Wroxham Barns - a great day out !

It was the first weekend of the school holidays and the sun was shining. We wanted to take the kids out somewhere but it wasn't quite warm enough for the coast and we didn't really want to spend ££ either. After doing a bit of research we plumped for Wroxham Barns.

Now, I've been going there since I was a kid and I was rather shocked to see that it opened in 1982 ! When I used to go with my parents it was nothing like what it is now but somewhere I still loved to go. We've been there once with son no1 but that was nearly 5 years ago !

It's really easy to find even though it's down a little country road but it's very well signposted from Wroxham. We arrived just after 12pm and decided to make lunch a priority before looking around the rest of the place. If it had been warmer we would have considered a picnic as there are plenty of places to do so but we decided to try their restaurant. We'd only had tea and cakes last time we went so we were interested to see their lunch options.

There were plenty of tables free as we were quite early and our very friendly waitress showed us to a table by the window and promptly took our drinks order. There is a good kids menu which doesn't feature "chips with everything" which is a great relief and even better they say they will do a smaller portion of anything off the adults menu if the child would prefer ! My two plumped for the sausage and mash with beans while I went for a jacket potato with tuna and the Husband went for a ham baguette. There were plenty of other hot options including something yummy sounding with pork belly and bruschetta.

The food arrived promptly and was steaming hot. The kids food looked lovely and a sneaky taste of the mash  proved to be very tasty too. The two sausages were fat, juice and rare breed. My potato came with a decent side salad and was filling and tasty while the baguette was declared delicious. The whole thing came to just over £30 which included two lots of (soft) drinks. I didn't mind paying that much though as it was good, freshly prepared food.

From there we went to the Junior Farm. This is quite pricey to get in for a family of 4 (£22) but you can come and go all day with the wrist band and bearing in mind you don't have to pay to get in to the Barns, it's not so bad.

We had a good wander around, the kids fed the sheep and donkeys. We saw the pigs and had to explain to son no1 that the "REALLY BIG FAT PIG" was actually pregnant and not just fat. They then went and made faces at the goats to try and get them to bleat (don't ask !) and finally got to hold a guinea pig. Son no1 loved this but son no2 wasn't quite so sure.  We could have also gone to the feeding session for the lambs but we were side tracked by the funfair. There is also a new soft play area within the Junior Farm but we didn't go in this time.

 not the "really big fat pig"

Off to the funfair which is a token operated affair with a few, well maintained rides, a little train and some slot machines. My children's favourite was the big bouncy slide by a long way ! There is also a new mini golf and a small adventure play area too.

Finally I insisted on a mooch around the shops. With the boys entertained with an ice cream I enjoyed a leisurely look around the shops. The Gallery has always been my favourite with all it's lovely quirky little bits. There is a decent toy area and some nice house-y stuff too. The other shops were great too, a good kids clothing shop and some more crafty shops. There is a food shop too but I was disappointed there wasn't some fresh cakes or other fresh produce available too. That aside I spent quite a bit on the local chutneys and relishes ! Next door there is also a brewery which was under construction when we were there.

We spend a good few hours at Wroxham Barns. The kids had a great time, we were well fed and watered and I even got some retail therapy in too. Definitely somewhere we'd go back to and I hope my kids have as good memories of the place as I do.