Exchange with this member
Large 4 bed country house with swimming pond ; we have a swap already summer 2026
We live in a modern 4 bedroom detached house in a rural location surrounded by fields, served by a small quiet lane.
There is a large garden full of birds, with beautiful swimming pond. In the garden we have an occasional kingfisher, daily hedgehogs, owls nesting, two types of newts and dragonflies. The garden is almost an acre and is great for bbqs, swims, open fires in the fire pit, and trampolining. There are large areas for outdoor dining and play, and one living room has bifold doors opening up onto the yard and garden. Our house is bright and cheerful, with two living rooms (both with log burner and tv). There is also a BBQ for you to use. There is room to park several cars.
There are two very large double bedrooms, (both with own toilet) and two smaller bedrooms (1 with double futon, 1 with double bed). The kitchen/dining area is also spacious- in general there is lots of room to relax. We have 2 showers and a bath, 4 toilets.
It is extremely quiet and peaceful here, with views onto local fields . You can hear just the odd car, and sounds of birds and sheep nearby. We are located about a mile or so from the village centre, where you will find a bar on Friday nights.
There are many walking paths and we have all the local maps. There are lots of lovely pubs (eg The Locks Inn, Geldeston, which has live music), plus breweries with tasting rooms and Flint Vineyard 3 miles away which does lunches and tours. There's a farm shop a mile away for local produce and 3 miles away a raw milk dairy. In summer there are many children's activities in Norwich and the Waveney Valley- such as farm visits, 2 zoos, small beach theme parks etc. You can hire family boats in nearby Beccles and explore the waterways. You can also rent kyaks in Bungay and Beccles Beccles also has a heated outdoor lido.
Its a thirty minute drive to Norwich city; a vibrant small city with great market and boutique shops. We live a 40 minute drive from the lovely coastal villages/ towns of Southwold and Walberswick. We are just over an hour from the North Norfolk coast which is a very popular British tourist destination (Cley Next The Sea, Burnham Market, Hunstanton). We are 1 hour 20 minutes from the beautiful historical city of Cambridge.
The nearest station is 20+ minutes away (in Diss) - here you can catch a train to central London, which is 1.5 hours from Diss- it is easy to do London day trips from our house (Ed sometimes works in London).
There is lots of room to park cars. We like the idea of a car swap and have done this successfully on other exchanges.
We have a lovely cat- we would like you to look after him during your stay and are happy to do the same. He is happy to come and go as long as he is fed.
The nearest airport is Norwich- great if you fly through Amsterdam- but also Stansted is a much bigger airport a couple of hours away.
Listing Overview
Property
- Bedrooms 4
- Sleeping Capacity 7
- Bathrooms 4
- Living Area m2
- Total Area m2
House rules
- Small children are welcome Yes
- Pets are welcome Yes
- Non-smoking house Yes
- Pet care wanted Yes
- Car necessary Yes
Exchange dates
The member has not specified any exchange dates
Exchange periods
The member has not specified any exchange dates
Neighborhood
About the neighborhood
We live outside a small village in the countryside south of Norwich, near the beautiful Waveney valley. It has a very quiet rural feel and we live on a tiny road.
We live a couple of miles from Flixton Air Museum, once a key WWII airfield.
There are many National Trust historic halls and houses dotted around Norfolk and Suffolk.
We live close to the Norfolk Broads, where there are plenty of boat hire, tour, paddle board and kayak opportunities.
There are many local footpaths to enjoy and Tyrell's wood a couple of miles away is great for walks.
Flint Vineyard a couple of miles away offers award winning wine tours & tastings. In summer they have regular open evenings where many gather to drink wine and enjoy the views, music and food carts. The Grain brewery opens its tap room regularly in Alburgh, the next village.
Nearby are two small towns - Harleston (4 miles) and Bungay (4 miles), with shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants, petrol, supermarkets etc.
For thrill seekers we have rollercoasters at Pleasurewood Hills theme park and rib boat rides at Southwold.
Banham Zoo (35 min) is really impressive.
We are thirty minutes from Norwich city (Cathedral, food, Castle museum, one of England's oldest markets, beautiful river) and forty minutes from the lovely coastal towns of Southwold & Walberswick. There are many sandy beaches nearby. You can always see seals if you visit Horsey beach (about 50 mins away) and over winter the seal pups sit on the beach.
RSPB Minsmere is great for birdwatching.
Aldeburgh beach & town is popular with tourists and is an hour's drive away, as is Woodbridge & Sutton Hoo Anglo saxon burial site.
London is 1.5 hours away by train; easily accessible on a day trip. Our nearest station for London is Diss.
Nearest Airport: norwich
House amenities
Vehicles included in exchange
- Use/Exchange of car 1
- Number of bicycles 0
- Number of children's bicycles 0
- Number of electrical bicycles 0
- Use of boat 0
House essentials
House features
Instruments
Accessibility
References
Your exchange partner’s home satisfaction rating is 4.0, based on 4 references.
The cottage was great with a lovely garden. We found our exchange partner yo be really helpful and a great communicator; the exchange went very smoothly.
Very happy
We really lived the exchange
The home was really charming and this was a great area for beaches and walks on the moors. We had an excellent week and might swap again with the family in future years- very happy!
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-
Member since
2015
- 13 Exchanges made
We are a professional couple in our 40s/50s, with an 8 year old daughter & a cat.
Fiona is a college teacher and Ed is an energy professional.
We enjoy nature and visiting beautiful cities.
We have had 11 excellent exchanges so far and love travelling this way.
We have a Honda Civic available for use during the exchange.
For exchanges outside the UK, we are available during Easter, a week at the end of May, and summer ( end of July to September)
The cat comes and goes in a catflap so just needs feeding. By prior arrangement a neighbour can feed him if you go away
Destination Wishlist
- Open to any destination
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Iceland
- Yorkshire, UK
- Wales, UK
- Norway
- Spain
- Ireland
- France
- Dorset, UK
- Italy
- Portugal
- Switzerland



