HISTORIC NORWICH IN THE HEART OF NORFOLK BROADS two weeks available from 20/06/2026
House • Norfolk United Kingdom
5 Guests
3 Bedrooms
3 Beds
2 Bathrooms
1 Car space
Primary home
Exchange types accepted
Simultaneous
Non-Simultaneous
Non-Reciprocal
Hospitality
Statistics
Listed February 2022
Views 3622
General Overview
We live in the lovely historic city of Norwich in the East of England. Norwich is the most complete medieval city in the UK. It's the perfect base to explore this part of the country. The area offers endless activities. We have beautiful, quiet and unspoilt sandy beaches and a massive network of rivers and lakes (The Norfolk Broads) around us. Whether you are a city person who is after a cultural experience or you are into walking, bird watching, canoeing, sailing, wild swimming, fishing, cycling, river boat cruising and many more, you are at the right place.
We must mention that Norfolk is home to England's largest grey seal colony with over 4000 pups being born each year. It's an unforgettable experience to see these animals in the wild. One of the places you can see the seals is Horsey Gap and it's only a 40 minute drive.
If you fancy a day trip to London, there is a direct train to central London and the journey time is 2 hours.
Cambridge is also within an easy reach and perfect for a day trip.
We've got 4 bicycles that we can make available to our guests.
The Space
We live in a terraced house with friendly neighbours all around. Downstairs there is a kitchen, living room, small bathroom (with shower) and a study. Upstairs there are three bedrooms. Two double bedrooms with double beds and one single bedroom with an extra optional pull out child mattress. There is also another bathroom with a bath upstairs.
Downstairs you can access the garden through the kitchen or living room. We love spending time in our garden. It's very private and not overlooked. We always have some new ideas each spring how to make it different and better. There is a roofed decking area with seating and also a pub bench that can accommodate up to 6 people if you wish to have a meal in the garden. We have an outdoor firepit that we often use on summer evenings. There is also a barbecue.
We are looking for cat friendly people, as we'll be leaving our cat (Moggie) behind. She is very independent and has a cat flap. She only needs feeding and some cuddles of course:) If you want to leave her for a night that's not a problem as she can manage on dry food. We can also ask our neighbours to check up on her.
Guest Access
There are two floors in our house, ground and first floor with twelve steps leading up. We've got a driveway for one car and additional free street parking in front of the house.
Click on availability periods to see exchange types and descriptions.
Non-reciprocal Only
Neighbourhood
We live on a quiet cul-de-sac, so there is no through traffic. It's a friendly and safe residential area where everyone knows each other.
Getting to my home
Stansted airport is 1.5h drive away. 2 hours by train.
Luton airport 2 hours drive away.
Norwich airport is only 10 min drive away but it has limited options.
The train station is only a 15 minute walk away from the house.
There are direct trains to Central London and the journey time is about 2 hours. By car it also takes 2 hours ( north London).
Cambridge by train and car is 1h 20 min away.
Nearest airport
Norwich airport - 10 minutes drive
London Stansted - 1h 30 minutes drive or 2 hours train journey.
Getting Around
There is a nearby bus stop 2 minutes away that you can use to get to the centre if you don't fancy walking 20 minutes. But if you do, it's a lovely walk along the river. There is a mini supermarket just round the corner from us for essential items. The nearest Aldi is a 10 minute walk. Morrisons is 20 minutes by walk. Nothing is too far in Norwich, but if you want to make the most of your stay and see the Norfolk countryside it's easier if you have a car. Having said that, we had a family staying at ours without a car and they managed fine with public transport only. .
We had a truly wonderful stay at Tomasz’ home. A truly nice and clean home and we were welcomed with cut flowers, groceries for the first day and some sweets. Tomasz did his utmost to make sure we could stay in their home with our quite large family.
A well prepared manual helped us through the ins and outs of their home, appliances and surroundings. We enjoyed the garden and had a lovely time in Norwich; including the Norwich Pride and several beautiful places in Norwich’ surroundings. We had a nice and warm contact through what’s app over time if we had some questions and although we truly cared for cat Moggy we didn’t see her often.
A warm recommendation for a stay in Tomasz home!
I had a really lovely stay, the house was immaculately clean, the bed was extremely comfortable, we enjoyed the outlook and waking to the gentle sound of birds in the garden. The close is quiet but pretty near to the centre. I hired an electric Beryl bike nearby a few times (even though Tomasz had kindly offered their push bikes) & it was perfect to visit our daughter at the University of East Anglia. Tomasz kindly left a welcome pack of milk, bread, wine & use of essentials if we needed. The two bathrooms were useful when there were four of us in the house. I stayed longer on my own & enjoyed the company of Moggie the cat who after being nervous at first had become friendly & talkative! Parking on the drive is another useful rarity in Norwich.
I'm so glad this last minute request was accepted by Tomasz, firstly because it saved us quite a bit of expense, and secondly because it's much nicer to stay in a home & this is certainly a lovely one.
