Waterstones

Date of visit: July 2025

I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.

I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair

Overall Rating

This was a really big Waterstones which was laid out across two floors. There were two entrances into the shop, one on each floor and they brought you out on opposite sides of the building. There was a really large range of titles and genres here. The shelving went right up to the ceiling which made reaching some things a bit difficult. But then my husband says I shouldn’t be buying more books anyway! I found navigating around the shop in my wheelchair fairly easy and there was a lift to take you between the two floors. There was also a small cafe in the shop which was quite busy when I went there! This was a really nice, well-stocked bookshop. I had looked at some other bookshops in central Norwich and lots of them didn’t have step-free access so it was great that I had this option available to me.

Disabled Access In and Around

There were two entrances to this shop. One on Castle Meadow which had steps and a small lift from street level up to the shop floor. These doors opened automatically as you approached. This then brought you to the top floor of the shop which also had the café. The other entrance was on Castle Street which was level with the street. This brought you onto the bottom floor of the shop. These doors were propped open when I went. Once inside there was a flight of stairs and an escalator in the middle of the shop to travel between the two floors. There was also a small lift to get between the two. The counters were all the same height, they weren’t lowered but they also weren’t really high. There was a mix of shelving and display tables for the books available. The display tables were all a decent height for most people to be able to browse and reach. The shelves were all floor-to-ceiling so some parts near the tops and bottoms were more difficult for me to reach. The café was very busy when I went. If I’d been wanting to sit and stay I would have struggled with the space given how busy it was. There was a mix of table heights to choose from, with the taller tables nearer the back of the café.

Parking & Transport

I didn’t see any parking near to this shop. The best way to get here would be walking/rolling or on the bus. There were quite a few bus stops nearby. The buses available from these stops were: 1, 3, 3B, 5, 5B, 7, 8, 8A, 10, 10A, 11, 11A, 11B, 11C, 12, 13, 14A, 15, 15A, 16, 16A, 17, 31, 32, 33, 33A, 82, 132, 717, PR1, PR2, PR3, X13, A excel, B excel and C excel. It was also one kilometre from the train station and 650 metres from the bus station.

Staff

0

There were lots of staff around and available but I didn’t interact with anyone when I visited.

Add commentThanks