Are you looking for attractions and activities that are wheelchair-friendly in Norfolk? This picturesque coastal county isn’t just beautiful, it’s also very accessible for wheelchair users.
Whether you’re visiting Norfolk on a trip or are already local to the county, you won’t run out of fun, interesting, and unique wheelchair accessible things to do. In this article, we’ve listed just five of our favourite Norfolk experiences that can be easily and comfortably accessed and enjoyed by wheelchair.
Where to go in Norfolk with a wheelchair
Norwich is a large, beautiful county with a wide and exciting array of wheelchair-friendly attractions and accessible places waiting to be enjoyed. Here are just five of our favourites:
Banham Zoo
Zoos will always be a family-favourite attraction, so it’s great to know that Banham Zoo is a wheelchair-friendly attraction. This zoo is home to some incredible animals, from African Black-Footed Penguins and Reticulated Giraffes to Amur Tigers and Sri Lankan Leopards. Enjoy multiple keeper talks about spider monkeys, meerkats, cheetahs and more, and learn about the zoo’s conservation efforts as you navigate the facility.
Banham Zoo has been designed so that people with a range of different needs have the chance to have a fantastic day out. The majority of the pathways are wide and flat, making them suitable for wheelchairs, and they offer a free wheelchair hire service when requested in advance. Banham Zoo has a fully equipped Changing Places toilet, which includes plenty of space, an accessible wash basin, rails and grabs, a privacy screen, adult-sized changing benches, hoists, and more to ensure users and any carers they may be present are comfortable.
Accessible parking spaces are available to those with a permit, sized 9ft 6in x 18ft 10in, and they are close to the zoo’s entrance, so you won’t have far to go from the car. If you need help, the friendly zoo team is on hand to offer any assistance required on arrival.
Getting there in your WAV: Banham Zoo is a 45-minute drive from Norwich, or a 20-minute drive from Thetford, clearly signposted on Kenninghall Road.
Accessible features: Accessible parking, wide and flat pathways, free wheelchair hire in advance, fully equipped Changing Places toilet.
Opening hours: The Zoo’s opening hours change seasonally.
November – March: Monday – Friday, 10am – 2pm. Weekends, 10am – 3pm. School holidays, 10am – 4pm.
April – October: Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm. Weekends, 10am-5pm. School holidays, 10am – 5pm.
The Norfolk Broads
The largest protested wetland in Britain, the Norfolk Broads is almost impossible to describe. Awe-inspiring, beautiful, and absolutely bursting with things to do, it’s simply an unmissable day (or multiple days) out when you’re in Norfolk.
The many businesses that provide the endless activities and attractions within the Norfolk Broads are dedicated to ensuring their experiences can be enjoyed by all, making the Broads a fantastic accessible attraction for wheelchair users. We’ll talk about just some of those experiences here, but for more, we recommend visiting the Norfolk Broads accessibility page, watching their informative video, and going through their extensive activities list.
Go sailing or canoeing with the Nancy Oldfield Trust in Neatishead. Offering disabled people an exciting day out on the water in a sailing boat, rafted canoe, pedal launch or motor cruiser, this charity helps everyone explore the beauty of the broads by water. They have specialist equipment, including hoists, to help people onto the sailing boats and canoes, and on their motor boats, they have hydraulic lifts to ensure safe access for those in a wheelchair.
For a journey through mysterious woodland, the Barton Board Walk is wheelchair accessible. This raised wooden walkway is flat and wide enough for wheelchairs, ensuring a smooth adventure on this 1.5-mile route, which features a spacious viewing platform for you to gaze out over the water. The area has remained isolated for half a century and is filled with wildlife for you to discover. There are resting places along the route for those who may need them.
Take a guided river trip on Ra, a solar-powered, wheelchair-accessible boat that has room for nine passengers, including up to four wheelchair users. With no engine sounds to spoil the atmosphere, you’ll be treated to a peaceful journey where you can spot much of the area’s incredible wildlife, including stunning Kingfishers. The guides are friendly, fun, and knowledgeable, ready to educate you about this tranquil area.
Getting there in your WAV: The Norfolk Broads are vast, with parts of them even edging into Suffolk. Find your chosen activity and visit their website for directions.
Accessible features: Each attraction and activity will have differing accessibility features and facilities, so visit their website or give them a call.
Opening hours: The businesses operating within the Norfolk Broads will have different opening hours, so visit their websites or give them a call to find out more.
Norwich
Spend a day (or more) in Norwich, Norfolk’s only city, which boasts a huge amount of history and culture, not to mention an endless number of fantastic places to eat. Norwich is home to several wheelchair-friendly attractions, with the majority of them within the small but bustling city, which itself can be easily navigated by wheelchair.
Norwich Castle is an incredible building, rich in history, which stands high above the city. As of summer 2025, the newly renovated Keep will be reopened to the public, ready to explore along with the rest of the castle’s wonderful exhibits. The castle is accessible via a step-free entrance very close to the main visitor entrance, or you can use the external lift. There’s a lift inside the castle to give access to the floors, but it’s important to note that a maximum of three wheelchair users are permitted above the ground level at one time, which is so that the staff can safely evacuate the castle in an emergency.
