If you're dreaming of a staycation and escaping to the coast and countryside, our beautiful countryside and stunning beaches are here waiting for you. Enjoy fresh air, verdant countryside, vast sandy beaches and charming towns and villageS. Here are some ideas of some of the best things to do and places to visit in north Norfolk to get the most of your break.
Beach life. North Norfolk has one of the very best stretches of sandy coast in the country and is home to six Blue Flag beaches (the highest number of Blue Flag beaches compared to the rest of the districts in the country). Sheringham, Cromer, Mundesley, Sea Palling, East Runton and West Runton, all have Blue Flags meaning they offer some of the safest and cleanest bathing waters in the country. All these beaches have paved access, fully accessible from the promenade onto the beach.
Visit our ‘secret’ beaches (sshh!). The North Norfolk coastline is home to several ‘secret’ beaches where you can find quiet spots all year round, where you’ll often find it’s just you, the water, the sand and the sky! There are many favourite beaches people will head to post lockdown, so to avoid the crowds, why not head to Trimingham, Titchwell, Blakeney Point, Cart Gap and Weybourne.
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Get lost in space. The Norfolk coast boasts some of the darkest skies in the country. The lack of artificial light helps the coast retain its rural character, while the darkness creates a closeness to the surrounding natural landscape.
Two sites within north Norfolk's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have been awarded Dark Sky Discovery Site status. Wiveton Downs and Kelling Heath Holiday Park have both met the strict criteria set by the UK Dark Sky Discovery Partnership. These dark sky sites are one of the few places in the UK where you can see the northern lights, or aurora borealis. Both sites have the highest accolade of being designated ‘two star’ sites - where the seven stars of the Orion constellation and the Milky Way (the combined light from the millions of stars in our Galaxy) are visible to the naked eye.
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The north Norfolk coastline is a unique area of remarkable beauty, diversity and scientific importance and is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). This means it is one of the UK’s most cherished and outstanding landscapes and has a legal status to ensure its preservation and includes Hunstanton, Wells-next-the-Sea, Blakeney, Sheringham, Cromer and Mundesley. The north Norfolk coastline therefore offers stunning views, wonderful wildlife and nature, beautiful beaches and coastline to enjoy.
Get close to nature. North Norfolk is well known for being home to the country’s best birdwatching with sights of marsh harriers, merlins and peregrines. Over the winter, there is the treat of watching thousands of migrating pink-footed geese in flight at RSPB Snettisham. Get up closer to nature by visiting the internationally renowned nature reserves throughout north Norfolk. Blakeney Point and Morston Quay is where you can visit the grey seal colony by taking a boat trip, and at winter, you will be treated to the sight of new-born seal pups.
Go crabbing. North Norfolk is the place to go crabbing! Head to Cromer Pier, Wells Harbour and Blakeney. Also great for catching crabs are the tidal creeks at Brancaster Staithe, Burnham Overy Staithe and Titchwell or just look for crabs in the rockpools at Hunstanton. See our tips on crabbing.
See the past come to life on the Deep History Coast. Norfolk’s Deep History Coast is great for fossil finding, since the discovery of a 600,000 year-old mammoth's remains, as well as a prehistoric flint axe and 850,000 year old footprints – the oldest evidence of man found outside the Great Rift Valley in Africa. Download the Deep History Coast app and walk the Discovery Trail – each Discovery Point triggers the app and a virtual reality scene. If you go beachcombing at West Runton beach, you may be lucky enough to find fossilised hyena dung!
Discover the Deep History Coast
Explore the calm countryside. Get your walking boots on or get in the saddle and explore north Norfolk’s breath-taking countryside. Amble along the quiet country roads or take one of the formal trails such as the Norfolk Coast Path while taking in some of England's most exhilarating scenery. Visit any time of the year and be treated to the ever-changing countryside landscape the seasons bring.
Throughout north Norfolk, there are plenty of routes and trails suitable for all ages and abilities including the Norfolk Trails network which has over 1000 miles of walking, cycling and bridle routes throughout Norfolk. The Norfolk Coast Path National Trail runs for 63 miles through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty from Hunstanton to Sea Palling. Famous for its wide skies, salt marshes, sandy beaches and gently rolling glacier shaped hinterland, there is nowhere else like it.
Find out more about Walking Routes
The Norfolk Coast Cycleway covers 59 miles from King’s Lynn to Great Yarmouth passing through Cromer and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with fantastic countryside and views. The route is suitable for all ages and abilities with gentle hills and quiet lanes just inland from the coast, offering breath-taking scenery.
Tracking along disused railway paths, country parks, forest paths, bridleways and quiet roads, the Sustrans National Cycle Network passes through Norfolk and has routes that are safe, shorter, fun and simple.
Find out more about Cycling Routes
Feast on local produce. North Norfolk has some of the best fresh, seasonal produce you will find anywhere, from Brancaster mussels to Cromer crab, artisan cheeses and micro-breweries producing beer from local malt. And when you’re here, don't forget to try samphire, collected from the seashore which has a delicate, salty taste and is the perfect accompaniment to fish.
Cromer Crab
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