How Hill Trust - The Environmental Study Centre for the Norfolk Broads

Visited today and had a lovely short meamble. Easy to find although if traveling by car the roads are single lane and should be done very slowly. Our daughter wasn't feeling too well so didn't want to do alot so we just visited the cottage and sat by the river which was lovely, a quiet 5 minutes was also spent in the sensory garden which she enjoyed. Any other day we would have done the nature walk which although cost was extremely reasonable in price going by what other places charge for similar and I would have paid without thinking much of it. There were people playing cricket on a large grassy area not far from the car park so plenty of space for children to blow of some excess steam, there was also a tearoom but we didn't visit it.

Did the walk to st benet abbey. Flat and very easy walking but narrow (difficult to social distance). Free parking with large field for picnic. Lovely local ronaldo icecream from the little toad hole cottage shop (face covering required).

Great walk around the gardens very pretty.Mooring up and watching the other boats was amusing as it was like the M25 on the water.

How Hill House was built 1904 to designs of the noted Norfolk country house architect T.E. Boardman (1861-1950) as his home. It's listed grade II.

Beautiful, beautiful - Beeeeautiful house and gardens. Once more - this may be my own bias toward such historic and charming estates - but How Hill House was and will remain one of my top visitor attractions on the broads. It is free to enter, there is a lovely little cafe, and a small gift shop in Toad Hall cottage. We walked the woodland path to the secret gardens and to our surprise were the only family there. Perhaps there were more, but the garden is big enough to lose sight of others but small enough not to make the walk too taxing. There was a huge variety of plant and tree specimens in the garden and a very informative little map that detailed the key points of garden. My favourite was the largest Acer tree I have ever seen in my life. It was huge and beautiful. If you love gardening, this is a must on your to do list. Even if you do not enjoy gardening - the walk and grounds is perfect for a young family picnic. I promise you this is well worth the visit - especially being it was free! Naturally we left a donation as this place has simply a natural beautiful charm that flows within.

We found this fab place through a Google search and so glad we did.
There were some fantastic walks and scenery. We went on the Electric Eel boat trip and the guy driving was very knowledgeable, welcoming and informative. Saw a bit of wildlife, a quick flash of blue from a Kingfisher, was my highlight, but not as much as you would do in the summer months but was still enjoyable. We were informed that as we had been on the boat trip we could do the nature trail for free. We would of loved to have done it but as my mum and son were waiting for us in the car, due to getting a little wet from a heavy passing shower we thought it was unfair. Would I recommend, yes definitely, a great day out for all ages if you like the outdoors.🙂

Between the views of the river, the beautiful gardens and walks and the lunch, this place truly is superb and a must visit location when in the area.

Historical and informative, lots to see and learn here.

The meals are light with gluten free options and reasonably priced. The portion size was just right and provided great value for money.

The coffee is good and they do have different tea choices.

Come visit!

My thanks to Simon who served us.

Beautiful gardens. Well maintained. Good variety of different plants. The secret garden is recommended.