Haven Hopton Holiday Village in Norfolk Review

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​Haven Hopton Holiday Village

Hopton Holiday Village is raved about - we wanted to see if it's deserved

Haven's Hopton Holiday Village often ranks as one of the best Haven Holiday parks when you look at customer reviews. And so, I was very keen to see it for myself.

For once in life, I would say it lived up to the hype. 

Hopton is one of four Haven resorts in Norfolk (we've been to them all in the name of research!)

These fountains can be found near to the Hopton entrance

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What's so good about Haven Hopton?

We visited in August when the sun was shining and there was a buzz on the park, but I think it would be a good park to visit outside of peak season as well.

Let's start with the location, which I've always thought looked good on paper. As with all things, you really need to see it for yourself to get a proper impression.

Hopton sits next to a beach, about five miles along the coast from Great Yarmouth. That means you get relatively easy access to a busy seaside resort, but you also get Norfolk's beautiful sandy coastline without the noise and busyness of Great Yarmouth.

Of course, lots of Haven holiday parks have good beaches, but Hopton must be there amongst the very best. It also has some of the very best sea views from some of its caravans.

We were impressed with the views from the front row caravans at Hopton

Several of the caravans we saw were on the cliff edge

The balconies make the most of the view at Hopton Holiday Village

Some sections of the park are spacious

This is a more typical layout of caravan away from the front row sea view properties

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Tell me more about the location

Of course!

Unlike Norfolk's other Haven holiday parks, Hopton is on a cliff edge. Haven Caister on Sea and Haven Seashore are both alongside the sea, but Hopton beats both for views, hands down. 

The beach at Hopton is sandy, which is true of a lot of the Norfolk coastline but at Hopton it doesn't go out for miles and miles. Personally, I prefer slightly cosy beaches like Hopton rather than huge great beaches where you have to walk for half a mile to get to the sea. 

This footpath links up directly with the holiday village

We saw plenty of sea defence at the beach at Haven Hopton!

We reckon that Hopton has one of the best locations amongst Haven's parks

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Time filling fun at Hopton Holiday Village

As I explored the site at Hopton, I kept stumbling across more and more activities. I'd say the range of things is similar to Haven's other Norfolk holiday parks, but it's still impressive.

I wandered past a boy wobbling on a Segway, then saw a family trying archery, a grandad having a go at mini-golf and a couple of lads on the sports pitch.

The staff were also setting up an inflatable Nerf battle and some younger children were getting harnessed up for a low ropes course.

​There were also lots of people buzzing around the main restaurant as well as the ice cream stands. Perhaps surprisingly, I only saw three people on the beach, although it was pretty windy during our visit.

Low ropes are available for younger visitors at Haven Hopton Holiday Village

We saw a good range of activities at Haven Hopton Holiday Village

The minigolf course at Haven Hopton Holiday Village is better than most

Most activities are paid for - but things like this sports court are free to use

You can see the inflatable arena behind this playground

Archery and similar things are offered in this venue at Haven Hopton Holiday Village

Segways are a popular activity at Haven Hopton Holiday Village

Lots of entertainment is based around the pavilion at Haven Hopton Holiday Village

The outdoor pool is covered (isn't that a contradiction?)

The indoor pool at Haven Hopton Holiday Village includes a waterslide (this is an official Haven photo)

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How much will the activities cost me?

Needless to say, a lot of the activities at Haven cost extra. I was amused to overhear a conversation that a mum was having with her son about how "money doesn't grow on trees".

I have had similar conversations with my children many times - although I prefer the phrase, "I'm not made of money".

For more details, see our guide to how much Haven activities cost. 

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Was there anything about Hopton you didn't like?

One thing that I noticed at Hopton that you might consider to be slightly strange to point out is that a lot of the signs are looking a little old. This is not a big deal at all but I did get the general feeling that Haven Caister-on-Sea has had a more recent brand refresh than Hopton. 

Throughout my visit, I was trying to figure out why Hopton is referred to as a Holiday Village whilst other resorts are referred to as holiday parks (or Leisure Park in the case of Haven Lakeland).

I still haven't really got to the bottom of this. There is certainly a buzzing village vibe about Hopton and it has a lovely layout where all of the main activities and facilities are bunched together into a village setting, but I wouldn't say that sets it apart from a lot of other Haven holiday parks.

Perhaps I'm being picky, but I prefer the street signs at Haven Caister on Sea to these ones at Hopton!

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Did you notice anything else during your time at Haven Hopton?

Great question.

One other thing worth mentioning about Hopton is that it is quite a leafy park with lots of trees throughout the site. I always say that this gives a holiday park a really lovely relaxing vibe and stops it from feeling like rows and rows of caravans. I would say that it beats nearby Haven Seashore in this regard, which does not have a huge number of trees around the site. 

Overall then, I was quite taken with Hopton. If I could bag myself a front row caravan next time we visit, I think I probably wouldn't ever want to leave.

We were impressed with Haven Hopton Holiday Village

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