Breckland has one of the most distinctive landscapes in the UK and boasts its best overall climate with low rainfall and hot Summers. This is the place for eco-adventure.
Thetford Forest has communal areas for barbeques.
The area comprises vast forests of native coniferous softwood, unique lines of Scots pines called ‘Deal Rows’ that are derelict hedgerows, patches of classic historic heathland that were formed thousands of years ago by the felling and burning of forests for grazing land, and wide arable fields. Also unique to the Brecks are the prehistoric Pingos.
The gateway to the Brecks is the ancient riverside town of Thetford, which is a perfect base from which to begin your exploration of the area’s diversity, its outstanding wildlife, rich history and fun outdoor activities. The town is on the railway line between Cambridge and Norwich.
The statue of Thomas Paine, the man who saved the American Revolution.
This is the birthplace of 18th century radical Thomas Paine, whose thinking encouraged American independence and the abolition of slavery, and where the BBC’s Dad’s Army was filmed – look out for statues of Paine and Captain Mainwaring in the town centre.
To the north is the beautifully-preserved market town of Swaffham (where Tutankhamen archaeologist Howard Carter grew up), the National Trust’s moated Oxburgh Hall (in the village of Oxborough), Gooderstone Water Gardens and Castle Acre Priory, run by English Heritage.
To the east is Dereham, the centre point of the county, where you can ride the Mid-Norfolk Railway to Wymondham Abbey. Close by is Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum of Rural Life.
Explore the village-like Attleborough and close by is the renowned Peter Beales’ Roses, winner of many Chelsea Flower Show awards, Bressingham Steam and Gardens, the English Distillery and the thirty-acre Banham Zoo, where you can see big cats including snow leopards, as well as giraffes, apes and monkeys.