Tucked away in a dense green Norfolk forest, BeWILDerwood is a hidden East Anglian gem, with so much to explore and do for families with children of all ages.
Where is BeWILDerwood Norfolk?
A Suffolk Mum's Experience at BeWilderwood Norfolk
Arrival
On arrival, you walk through the entrance into the woodland and instantly become transported into what feels like an enchanted wonderland! With the canopy of shaded green above, there’s then a blanket of ferns and winding walkways in all directions, broken up with these vast wooden structures to play on and colourful glimpses of the places where the mythical characters inhabit.
It’s best to buy your tickets in advance from the website (they do sell some on the gate on the day, but they often sell out). It’s also good to download your tickets onto your phone before you get there, as the internet signal can be pretty patchy.
BeWILDerwood Boat Trip
Once through the entrance, you can then start your journey into the park by boat, or by following the winding woodland paths. The boat is a lovely introduction to the park. But my top tip would be, if it’s busy and you have little ones with you that might struggle to queue, it’s often worth coming back to the boat trip later during your visit. It can take a little while to get onto the boat and the other route round is very short. It is quieter later and the boat runs all day.
It is definitely worth doing though, as it gives a different perspective to the woodland view and there’s also a funny surprise along the way (that I won’t spoil for you) involving one of the characters.
A Woodland Adventure
Now let’s get onto the fun stuff – what’s in the BeWILDerwood woodlands that fun for children? Essentially, it’s a huge clearing in the woods filled with different treetop structures all set up to climb and explore. There’s ladders and nets to climb, mazes and puzzles to solve and giant rope bridges looping it together, and that’s not even half of it. It really is a sight to behold when you look around and my children certainly were so excited on arrival, they didn’t know where to start!
The adventure park is also themed. It’s based around Tom Blofeld series of books and the characters are featured throughout the attraction. There’s also regular story times throughout the day which is wonderful for younger children, in bringing these stories to life.
What ages is BeWILDerwood Norfolk best for?
We visited with our two children (nine and eleven) and I did wonder if they might be a bit old for some of the activities, but this really wasn’t the case. The adventure park has different areas catering to children big and small and mine loved all of the big structures – especially the mazes and zipwires. They also spent a considerable amount of time on the big swings and even in the craft tent. It all feels cleverly thought out – alongside some smaller play areas for little ones on the ground levels, most of the structures can be tackled by the majority of ages.
Activities at BeWILDerwood Norfolk
There was a good mix of activities that my children could do on their own and then also some family fun together. We got ridiculously lost in the mazes, which was funny and I enjoyed feeling like a big kid again going down the high slides. The only thing I’d point out, is that if you’re taking adventurous pre-schoolers, you are going to be climbing up and around with them all day. So I’d recommend wearing trousers and closed shoes. There’s also lots of bark that easily gets in your sandals, or flip flops everywhere. So I found trainers were a good option.
You don’t have to do everything though. Once you get to slides, there are also options to climb down instead and helpful staff on hand at the zipwires to help the children going on.
The park was busy, but never felt too crowded, being surrounded by so much nature with so much space for everyone, it has got a surprisingly calm atmosphere, for a busy family attraction. Another thing I liked about BeWILDerwood is that once you’ve paid the entrance fee, apart from food – all the different activities are included: the boat rides, story time and even face painting. So, it felt nice being able to easily say yes to everything.
Food and Drink at BeWILDerwood Norfolk
For lunch we were surprised by the wealth of options available. The food all tasted homemade and the menu even had a variety of items for different dietary requirements. I saw lots of people ordering the vegan hotdog and I enjoyed all the extras I could choose and add to my coffee. My daughter went for the hotdog (A BeWILDerwood Banger) I had a very tasty jacket potato with chilli and my son was super impressed with one of the specials of the day – a fish finger sub.
Final Thoughts
We arrived at midday and left just before closing at 5pm and even after five hours my children could have happily stayed longer. All in all, the park was a wonderful family day out. A great way to get tweens running around being active without even knowing, in a unique and magical setting, perfect to enjoy some wholesome activities together.
We hope this review will help you plan your next family day out at BeWILDerwood, Norfolk.
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