The summer is well and truely here and now is the time to book your boating holiday!  I know times are hard and each week is difficult to get by, but you need time away. You need a holiday. A holiday with the family will lift your spirits and renew your energy levels. Spending time on the water is the quickest way to relax. Fact.

When I step aboard the boat and look around the worries and stress just disappears. Try it. Book a holiday afloat right now. It could be a canal holiday on one of the wonderful canals that transverse this wonderful country. Or a boat trip on the Norfolk Broads, travelling along one of the rivers and mooring up beside a pub. Perhaps it will be a holiday on a Scottish loch with the family. Whatever the break you choose, it will be worthwhile. Just decide to do it.

Wroxham is a lively village set on the River Bure and could be the starting point for your Norfolk Broads boating holiday. You could boat hire from Summercraft, based at Wroxham, with one of their well maintained comfortable cruisers. The company also provide the opportunity to hire a cottage as well as a boat for your holidays. So you could spend a week on the boat followed by a week at the cottage!

In Wroxham there are several places of interest, starting with The Old Mill which is a friendly, family run business, and is situated in the centre of the Broads village.  It has outside seating, ideal for those people who like to sit and watch the world go by. Then you could move onto the Arts and Crafts shop, to buy some presents for those at home!  Or visit the Anvil Wrought Iron shop to see the wonderful work done by these skilled blacksmiths.

If you are looking to buy a present for someone special, then visit Bradley Hatch Jewellers, near Roys Garden Centre.Having spent sometime in Wroxham you will be keen to set off on your cruise along the River Bure eastwards towards Malthouse Broad. As you motor along the river you will see some superb wildlife, not only the ducks but also rare birds visiting the broads on their way south. Horning is your next main village which is worth stopping and mooring up for the afternoon. The village is very pictureque with thatched buildings to photograph and wonderful pubs to have a drink in. Horning is some 10 miles from Norwich, 17 miles from Great Yarmouth and 3 miles from Wroxham, the main town of the Norfolk Broads. There is an attractive river green and a quay where you can moor free for 24 hours. In and around Horning there are several interesting shops, pubs, hotels and places to eat and one can while away the time watching the activity on the busy river.

As you set off again along the River Bure you will come to a junction in the river. I suggest you stop off at Thurne. The village contains a pub, a gift shop and plenty of public moorings for boats along Thurne Dyke. There are many local paths offering good walks, for example, the long distance footpath “The Weavers Way” passes through the village. There is an attractive church located just outside of the village. The nearby small village of Repps is situated halfway between Thurne and Potter Heigham. It contains riverside bungalows and a lovely church.

If you decide to take the northwards path of the river, you join the River Thurne and can travel up to Potter Heigham, which is one of the major boating centre’s on the Norfolk Broads. There is a famous medieval bridge which gives access to the Upper Thurne, Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere. This bridge needs some skill to pass under and you may enlist some help if the water is high. The banks of the River Thurne at Potter Heigham are lined with waterside bungalows, which can only be accessed by foot or boat. The famous Lathams store is located here, as well as a pub, chip-shop and gift shop and newsagent. The main village itself is located the other side of the road and is mainly residential, but does contain the lovely village church.

Further along the River Thurne you eventually come to Hickling. This is a large and scattered village with wide open spaces, fields and farms, one third is marsh and common land with a large expanse of water covering over 400 acres. The houses are a mixture of old and new, with flint and stone, some thatched and colour washed. Hickling Broad is the largest of all the Norfolk Broads. The village has a fine fourteenth century church, St Mary’s, a building consisting of stone and polished flints, with chancel, nave, and aisles, south porch and parvis, a square embattlement tower housing five bells. Well worth a visit to view and take photos. The village sign is an artist’s impression of the old priory ruins and has four roundels depicting the reed cutter, swallow-tail butterfly, the bittern and a peat digger. The priory was founded in 1185 and its monks were granted a charter by King John to hold a weekly market at Town Street for the sale of their produce. So plenty of history here!

Your cruise will be full of interesting things to see and do, so why not book a boating holiday here.