Think farm, farm shop and campsite and you probably think of the open countryside. So it’s fair to be surprised when you learn that this campsite, set near a secluded fruit orchard surrounded by plum and apples, is actually secreted away on the outskirts of Norwich. The result is a prime location not just for exploring the Broads and rural Norfolk but also for hopping on a bus and venturing into the historic city centre. You can visit a cathedral and busy market by morning and be padding the beaches with an ice-cream by the afternoon.
Three miles from the city centre and four miles from Wroxham (the unofficial ‘capital’ or the Norfolk Broads), White House Farm is a farm shop, butchers and café that’s been a popular pick-your-own location for generations. The new campsite, set in a meadow just beyond the public farm shop area, is home to around 30 camping pitches, along with a clutch of bell tents you can hire if you’re too lazy to pitch your own. Facilities consist of all the basics – flushing, hot gas powered showers and washing-up stations – while campfires are very much allowed and offer a rustic way to cook the fresh produce you buy in the shop.
A bus stop near the farm entrance makes for a handy way to reach the city centre but, if you don’t mind paying for parking, it’s also a very easy five-minute drive. In the opposite direction, meanwhile, adventures in the Norfolk Broads await. Hire boats in Wroxham for a day out on the water or head to Horstead and Cotishall where there are good pubs and a nice riverside walk upstream and, at Horstead, the site of a former watermill where you can swim in the old mill pond. Further afield, it’s a half-hour to the coast, with good beaches at Sea Palling, Happisburgh and Cromer, to name but a few, with National Trust properties en route including Blickling and Felbrigg Hall.