roll if they’re like something like this and I loved to see that this was catered for.
Fun for all ages
Before we had our first visit a few years ago I wasn’t sure what ages Bewilderwood was suitable for. There really is something for children of all ages though, including little ones as young as two. The map has colour coded areas showing which things might be suitable and where they are.
Bewilderwood has various zip lines in different places and there is one suitable for everyone. In the Wobbly Wires area you will find two quite big zip lines for older children but also one smaller one for young children. Erin went on the smaller one the first time she visited aged 2 but now she was big enough for the others. We liked that there was different options and children could start off on a smaller zip wire if this is something they might not have been on before.
The Towering Treetop Tangles (pictured below) is one of the newer attractions at Bewilderwood and has only been there since 2019. Like much of Bewilderwood this is an area where you and children can explore in a tree top like play area. There are ropes to climb, places to run and hide and of course, look out to see what there is to see.
One of the big attractions at Bewilderwood is the Sky Maze (pictured below). The maze is absolutely huge and there are plenty of different ways that you can get lost in there. Some of the pathways are quite narrow and can be a bit of a squeeze for larger adults but we didn’t find anywhere that we couldn’t go.
On top of these 3 amazing areas there is also the Slippery Slopes, Broken Bride, Den Building and the Muddle Maze, just to name a few.
Inclusive activities
Included in your entrance are a couple of cool activities which run throughout the day. One of these is the craft area which can be found near the Munch Bar and Slippery Slopes. During our visit this was running between 11am and 4pm with limited entry due to Covid. We only waited about 5 minutes to get in though and the whole area was run really well.
Erin was able to make either her own crown or tiara and we were told that we could take any craft items we didn’t use home as they’re not able to reuse them any more.
Another free activity can be found at the Storytelling Stage. These were roughly every hour on the hour throughout the day but finishing at 3pm. We sadly didn’t get time to go and listen to a story but there is plenty of seating at the stage and the stories vary throughout the day too.
Something all three of us love is the Bewilderwood boat that takes you along the Scaaaaary Lake. You can go on the boat right from opening time at 10am however this gets very busy very quickly as people tend to go there straight away. We were told there would be a 50 minute wait and we arrived at opening time. A top tip is that there is another place to get on a boat if you go left from the entrance instead of right. This opened at 11:30am instead of 10am and we went back at 11:15am. We only waited the 15 minutes until this opened and then we were straight on a boat.
Facilities
Something I was really glad to see was that there are two different sets of toilets at either end of Bewilderwood. When you are running around and having fun with smaller children especially you might need to get to a toilet fast. It only ever took us about 5 minutes to be able to get to a toilet if we needed one.
Another thing I noticed was that near the Munch Bar there was some huts available for breastfeeding parents. In somewhere so busy it’s nice that Bewilderwood have provided somewhere a bit quieter and a bit more private for this.
How long do you need?
This one is of course, subjective, but from experience you can easily spend the whole day at Bewilderwood. On this particular occasion we arrived at 10am when it opened and left just after 5pm when they closed. We did manage to do most things apart from going to the den building area and Erin got to go on some things like the zip lines multiple times. At nearly £60 for tickets for 3 of us I like to make the most of our money and get a full day out.
PIN IT FOR LATER
This place sounds like so much fun. Love the Sky Maze that looks like so much fun and so do the various zip wires.
Love Bewilderwood. It is such a magical place for kids, we love all of the activities there and the outdoor area is just amazing. Good to know it can be reached if you don’t drive.
I love the look of this place, it looks so much fun for kids to run around and have some freedom. I like the look of the lake!
We visited several years ago now! And it still tops the boys list of best days out ever! We really need to go back I think its is brilliant value for money and there is so much to do for all ages.