Waveney River Centre

The Waveney River Centre is an oasis of activity in what truly feels like the middle of nowhere down in the southern Broads. It’s many things rolled into one – a collection of self-catering apartments and holiday lodges, a boutique pub with rooms and touring pitches. It also offers moorings at its marina in what must be one of the best locations from which to explore this part of the Broads National Park – a location which also offers plenty of opportunity for glorious walks and cycle rides. The long-distance Angles Way passes nearby, just across the river, the Wherryman’s Way a little way north, and the countryside around is as peaceful a corner of England as you’ll find.

The Waveney Inn is the Waveney Rover Centre's pub, which serves a wide-ranging menu of pub food and also has a collection of boutique-style rooms, all of which are very comfortable, up-to-date and well-equipped. There are seven rooms in all – five doubles, one twin and a family room. Some have views over the river and marshes, and all are spacious and beautifully kitted out, with flatscreen TVs, big comfy beds and large bathrooms with toiletries.

Waveney River Centre also has a selection of very comfortable self-catering apartments and wooden lodges, and pitches for tourers. The site is partly supplied by solar energy and has an energy-efficient pool and low-energy lighting throughout. Best of all, though, is the location, which feels gloriously remote and is the only destination at the end of the long country lane that leads here. You can visit the medieval village church, with its strange ziggurat tower, and indulge in all sorts of outdoor activities. There is a nature trail for kids, bikes, canoes and day boats for hire, and the foot ferry across the river which gives access to the footpaths through the Suffolk Wildlife Trust-run Carlton Marshes on the far side of the river, leading eventually to the watery expanse of Oulton Broad, on the edge of Lowestoft. It's a perfect place to throw away the car keys and forget the rest of the world for a few days.