Wroxham is known as the capital of the Norfolk Broads, and it is where boating holidays started in the late 1800's. It has become quite commercialised over the years with pubs, hotels, tea rooms and gift shops springing up near the river to attract holiday makers to the village.

East of the river is actually Hoveton St John, Wroxham being on the west, but they have both come to be known as Wroxham. The village centre is beside the river Bure and Wroxham Bridge and is a bustling community of holiday makers and local people. There is a variety of riverside bars, cafes, restaurants and shops, but the most famous is Roys of Wroxham, probably the largest village store in the world. It is open seven days a week, and even has a McDonalds in store as well as a cafeteria of its own. In fact many shops come under the name of Roys, and this creates a small town centre atmosphere.

Upstream (above the bridge) the river narrows and meanders through forest making its way upstream 10 miles to Coltishall, the end of navigation.  Downstream (South) of the bridge the river widens, with the Hotel Wroxham and many boatyards and an attractive development of holiday homes known as the Peninsula Cottages because of their position enclosed within a large marina complex once owned by Moore’s & Co. boatyard and now in private ownership. A little further on chocolate box thatched cottages and lodges line the banks, long gardens sweep down to the waters edge, large houses can just be glimpsed through the trees. Swans, geese, mallards, coots and moorhens often gather here, tempted by titbits thrown from passing boats. Soon the trees close in again and Wroxham is left behind as the River Bure meanders along to the entrance to the massive Wroxham Broad, a large expanse of navigable, but shallow water, ideal for the fisherman who wants to drop anchor away from the river bank.

Continuing downstream the next pretty village of Horning, with three riverside pub / restaurants and quaint shops and more riverside cottages, is only about an hour by leisurely boat trip (or just 2 miles by car).

The section of river from Wroxham to Horning is one of the most attractive and congested of the whole Norfolk Broads, with nearly a thousand craft a day cruising along it during high season.