Thank you Tomasz, Magdi & Olivia, we hope you enjoyed Egypt x
Hi Emma,
Thank you for your lovely review. We just got back from our holiday last night. Thank you so much for leaving the house super clean and making up the beds for us. We are so pleased that you had a nice time.
Best wishes,
Tomasz and family
We had the chance to meet Tomasz, Magdi and Olivia.
Their house is very nice and quiet. We enjoyed the garden. The city offers a lot of activities (museums, outdoor activities and sports).
Many things can be done by foot or by bike.
We enjoyed discovering the region and the weather was with us.
The house is very well equipped and we took care of the garden with pleasure.
We loved hearing that Tomasz and family had enjoyed staying at Bank Cottage and we’re only sorry that we did not have the chance to meet them.
The cottage was left very tidy and clean we would welcome them back at any time!
We met Tomasz and his family on the day of the exchange. I was totally stressed as we had a massive water leak the day before and had to dig up the front garden. Tomasz and his family accepted this, and did not complain. My husband spoke to them and he said they were really a lovely family. They bought many Polish gifts, to many to mention. They left the villa totally imaculate, and even hosed down the outside area which is big. This is my cleaners job, but thank you Thomasz. We are glad they had a good holiday, and used the globes for a stay in London and Edinburgh. Should you exchange with Thomaz, yes, you will not know they have been there :)
Please see previous feedback. A family that was a pleasure to exchange with. Thank you Tomasz and family.
Tomasz and Magdi were wonderful guests in our home. They looked after our house so carefully and even filled our many bird feeders so the birds would not go hungry while we were away! At the end of their stay, they left the house even cleaner than they found it. It was great that we were able to meet for a coffee during their week in our home and it was a wonderful, relaxed get together. They are delightful people and so easy to get on with. When we got home after their stay not only did we find a spotless house, but they had washed and dried all the bedlinen and towels and left us a wonderful basket of goodies. Tomasz enjoys fishing and having caught some trout in a local lake, he left two beautiful fish for us in the freezer, all ready to eat. We would absolutely recommend having Tomasz and Magdi as guests and hope they will visit our place again.
We had the pleasure to have lunch together, they are charming. Texting, mailing or meeting with Magdi and Tomasz were easy and friendly. we thank them for trusting us for their first exchange. Olivia took good care of our cat.
Their neighbours Eva, Malcolm and Humphrey are as pleasant as they are welcoming. Our holiday was great thanks to all of them.
We have just returned from an amazing week of holiday at Fiona's cottage. The village of Porthallow is located in a hidden, pretty little cove with a tranquil beach and crystal clear waters. The cottage is just a few steps up from the beach and you can have spontaneous swims any time of the day. It's a perfect place for snorkeling, fishing, kayaking as the water is always very calm. It was like having our very own private beach as it was always very quiet. We even made fire on the beach one night and watched the stars. Bank cottage is special. We loved the views onto the sea from
the lounge and the roof terrace. The open plan kitchen diner is very practical and spacious. The beds and bedding were luxurious and we had the best sleep.
The area is just full of great places to visit and we had a few favourites such as Mullion Cove, Portleven, Trebeh gardens, Church Cove and Falmouth. Porthkerris is a great spot for mackerel fishing and it's only a few minutes drive from the cottage. We wish we had time to see more.
Fiona is a great host. She gave us very detailed recommendations prior to our arrival and stayed in touch throughout our holiday.
This was one of our best PLU stays and we wish we could return one day. Thank you very much Fiona and John!
We are so pleased that you all enjoyed your stay at Bank Cottage.
This is the second week of the same holiday. Please see previous feedback. Perfect stay, thank you!
We had an amazing two week stay at Helen and Norman's home. Just before our exchange, they had a last minute emergency with their mains water leak. Luckily it was still fixed but unfortunately Helen and Norman missed their flight because of this and had to postpone their travel. They still moved out and didn't cancel our exchange. We are so grateful that they were still able to accommodate us in these stressful times.
