I came to Norwich for the history degree at UEA, and I never left. That was 13 years ago. My partner is Norwich-born-and-bred. She's taught me how the city actually lives. I've ended up telling her parts of its history she was never told. That gap, locals walking past their own history, was part of why I started doing this.
Norwich punches above its weight. For centuries it was the second city of England, behind only London. Wool, weaving and banking built it. Dutch and Flemish weavers fleeing persecution (the “Strangers”) doubled its population in the 1500s and turned it into a multilingual, prosperous, slightly weird place for two hundred years. You can still see all of it walking around. The flint, the medieval lanes, the cathedral spire, the guildhall on the market.
That's part of why I love it, and part of why it keeps getting noticed. The Sunday Times named Norwich the top place to live in the UK in March 2026. Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2025 named East Anglia (featuring Norwich) one of its top global destinations, calling it a cultured, walkable “City of Stories” packed with history and medieval charm. People who live here aren't surprised. People who don't, mostly haven't been yet.
In 2025, my partner and I spent nine months travelling Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand. We took free walking tours in most of the cities we visited. Some were brilliant. Some weren't. They all worked the same way: a local meets you somewhere, walks you round for a couple of hours, and at the end you pay what you think it was worth.
Coming home, I realised every other major UK city already had one. Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, plenty of smaller towns. Norwich didn't. There were paid tours and occasional themed walks here, but nothing proper, nothing daily, nothing you could book at your own convenience. So I started Norwich Free Walking Tours.
Why no upfront charge?
It's how the tours I went on abroad worked, and the model just makes sense. You can't be wrong about the price if the customer is the one setting it. Show up curious, see what you think, pay what it was worth. £10 to £20 per person is the going rate. If it wasn't worth it, you don't pay. Simple.
The point
I want to show people Norwich the way locals abroad showed me their cities. With pride, with stories, with the things you'd never find on a tourist map. Whether you're visiting for a day or you've lived here forty years, I think there's a strong chance you'll hear something about this city you didn't know.
If you fancy it, come along.