By Helen @routesforlittleboots and Naomi @norfolkplayparks
Even if you love a good romp around the country paths with nothing but a great sense of adventure, having a playpark to unleash them upon at the end of the walk is always a winner.
With the restrictions easing over the coming months, we compared notes to provide a small selection of pretty walks with a playpark for your armouries.
There are lots of other well-known places of course, such as Holt Country Park, Sandringham, Brandon Country Park, High Lodge and Eaton Park, amongst many more, but these are some of our favourites.
Maps of the walks are at the bottom of the Routes for Little Boots posts.
Castle Acre
Such an amazing area to explore. A quaint little high street with a lovely café for takeaways Fridays-Sundays. A Bailey gate, castle ruins, rivers and streams and priory ruins. Options to explore with or without a buggy and one of the best pooh sticks bridges in Norfolk down at the ford. See the full walk post here.
The playpark is just up Massingham Road, not far from the Castle Ruins. It’s new and full of great equipment like a zip wire, climbing frames and walls, swings, roundabouts and activity boards. See the full playpark post here.
Trowse
Spoilt for choice here with two lovely walks: Trowse Woods and Whitlingham Country Park! Trowse Woods are great for a woodland walk and Whitlingham Park is a good one for the pushchairs (with the added bonus of a café open for takeaways). See the walk here.
The play area is on The Street in Trowse and is huge! It has a zip wire, wooden train, climbing frame, assault course, swings amongst many more fab bits of equipment. See the playpark here.
Saxlingham Nethergate
We discovered this last summer and absolutely loved it! Starting at the cricket ground (free parking), it’s not a long walk but again has several options. You can stay car park side and do a short walk round the meadow, or cross the road to discover St. Mary’s ruins. One mile round max. Sadly no facilities here – the nearest café are The Foundry which hopefully will open their facilities soon! See the walk here.
The playpark is just by the car park and is great – lots of equipment and we could have stayed there for ages. Naomi hasn’t been here yet, but I’m officially recommending she visits!
Thornham
This is a great area, with options for little legs and pushchairs. Starting at the amazing Thornham Deli / Village Hall car park, you can either do an out and back along the Norfolk Coast Path with a buggy or do the Norfolk Trails Coastal Treasures walk (2 miles). Alternatively you can walk towards the Coast Path and loop back round, coming out near The Orange Tree. So many options. All lovely. See the walk here.
Outside the village hall is a fantastic, large play area, with sturdy equipment including an large climbing frame (with slide), assault course and climbing wall. See the playpark here.
Swannington
Such a stunning area. There are numerous paths you can take (sadly, not great for pushchairs this one) and you can either loop back round through the woods or walk up near to ‘From Farm to Fork’ and back round with beautiful views across the Wensum Valley. My usual summer route along the stream is underwater at the moment but there are lots of alternative routes through the woods! See the walk here.
The play area is new and a great one! It’s just up the road from Upgate Common on Swan Lane and you can walk across the field or take a short drive up there after a walk and park on the side of the road. Great equipment including a zip line, climbing frame and nest swing, as well as picnic benches for you to have a rest. See the playpark here.