Visit Norwich Cathedral (one of two cathedrals in the city) and soak in its architectural grandeur. This cathedral has towered over Norwich for over 900 years, securing itself as a truly iconic Norfolk landmark.
Level access is found throughout the cathedral, ideal for wheelchair users, and there is also access to the Library, Hostry, Refectory Bakery and Cafe, Bowerbank and Weston rooms, and the Song School. Access to the Presbytery is possible via a ramp when you ask a verger, but unfortunately, this ramp is a little steep, so wheelchair users may require help using it. Heavier motorised wheelchairs will not be able to navigate this ramp. There are wheelchair accessible lifts in the cathedral, enabling users to reach the cafe and the library on the first floor, while the accessible toilets can be found on the ground floor. For unfortunate reasons, they have had to install a code on the toilets, which the staff will happily give you upon request.
Journey just outside of the city to discover the Sainsbury Centre, an incredible museum with an ever-changing rotation of fantastic exhibits across its three floors, all of which are wheelchair accessible via platform lifts. Home to art from across the world spanning 5,000 years, the staff here truly care about what’s on display and are ready to teach you all about the exceptional pieces. Accessible parking spaces are available for your WAV just a short trip from the building’s entrance, and a fully equipped Changing Places toilet is close in the UEA Science building by the museum.
Getting there in your WAV: As Norfolk’s only city, Norwich is very easy to reach by car and has a large number of car parks with accessible parking spaces, including St Giles car park, The Forum car park, and Chantry Place car park.
Accessible features: Each attraction and activity will have differing accessibility features and facilities, so visit their website or give them a call.
Opening hours: Norwich businesses will have different opening hours, so visit their websites or give them a call to find out what they are.
SEA LIFE Great Yarmouth
One for sea lovers, SEA LIFE is a must-visit wheelchair-friendly attraction for those who want to get up close and personal with the ocean’s inhabitants! Teeming with some of the world’s most amazing sea creatures, you can visit (and in some cases touch) seahorses, stingrays, tropical fish, crocodiles, penguins, and even sharks at Great Yarmouth’s SEA LIFE centre. Almost the entire facility is wheelchair accessible, including their amazing tropical ocean tank and tunnel, with just one raised penguin viewing platform that has step-only access. Fortunately, the penguins are still viewable from level areas.
The centre has fully equipped wheelchair-accessible Changing Spaces toilets, and while they don’t have their own parking, there are several car parks with wheelchair parking spots very close along the seafront, including St Nicholas car park, which has 23 disabled spaces and is a 6-minute walk from SEA LIFE.
Getting there in your WAV: SEA LIFE Great Yarmouth is found on the seafront in the centre of Great Yarmouth, clearly signposted. Great Yarmouth sits on the A47 and the A143.
Accessible features: Wide and flat indoor pathways, fully equipped Changing Spaces toilet, step-free access points.
Opening hours: SEA LIFE Great Yarmouth varies its closing times from month to month, so please check the centre’s opening hours page for more information.
Cromer beach
Being a coastal county, Norfolk is lucky enough to have some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. One of these is Cromer, a Blue Flag beach of sand and shingle, and a beautiful attraction in North Norfolk. This wonderful coastal town is famous for its delicious crabs, as well as its wheelchair-friendly wooden leisure pier, which stretches out over the sea. With lovely knick-knack shops, vibrant arcades, and endless fish and chip shops and ice cream parlours, this is the perfect place for a proper beach chair.
Wheelchair-friendly parking spots can be found on the west side of the promenade, giving access to the pier and beach, and in town, there is a lift that takes you from the top of the cliffs down to the east promenade. This same lift will also give you step-free access to the Rocket Cafe, with its balcony offering gorgeous views of the beach. There, you’ll find wheelchair-accessible toilets, which can also be found at the west prom. Ramps and slopes help you down onto the beach, but these can be covered depending on the sea and sand levels.
Getting there in your WAV: Cromer is around a 45-minute drive from Norwich along the A140. Designated accessible parking bays can be found along the promenade, and these offer easy access to the pier and beach.
Accessible features: Wheelchair-accessible parking, wheelchair-accessible lifts, wheelchair-accessible toilets, ramps to the beach.
Opening hours: Cromer Beach is open all day, all year long.
Plan your Norfolk WAV trip today
Do you have the right WAV for your Norfolk trip? If you’re looking for a new wheelchair-accessible vehicle, take a look at our range of new and used WAVs, both passenger and up-front designs, and find one ideally suited to your situation. We also offer WAV hire, ideal for making sure everyone can enjoy a day out if you’re not ready to buy a wheelchair vehicle just yet. If you need help, don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01473 727263 or visit us at 474 Felixstowe Road in Ipswich.
Visiting Norfolk’s neighbour and our home, Suffolk? Make sure to read our wheelchair-friendly days out in Suffolk postfor more fun attractions accessible by wheelchair.