Yare View Holiday Cottages - Fun Days Out

Norwich Castle was built by William the Conqueror as a royal palace, and later served as a gaol before becoming a museum and art gallery. The medieval Castle Keep has rooms furnished to give an authentic sense of twelfth-century life, along with immersive storytelling.

Inside, The Gallery of Medieval Life, a British Museum partnership, displays over 900 objects. Other galleries cover art, archaeology and natural history, and there is also the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum. Temporary exhibitions and special events run through the year. It suits anyone curious about the Norman era and the castle's long story, from royal fortress to prison to museum.

Tip: Pre-booking tickets online gets you the best price for entry, and a free digital guide is available to help you explore the castle and its collections.

Banham Zoo is a 50-acre zoo in Norfolk, run by the Zoological Society of East Anglia, a registered charity. It opened to the public in 1968 and is the largest zoo in the region. Animals include giraffes, snow leopards, Amur tigers, cheetahs, red pandas, meerkats and California sea lions, along with a well-regarded collection of smaller monkeys.

The day mixes animal encounters with daily talks, live shows, outdoor play areas and seasonal events. There are animal experiences, including hand-feeding giraffes, and a Bird Garden reached by a short walk along a meandering path. Families will find plenty to fill a day, and the activities are designed for all ages. Money from tickets also supports the zoo's conservation work.

Tip: Check the website's what's on page before you go, as daily talks and seasonal events change, and you can book tickets online in advance.

Blickling Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean country house near Aylsham in Norfolk, set in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the River Bure. It was built after 1616 for Sir Henry Hobart on the ruins of a Tudor house once held by the Boleyn family, and it is now cared for by the National Trust.

Inside, the library holds one of the most historically significant collections of manuscripts and books in Britain, with an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 volumes. Outside, the grounds include a lake, a ha-ha and a Doric Temple. During the Second World War the house served as the Officers' Mess of nearby RAF Oulton, and the RAF Oulton Museum on site tells that story. A statue and portrait of Anne Boleyn carry an inscription saying she was born here.

Tip: Head for the library first if you only have limited time, as it is the house's most celebrated feature.

Framlingham Castle is a Norman-era castle in the Suffolk market town of Framlingham, now looked after by English Heritage. Its curtain wall has thirteen towers and no central keep, and you can follow the wall-top walk right round the defences. Panels point out the town, the outer earthworks and the Mere, and the tall Tudor chimneys on the towers each have a different brick design.

Inside, an exhibition tells the castle's stories, from medieval aristocrats and a Tudor queen to the poorhouse children of the Georgian workhouse that once stood here. A free audio guide is available, and families can try on costumes and play interactive games. There is somewhere to stop for a bite too. It suits history fans, families and anyone who likes a good view over a pretty town.

Tip: Book advance tickets online to save money on the gate price, and pick up the free audio guide to get more from the wall walk.

Bressingham is a steam museum and gardens just west of Diss. The museum has several railways running through the grounds, including the Fen Railway and the Waveney Valley Railway, and a locomotive shed where you can get close to the engines. You can also ride the Gallopers, a three-abreast fairground ride built by Frederick Savage in 1897, and see steam rollers, traction engines and other vehicles in the collection.

There is plenty to see on foot too. Walk down the main street of Walmington-on-Sea, with its Dad's Army displays and vehicles, and look round the railway exhibits in the museum. The gardens next door are a separate, privately owned part of the site. They include the Dell Garden with its island beds, and a miniature railway runs through it, giving clear views of the flower beds. It suits steam enthusiasts, Dad's Army fans and anyone who likes a garden.

Tip: Check the train running timetable on the Bressingham website before you go, so you can plan your rides around the day.

Oxburgh Hall is a moated medieval manor house near Swaffham, with Victorian Gothic interiors. It was built in the 1480s for the Bedingfeld family, who still live in private apartments there. You cross the moat to a tall brick gatehouse, then explore the hall, which has a priest hole and needlework hangings worked by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick.

Outside, there is a Victorian garden with a kitchen garden and orchard, a French-style parterre, a wilderness area and My Lady's Wood. The parkland sits on the edge of the Norfolk Brecks, and there are woodland walks including a Woodland Explorer trail. The National Trust says families can build dens and hunt for secret doorways. The Servants' Hall tea-room is there for a break, and there is a shop and a second-hand bookshop.

Tip: Parking is free on site, and the hall is about 250 metres from the main car park along a flat gravel path.

The Muckleburgh Military Collection sits on a former military camp at Weybourne on the North Norfolk coast, a site used for anti-aircraft training in the Second World War. Exhibits include working tanks, armoured cars, artillery, anti-aircraft guns, missiles and light weapons, plus displays on the Norfolk and Suffolk Yeomanry and on sea rescue and reconnaissance.

Most of the collection is indoors, with some vehicles and facilities outside. There is a café serving hot and cold meals, and an outdoor picnic and play area near it, which is handy with children. Visitors typically spend three to four hours here, depending on how thoroughly they look around. Dogs aren't allowed inside, but there are sheltered kennels with beds and water. The site has wheelchair access.

Tip: The collection closes for the season, so check its website for current opening before you travel. Parking on site is free for paying visitors.

Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex in Norfolk, 8 km north east of Brandon. Miners worked here from around 2600 to 2300 BC, digging shafts into the chalk to reach seams of flint, which was much in demand for making polished stone axes. Some of the largest shafts are more than 14 m deep and 12 m wide at the surface.

The ground is pockmarked with the filled-in shafts, and the scheduled monument covers some 37 hectares. Anglo-Saxons named it after their god Grim, and its purpose was only uncovered when Canon William Greenwell excavated a shaft in 1868 to 1870. The miners used red deer antler picks, and one shaft appears to have been turned into a shrine. The site is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, so it's a good stop for anyone curious about prehistory and open landscape.