The Norfolk Broads — Britain's largest protected wetland — begin immediately west of Great Yarmouth, and renting a boat for the day is one of the best ways to spend time in the area. Several hire companies operate from the River Bure, and no licence or experience is required for day-hire motor boats on most of the Broads.
Within an hour of leaving the quay, you will be among reed beds, drainage windmills, and a landscape that has barely changed since the Victorian watercolourists discovered it. Pub moorings are scattered through the system, accessible only by water. The Broads are at their best on a warm summer morning before the weekend boats are out — quiet, misty, and entirely unlike the seaside resort a mile to the east.