Bircham Windmill Reviews

Lovely, peaceful campsite

We had an excellent short stay at Bircham Windmill. It's in a great location, set in beautiful countryside and not far from the coast. The site was very peaceful, particularly at night time. The facilities were excellent and very clean, and Elly was so helpful and accommodating with an extra request we had. The cafe and bakery were a real bonus too... the bread, cakes and pasties are to die for! We would highly recommend this campsite and plan to return when we can. Thank you for an lovely stay!

1 night camping

A great find, unusual site with lots of little touches e.g fairy liquid, tea towels etc, it all helps when you’re camping. Also a windmill with bakery and a great breakfast at the cafe, also bought pastries from the bakery as they’re all made at the mill. Great place 👍.

Amazing

Just perfect. The children were ecstatic that we were “camping with the animals”. Jeff the horse has a new special place in our hearts. How extremely peaceful watching the sunset behind the mill from our tent while reading the children’s bedtime story. What a special place.

Basic site

I was really looking forward to my first visit to Norfolk. Norfolk was great. Shame the campsite didn't live up to expectations. Basic site and dirty facilities. Good stuff: Good location with access to lots of walks and bike rides. Good sized pitches. Washing up facilities had spare washing up liquid in case you ran out. Bath mats available to use for showers. Free feminine hygiene products available. 20 minute walk to a great local pub which had fab service and wonderful food - The Kings Head Hotel. Email received beforehand with clear instructions where to pitch up. Not so good stuff: Before we set off, we contacted Elly by email to ask if any routes we needed to avoid - never responded. Filthy showers and toilets. Not cleaned at all in our 9 (shortened to 8) nights stay. Wrote in the dust on first day and it was still there on last day. Only 3 showers for site, 2 of which were also the toilets, so be prepared to queue which I did most times as these were 2 out of the 4 toilets (2 of which were used by tea room visitors too which was always busy!). Nowhere to dispose of grey waste so had to dump it on the field. Whole site needs a good tidy up in general, overgrown around a central picnic table and benches which made it unusable, there was what can only be described as a dumping ground next to where the games room was which was unsightly (broken fences, broken equipment, bollards). £8 per night for electric! Yes we knew at point of booking, but still? It's the middle of summer and no reduction in rate provided. I thought there was a limit on prices site could charge? You don't get a refund for electricity not used. 'Free Wi-Fi' but not provided with password - didn't bother asking as original email was ignored. Wi-Fi would have been useful as our connection kept dropping on phones. When tea rooms were busy, the visitors over spilled onto the campsite. It could be a great place if they put as much effort into the site as they do the tea rooms but unfortunately, we will not be revisiting.

Site's response

Hi there, thank you for your review. I'm really sorry that you did not had the experience you were hoping for. To answer your points - firstly, I am so sorry that you didn't get a response to your email, I'm afraid I didn't receive it. I always respond to everyone, maybe not within the hour, but certainly within 2 days maximum. The fact that you felt ignored I think set the tone for your break away and that's a real shame as it certainly isn't my policy. I would have liked the opportunity to provide you with any pre arrival information that you wanted. I'm glad that you found plenty of things that you liked about our site, the location, all the extras we provide for free and the tearooms, so that's great. To respond to your other issues, Cleaning - the showers and toilets are cleaned twice a day but at busy times they are used regularly and if you arrive later on, perhaps don't find them as clean as you would wish. I'm sorry this was the case for you, but I can assure you we are cleaning them morning and night and often pop in through the day too. There are three showers and 6 toilets, again, sorry you didn't find all 6, there are maps in the shower block to help orientate guests. I agree with some of your comments, there are areas that could have been tidier and we have tidied them all now, so thank you for drawing our attention to them - I'm sorry you didn't feel able to contact us at the beginning of your stay with these issues, which could have been addressed there and then for you, leaving you to enjoy the rest of your stay. We have tidied the back of the games room, we are in the process of renovating the mill, the shed and workspace are being used daily, but we accept it could have been tidier and it now is. The wifi password was not on display, you should not have needed to ask and we have now put this up on display in the showers and in the tearooms. We have mown the whole campsite and put a better plan in place to ensure it doesn't get overgrown around the edges. The grey waste can go into any sink or into the elsan disposal point, or indeed onto the hedge which is very grateful for any water during the dry spells. We will also look into putting in a specific outside drain area for anyone who is uncomfortable with the current options for grey waste. The electric charging cost limit is for sites with residential lodges not campsites. We will review our prices for next year and take your views into account. Regarding the car parking, we are space limited and do get very busy during the school holidays, we have reviewed the parking and asked all the staff to park near the campsite roadway so that their cars are not moving in and out through the day which will make it quieter for the campers this end of the site. Thanks again for taking the time to draw our attention to these issues, I'm sorry you were not able to speak to us and enable us to do better for you while you were onsite. Elly

Mini break at Bircham

Returned home from a 2 night stay. First impressions - what a lovely scenic campsite with working windmill. The one thing we felt was missing was maybe a bit more of an outdoor adventure play area for older kids on the campsite where the small play hopscotch part is, but on a larger scale. Yes, there is a younger children's area within the windmill area but it is for very young children and you wouldn't be able to see the children if they went over to play there. Also, I think you have to pay to go into that part of the site. The games room however, was a great addition and they did go up there. Just feel it was lacking something for 2 slightly older energetic boys. We did go off site both days to Wells by the Sea beach and Hunstanton, which is not a long drive and they had great fun! The tea room, food, scones was really delicious. Also, snacks and ice creams in there too, along with cute gift shop. Staff were so friendly and couldn't thank the owners enough for their hospitality. Only other downside was the mass amount of wasps but appreciate that is out of their control, but did leave us on edge after the youngest boy was stung. Horse and donkey on site was very cute! Thanks again x

Great site for families with children

There were quite a few children running around? and were up quite late. Personally I wouldn't come here at a weekend again although it's a good sight and the windmill is a good attraction. I would visit during the week when the kids are at school.

