I spent 48 hours in Norfolk, England's best-kept secret getaway spot

With its beaches, parks and villages, Norfolk holds endless appeal - even to the Windsors.

North of London, on England’s east coast, you’ll find the genteel county of Norfolk, where the royal family likes to holiday. 

With spectacular beaches and upmarket country towns, Norfolk is one of England’s best-kept secrets.

DAY 1: Morning

Norfolk was where we used to go to the seaside, having grown up not far away, and my trip to the beautiful coast in England’s east always starts around Sandringham. Famously home to the royal family’s country retreat, you can walk around its parkland all year, or buy tickets to the house and formal gardens in spring and summer. The free-to-enter 8000ha estate has lovely walking trails and cafés and we happily roam for a couple of hours. 

Midday

A short drive east along the coast brings you to the picturesque village of Burnham Market. You’d be forgiven for thinking you were in a British period drama – it’s full of so many prettily painted independent shops and restaurants, art galleries and traditional pubs, it doesn’t seem real. Look out for the brilliantly named gallery Pocock’s the Artmonger, Humble Pie deli and The Burnhams Tea Room and Café.

Custard tarts at The Burnhams Tea Room.

Afternoon

From here it’s another short hop to the star of the Norfolk coast – Wells-next-the-Sea. This former unassuming fishing port is now the epicentre of upmarket tourism for the many visitors who flood the North Norfolk coast every holidays. Its Instagrammable winding lanes are peppered with artisan cafés, gift shops and smart pubs.

But the main attraction is Wells’ standout beach. A slight distance from the town, it’s accessed along the harbour through pine woods, which makes the grand reveal of the beach’s sweeping sand and pretty huts even better. If you hit it on a hot day (and yes, there are such things in the UK), you could be anywhere in the world. We while away a happy few hours walking through the woodland, making sandcastles and paddling.

If you have time, you can visit adjoining Holkham Beach and Holkham Hall – an 18th-century mansion set in 10,000ha of parkland, where William and Kate and children are often spotted. 

Sunset over the beach at Wells-next-the-Sea. Picture: Getty

Evening

You can’t go to the beach and not have fish and chips – it’s coastal law. We enjoy traditional cod and chips from French’s Fish Shop on the quayside while watching the boats – something I have been doing since I was a child. The kids get an ice-cream and the adults a drink in The Globe Inn, a posh pub with rooms overlooking “The Buttlands”, an unusually named park, right in the centre of Wells. 

The Globe Inn at Wells-next-the-Sea.

DAY 2: Morning

A great way to start the day is with a walk around Blakeney, another pretty and popular village just along the coast from Wells, with its flint cottages, cafés and hotels.

The area is designated a National Landscape and its coastline a National Nature Reserve. It’s popular for wildlife-spotting of birds and seals and you can catch a boat trip to Blakeney Point where you can see the seal colonies. We opt to stay on land and head into the luxury Blakeney Hotel, which dominates the quayside, where we enjoy coffee with a five-star view, while wishing we were staying there. 

The Blakeney Hotel offers beautiful views across the water.

Midday

Next, we drive to another picture-perfect nearby market town, Holt. This upmarket Georgian town is also straight out of a Jane Austen novel, full of antique shops, tweed emporiums and eateries. We enjoy following the Holt Owl Trail of plaques revealing the town’s history and pottering around the antique shops, before grabbing a coffee at local favourite Black Apollo Coffee House. Those looking for a gourmet getaway would like the Michelin-starred Meadowsweet – a slick restaurant with rooms in a beautiful Georgian building on the edge of the town. visitnorthnorfolk.com; 

Michelin-starred restaurant Meadowsweet in Holt.

Afternoon

From Holt, it’s a short drive back to the coast, to the classic seaside town of Sheringham. This traditional resort has also happily enjoyed a regeneration over recent years and its Blue Flag beach, bright beach huts and mural-festooned promenade make it a lovely place to explore.

The Sheringham Museum and Fishermen’s Lifeboat Museum explain the region’s long history, as does the RNLI Henry Blogg Museum in neighbouring Cromer, which is next on our list.

Sibling seaside town Cromer is known as “the gem of the Norfolk Coast” and you can walk between the two, along a 6.5km section of the 135km Norfolk Coast Path, or, like us, opt to lazily drive the short distance. Once in Cromer, we sit on its Blue Flag beach, then get an ice-cream on its Victorian pier, which still has a working end-of-pier theatre. 

Sheringham's colourful line of beach huts.

Last stop

Finally, on our way home, we decide to meet some of Norfolk’s famous residents, its seal colonies. As well as at Blakeney, there are various spots to see them, one of the best being Horsey Gap beach along the coast. The grey seals were all over the beach and bobbing up in the sea and it was a memorable – and surprisingly pungent – experience.

Seal-spotting is a popular pastime along the Norfolk coast.

How to get to Norfolk from London

Norwich is about 156km from London and takes two hours-plus to drive, or just under two hours on the train. You can reach resorts such as Cromer and Sheringham by train, but if you want to really explore North Norfolk, you would need a car. 

Where to stay in Norfolk

Norfolk is full of self-catering cottages, such as the award-winning cottages on Kelling Estate, as well as luxury hotels, like Blakeney Hotel. 

Top tips for visiting Norfolk

1. Make time for Norwich

Norfolk’s capital, Norwich, is one of Britain’s smallest cities and a medieval marvel, with a 900-year-old cathedral, castle and huge market. 

2. Take a side trip to Blickling

There are lots of grand houses and estates in Norfolk; as well as Sandringham and Holkham Hall, there’s the National Trust’s Felbrigg and Blickling. The unforgettable Jacobean Blickling Estate is the birthplace of Anne Boleyn and also has holiday cottages on site. 

Originally published as I spent 48 hours in Norfolk, England's best-kept secret getaway spot