The Hermitage pub (NR13 3QP) serves a fine Sunday Lunch (£13.25 June 2026). Honestly this is the best Sunday Lunch I have ever had in a pub, or even in anyone’s home. Beer is quite reasonably priced at around £4.40 a pint and they have three real ales on the pump, although I did find the beer a little flat to be honest (https://thehermitageacle.com/). Our boat is moored at Acle marina which is about 400 metres from the pub. I can recommend the marina for good value as it has a very nice shower/toilet block (closed during winter), and there’s a live aboard caretaker who looks after the security of the place. There is also CCTV (https://www.marine-tech.co.uk/moorings-norfolk-broads/).
Acle centre has two charity shops which are handy for buying bits of clothing and the odd pan, or mug for the boat. There is also The Acle Steak House Pub, and while we’ve not had anything to eat here, we did have a drink in the “beer garden” out back. Not sure if I’d recommend this pub, but, it does do some attractive looking special offers in the winter months (Groupon). I can, however recommend the Chinese and the Indian takeaways. The Chinese is called “Full River” and you will need to pay cash on collection, there is no delivery… 01493 750855 (https://www.facebook.com/fullriveracle/). My favourite is house special fried rice, which costs around £7.70 (June 2026). The Indian takeaway is called “Desi Flavourz” (or sometimes known as Acle Spice) and offers a 25% discount on Fridays (collection only). They do deliver though (free delivery), but also require payment in cash. Meals are around £9, so the Friday deal looks good, just check with the takeaway that they’re still offering this deal before ordering… 01493 750800 (https://www.desiflavourzonline.co.uk/).
Acle centre is also where the public toilets and bus stop is located. The bus goes to Great Yarmouth and I think it takes around 20 minutes. The bus going the other way goes to Norwich and takes 30 to 40 minutes. If you want to do some food shopping then head out of town a few hundred metres to the Co Op (NR13 3BY), or take the road to the roundabout and you’ll find a Marks & Spencer food outlet (NR13 3BE). I had a good look around this Marks & Spencer and I found a couple of bargains. First, if you buy three bottles of Hardy’s Merlot, it works out at around £4.30 a bottle because there’s 25% discount when you buy three bottles. Also, 2 litres of whole milk is £1.65 which matches Lidl or Aldi and is certainly cheaper than the Co Op. The Marks outlet also operates the petrol station where you can get E5 unleaded for your outboard, and, there’s a Travel Lodge and Starbucks on the site too.