A perfect stay!

Such a great small campsite! We have two small kids and the animals roaming in their enclosure at the site were a great attraction. The toilets and showers are clean, coffee place/bakery on the site amazing. It was 5/5!

Beautiful spot and lovely small, friendly site

Highly recommend. Especially good for kids as safe space to run and cycle around. Lovely spot for sun set too. And great bakery for the morning too.

Lovely location

Lovely, peaceful location, with a village pub and shop within walking distance. Unfortunately, it was a very busy site on the evening we stayed, with a group of families staying together and the children were out playing until midnight and back out by 6am next morning, riding bikes across all areas of the site.

Site's response

Hi Alison, thank you for your lovely review of our site, I'm really sorry that you suffered at the hands of others. We live onsite - but cannot hear the site from our house, for future reference, please do come and tell us what is going on even if it's unsociable hours. Apologies again that we didn't know. I do hope you will come and stay with us again in the future. Elly

Lovely site with great cafe

Our second visit, and we love it here. The site and facilities are clean and well kept, with spacious plots. Do go up the windmill and sample the cakes.

Lovely campsite

Lovely little campsite. On site tea room and bakery. Location was great - really handy for the coast or visiting places nearby e.g. Sandringham estate. The only slight problems were that there are only 2 showers and toilets for the campsite, so when it is busy you may have to wait. There are additional toilets adjacent to the tea rooms. And the campsite is quite exposed as it is made up of 3 little fields. There are no hedges etc to block the wind, so when it is windy you feel it if you are in a tent.

Relaxing stay

Really enjoyed our relaxing stay with friendly staff.

Birthday trip to Wells-Next-The-Sea

One of the nicest campsites we have been. Very quiet. Super facilities! We will certainly book again and recommend.

Rural, interesting, peaceful, convenient, friendly campsite

First visit to Bircham Windmill camping site in our campervan and we loved the family owned / run bakery and windmill visitor attraction. Everyone there was lovely, and all the convenience of a cute on-site bakery / cafe and lovely interesting things to see and learn about. Lovely play area for kids. Even make your own bread! Campsite has everything you need and nice big grass pitches and all-round views and sunsets. Perfect, will return. Thank you for a lovely stay.

Camping at Bircham Windmill

So pleased I booked this site, very clean facilities. Great value for money, showers and toilets were very nice, they have a lovely little shop and cafe for eating, food was excellent recommend the small English. You can enter the windmill, climb to the top, fantastic views. There is a little farm area for children, a museum for the history of the site, well worth a stay. Host can't do enough for you.

Beautiful site

Beautiful site. Unfortunately, had to leave a day early due to a bereavement but we will be back.

Lovely stay

Nice, clean, quiet site which we were lucky to have all to ourselves!

Our stay

Good stay, overnight at Bircham Windmill.

Wholesome trip

Absolutely lovely campsite, in a wonderful location and lovely staff. Ideal location for exploring more of Norfolk, but also relaxing in the cafe and learning about the mill. A few more toilets/showers would be a great addition.

Clean and tidy

Lots of facilities for younger children. Could do with some more shower areas as there is only 2, but these were kept clean and tidy for the 3 days we were there.

Weekend away

Lovely campsite. Onsite cafe and bakery lovely. Food excellent. Lovely clean amenities! Will definitely return. Had a lovely weekend.

Lovely peaceful stay

Great - I just wish we had stayed longer! Really family friendly, so lovely to be able to roam about near animals and wake up next to them. Staff were very welcoming and although we didn't get chance to eat in the tea room it looked great and is perfect that it's on sight. Looking forward to coming back.

Peaceful retreat

This was a lovely small campsite in a great location. The shower and toilet facilities were good and the onsite cafe was excellent. Just a small note ( not a criticism ) the campsite was very open with not much shelter, we were there on an unexpectedly chilly and windy weekend, and this was a factor when setting up and packing down. The Kings Head pub was within walking distance and their food and hospitality was beyond the norm…and lots of places to visit round and about. All in all a very good time was had.

Quiet and peaceful location

Lovely spot, convenient for exploring Norfolk. Small shower/washing block but kept clean, despite the best attempts of some fellow campers! We really appreciated the fresh pile of shower mats, it made such a change from having to use a communal one or get out onto a wet floor. Also, the pile of clean tea towels for drying up. Great café and bakery - the bread is amazing and Elly was quick to respond to messages giving suggestions and recommendations for restaurants and pubs. Can thoroughly recommend the local Kings Head (walking distance) for takeaway pizza.

Lovely campsite

Stopped her after walking old Hunstanton. It was such a peaceful campsite, no sound from passing cars, remote and great to listen to birds and watch a deer or two. Would recommend.