The house is perfect, spotlessly clean, and functional. The beds were very comfortable. We really enjoyed the swimming pool and the outdoor BBQ area. The garden is very quiet and not overlooked, even though there are neighbouring houses, but it's all very well designed for privacy. The house is well located and is an easy walk away from Caleta de Fuste beach and harbour. If you are into swimming and snorkeling, beach La Guiria is perfect and not as busy as the main beach. We also had some day trips to Lobos and Morro Jable and they were both amazing. We didn't explore the island as much as we originally planned, but it felt right to slow down and enjoy the house and the local area. Thank you so much Helen and Norman and also special thank you to your daughter! All the best, Tomasz and family
We had the pleasure to spend a week at Maya's and John's amazing home. The location is very remote and picturesque, surrounded by hills, rivers, waterfalls and sheep. There is plenty to do in the area, especially if you like nature and walks. From the house there is an immediate access to Glyndwr's way National Trail footpath. We also liked the nearby Hafren forest and walked to the source of River Severn. It's also great for foraging. We found plenty of bilberries and wild mushrooms in the forest. The nearby Clywedog reservior is also a beautiful area and it is one of the best trout fisheries in the UK. Maya's and John's house is so special. It has so much character and it's very cosy and quiet. It was spotlessly clean and our super king-size on-suite bedroom felt like a five star hotel room. Their garden is beautiful with a lot of wildlife and so many different species of birds. Maya and John are great hosts. We were welcomed with a basket of homemade goodies of cake, bread, marmalade and some essentials. Communication was very easy throughout and we were lucky enough to meet up Maya and John in the nearby town for a coffee. They are so friendly and easy to talk to. It was really nice to have the opportunity to meet in person. Thank you Maya and John for this great experience. We feel privileged to have been able to stay in your home and hopefully we can return one day.
Niels and his family stayed in our home for two weeks as part of a globe exchange. We didn't have a chance to meet in person, but were keeping in touch regularly before and during their stay. They seem to be a lovely family. They respected our home and left it very clean and tidy, which couldn't have been easy with five young children. They must be all very well behaved. We even got some cute artwork, that the children prepared for our return. There were also some beautiful flowers waiting for us and a lovely new plant for our garden. They also took good care of our cat, which is very much appreciated. Having Niels and his family in our home has been a very positive experience in our PLU journey and we would definitely recommend them as guests.
It was a pleasure to host Emma, Paul, Rosie and Lily in our home. Communication with Emma was pleasant and effortless. The house was left very clean and Emma even changed the bed linen and left us some essentials for our return.
Even though we didn't meet in person, it's been such a positive experience and we could not have wished for better guests. We are glad you enjoyed your stay.
Best wishes, Tomasz and family
We have just completed our first ever sim exchange with Eloïme and Yoann in France. Their house and garden is very spacious, comfortable and very well equipped. We particularly enjoyed the outside sitting area and the swimming pool. Some days we just relaxed at home and had a bbq, played cards under the shade of the trees (it was extremely hot weather) and cooled down in the pool. It was a pleasure to look after the little vegetable garden and the animals. The nearby town, Angers is very pretty and is definitely worth a trip or two with lots of places to visit and dine out. We really enjoyed our holiday and it was such a positive first exchange experience.
It was such a nice gesture of Eloïme and Yoann to wait for our arrival and welcome us with lunch. It was a great opportunity to meet them and their delightful three children Elea, Chine and Liam. Communication throughout the exchange was easy and regular. They took good care of our house, garden and cat and even made friends with our neighbours,which is lovely.
This member has chosen to hide this section from Non-Premium members.
People Like Us is the world's most trusted home exchange community. We believe in sharing, trust, generosity, respect, communication, equality, cooperation, honesty, hospitality, friendship, flexibility and adventure. We take pride in our homes and we care about the environment in which we live: our village, city, country and our planet. We care about the ethos of home exchange and we do it because we love the experience and the friendships that it generates.
Cow Tower, Norwich river walk from our house to the city centre
River Wensum, Norwich
Elm Hill, Norwich
Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Market
Norwich Pride
Marriott's Way, an old railway track converted into a cycle/pedestrian way. Great day trip.
River Wensum, Marriott's Way. A little stop for wild swimming during our cycling trip.
Sailing lesson, Whitlingham Broad
Somewhere, Norfolk Broads
St Benet's Abbey by river Bure.
Salhouse Broad. One of the locations on the Broads where you can hire canoes. 15 minutes drive from us.
Water's Edge pub, river Yare. Thera are many riverside pubs along the main rivers where you can stop for lunch or a pint.
You can hire a day boat and you don't need any licence to do so. 5 minutes introduction and off you go. With day boat you are able to cover greater distances. There are many places where you can rent a boat and the closest is based in Norwich, a few minute drive from us.
Mississippi River Boat Trip.
Nice and safe swimming spot for kids. River Bure, a 15 minute drive from us.
Sea Palling. Our closest beach. 40 minutes drive.
Excellent Sea Bass fishing. May - September
Sea Palling
Brancaster beach
My daughter on the ship wreck, Brancaster.
Taxi boat to Scolt Head Island
Scolt Head Island
Scolt Head Island. Unbelievable place, well worth a day trip. Just make sure to check the tides. You can walk there at low tide from Burnham Overy Staithe or take a taxi boat on upcoming tide.
Foraging for cockles at Stiffkey
Norfolk Coast Path, a long distance footpath in Norfolk running 83 miles from Hunstanton to Hopton on Sea.
Horsey Gap
Seal watching, Horsey Gap
Seal watching - Horsey Gap
Holkham Beach
Deer at Holkham Hall
Blickling Hall
View point over Norwich from Britannia Road, just a few minutes walk from our house.