Drawing visitors since the 1700s, North Norfolk has long been a place of escapism. You arrive ready to fill your lungs with sea air and let your gaze drift to the horizon. The natural beauty here is not the kind that smacks you in the face and overwhelms with superlatives. The expansive beaches, endless skies, fenland and watery network of the Broads are a more subtle tonic for the soul — you don’t have to work too hard to forget life beyond this somewhat overlooked patch of East Anglia.
It’s also a place to get closer to wildlife. Many of the salt marshes in Norfolk offer some of Britain’s best birdwatching, while seals love to sunbathe on the shingle spits at Blakeney Point. Plus, there’s bluebell and snowbell carpets in spring, dragonflies buzzing over lavender fields in summer and woodland ablaze in ochre, yellow and red in autumn.
Beyond the pull of its natural attractions, North Norfolk is dotted with stately homes, sliced through by heritage railways and framed by historic towns. Add it all together and you have a region that promises the kind of serenity many search far and wide for, yet few expect to find so close to home.
Morning: Head for the region’s most famous stately home, Holkham Hall. Its 25,000-acre estate is best explored on two wheels. Hire a bicycle or e-bike and follow one of the multiple signposted trails. The six-mile red route takes you past the Church of St Withburga, along the Walled Garden and up the hill to the Temple, a neo-classical folly hidden by woodland. It ends at the hall itself. Inside, guides share stories of the 18th-century home’s tapestries, paintings and furniture, as well as residents past and present. Afterwards, grab a table at The Victoria, owned by the Holkham Estate. The menu showcases local ingredients, with veg from the Walled Garden, meat from local farms, and fish, shellfish and samphire from the coast.
Afternoon: An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the town of Wells-next-the-Sea and its beach are a must-visit in any season. With soft sands and colourful higgledy-piggledy huts lining the shore, it has a serious claim as one of Britain’s best beaches. Plop yourself in the sand for the afternoon, if the weather allows, or stroll along the shore to the dunes covered in beach grass and gorse. Keep an eye out for rare breeding birds, such as pied avocets and marsh harriers, which wade through the marshes between the forest and the dunes. Trace your way back by following the path inland, filling your lungs with the scent of pine. As you head into town, nab a seat at one of the picnic tables at the Beach Café for coffee and cake.
Evening: Watch the sun set at Sheringham Park, a landscaped thousand-acre National Trust site with over 80 species of
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