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Bowling is one of those things that families have enjoyed for years and years. Get together with the family, have a bit of a competition and head down to Wellington Bowl in Great Yarmouth!
Address and contact
Wellington Pier Arcade
Marine Parade
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
NR30 3JF
Email: info@wellingtonbowl.co.uk
Phone: 01493 845947
Website: https://wellingtonbowl.co.uk
Opening times
Monday – 11am to 10pm
Tuesday – 11am to 10pm
Wednesday – 11am to 10pm
Thursday – 11am to 10pm
Friday – 11am to 11pm
Saturday – 10am to 11pm
Sunday – 10am to 10pm
Fun for bowlers of all ages
Bowling is something we’ve been doing as a family for years and it’s something we still all love doing now. Bowling in Great Yarmouth is a great way to break up your day, get inside for a little while if it’s a rainy day and have some friendly family competition.
You’ll find Wellington Bowl right at the back of Wellington Pier. You have to walk through the arcades to get to it and go through the big doors at the back. Don’t be confused with the smaller bowling in the arcades as this is not what you’re looking for. Outside of Wellington Pier, there is a large area with some picnic tables and you’ll get amazing sea views from here.
Getting your lane set up!
Upon our arrival, staff were friendly and really welcoming at the front-desk. We were able to write the names we wanted down to be added to our lane and I really appreciated this. I used to work in a bowling alley and having names written down is better than making sure you spell them right. We were then able to get some free-of-charge shoes before heading over to our allocated lane. I actually really love wearing bowling shoes and I think it all adds to the fun of the game.
Although the middle of the day during the school holidays Wellington Bowl wasn’t insanely busy and a couple of the bowling lanes were empty when we arrived. Lanes are sort of split into 2, with each having booth-style seating and a table in the middle separating them. You’ll also be sharing a rack of bowling balls in the middle, just in front of the table. All ten pin bowling alleys I’ve been to are set up like this so you just need to be polite and share the bowling balls.
Make it easier for the kids (or you)
For younger children (or adults who are terrible) bumpers are available, as well as a ramp. I liked how the child friendly bumper bars could be put up for just 1 person and this was all organised when your lane is set up. This means the bowling lane is set up perfectly for each person playing.
We had a really fun game of ten-pin bowling as a family. Taking it in turns, we could laugh when someone’s ball went in the gutter, and cheered when someone got a strike! Some bowling alleys can have technical issues with the lanes but not here. We didn’t encounter any issues at all during our game.
What else is there to do?
There was a really nice atmosphere in the entertainment centre. Along with the bowling lanes, there is also American pool tables, interactive arcade games and a cafe serving food like hot dogs, burgers and chips. Although we’d already eaten, this is somewhere we would definitely consider for lunch on another occasion.
Other places to visit in Great Yarmouth:
- Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
- Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens
- Sea Life Great Yarmouth
- Lost World Adventure Golf
- Time and Tide Museum
- Sara’s Tearooms
- Hippodrome Circus
- Merrivale Model Village
- Hirsty’s Family Fun Park
For more day out ideas, go to the Visit Great Yarmouth website
