When I was asked whether I wanted to go to the Norfolk Coast, I was a bit skeptical.
No one had ever mentioned it as a place I had to visit in England. When you hear of
places to visit in England, it's always destinations like the Cotswolds, Cornwall, Lake District,
or some of the cities like Bristol and London. I wasn't sure if Norfolk would live up to
my expectations, but to my surprise, Norfolk coastline has become one of my favorite summer
spots. Whether you want to relax by the seaside or get active in nature, there are plenty
of things to get up to. With over 90 miles of coastline, it can be difficult to choose
where to head to. I normally base myself in Sheringham, which is a traditional English
seaside town with a blue flag beach lined with colorful beach huts. It has scenic quirks,
good pubs, cafes, tea rooms, and a steam train. In 1887, Sheringham quickly changed when the
railways provided access to the area. It went from a small fishing village to a thriving
seaside town. No trip to the seaside is complete without dipping your toes into the sea. As
an English beach, I rate this in the middle ground. It has sand, but it also has cobbles.
Depending on the tide and the currents, the beach will either look like it's cobbled or
has cobbles with sand. As I grew up in Australia, I was spoiled for choices, and I think it
may have tainted my standards. As it's the seaside, ice cream or fish and chips are a
must. For ice cream, I always end up going to Ellie's Ice Cream, as they do soft serve
for one pound 20. For fish and chips, there are plenty of places
to choose from: Sheringham Trawler, Dave's Fish Bar, and Stevenson's Cafe and Fish Bar.
My personal favorite place to eat at is Fat Ted's Street Food. Their loaded chips are
to die for, or you can grab a burger. Otherwise, there is Stubby's Pizzas and Craft Bakery
for some breakfast pastries. For good coffee, go to the Gray Seal Coffee Bar. Be careful
during peak season, as places do you run out of food.
One of the highlights of the Norfolk Coast is there are so many coastal walks available.
Today, I am walking from Sheringham to Weybourne to have lunch at The Ship Inn. It's an hour's
walk. It's a nice, easy stroll, but if you're a bit clumsy like me, then watch out for the
uneven foot path. But it has really good views. We've not got the best English weather day,
but it's England, after all. There is a wealth of wildlife to watch when walking along the
cliff top paths. Going towards Cromer, you have the other side
of the coastal walk. Along the way is the Beeston Bump. It is a large grassy hill that
is 103 meters tall and was formed at the end of the ice age. It's about a 15-minute walk
there to the top of Beeston Bump, where you have amazing views of the North Sea, Sheringham,
and west Runton. In the distance, you can see East Runton and Cromer.
Sheringham was one of the Y stations across the coast. There's quite a few of them that
used to receive code and send it to Bletchkley Park, which then went on the war rooms during
the World War. So it is quite interesting to see the point where they sent the code
to be cracked. From Sheringham, you can catch the North Norfolk
Steam Railway, better known as the Poppy Line. The track was originally a part of the Midland
and Great Northern Joint Railway. In 1963, the society formed the Norfolk Railways Limited
to preserve, restore, and operate the line. It's a 10.5-mile round trip by steam train.
I left mid-morning so that I could have lunch and walk around Holt. Arriving in Holt station,
there is a mile walk into the town center. It's a beautiful Georgian market town. In
1708, the town suffered a devastating fire, which burned all of the timber houses down.
It was then rebuilt in the Georgian architecture you see today. With art galleries, antique
shops, bookstores, craft breweries, and great eateries, its' a perfect day out. For a traditional
pub lunch, I went to The King's Head, and then I finished my day off at the Chubby Seal
with craft beer. Cromer. In the Victorian era, people loved
the sea air, and it was one of the reasons Cromer grew in popularity. Cromer Pier was
built in Norfolk and became a popular to tourist attraction. The original pier was built with
timber and couldn't withstand the seas. So they brought in a London engineering firm,
Douglas and Arnott, to build this 500-foot iron pier. Whilst you're there, you obviously
have to go to Poppyland Brewery and Distillery. They aim produce small batches of top quality
beer using unusual processes and ingredients to produce different and interesting beers.
Along with their beers, they have embarked on producing unique gins. The gins are small
batches with hand-picked botanicals. To add to this, you can obviously get a vodka. There
is something for everyone. If you're looking for some caffeine, then
I recommend going to North Sea for coffee. It's a small independent coffee bar that usually
serves freshly-roasted, specialty coffees and small carefully considered selection of
pastries and cakes. Everything that they source is from local businesses. Then if you love
some chips, then you have to go to The Bucket List. It's basically a bucket of chips with
amazing toppings. What more could you want to soak up the holiday drinks with?
Heading over to Blakeney. This town is perfect for boat trips, coastal walks, and observe
wildlife within the Norfolk Coast area of natural beauty. Expect to see pristine salt
marshes, seals, and a wonderful array of birds. The area is an important breeding for sea
birds. Sandwich terns generally come over from West Africa as breeding pairs and are
hear from late March to August. And it's a scene to see them.
Super awesome thing to do on the Norfolk Cost at Blakeney Point is go watch the seals. We
had a fantastic morning where we saw saw the terns. We saw the terns and then a peregrine
falcon came in and tried to eat some of the young. So we saw this massive bird attack
thing and then some seals laying on the beach and swimming around. So it was a really amazing
day trip, and I totally recommend it. We went with Bean's Boats, so I'll leave the link
in the description below so you can book with them.
There are over 3000 common and Gray seal pups born each year, which makes Blakeney Point
the largest seal colony in England. They are inquisitive creatures and often like to get
up and close to the boat, so have your camera at the ready. The best time to go is between
June and August when the seals give birth. There is nothing cuter than black eyes of
a seal pup gazing at you. Next on the list is Wells Harbour and Wells
Next to the Sea. Wells beach is one of Norfolk's finest, with stretches of sand going for miles
and colorful beach huts. It's a bit of a walk to the beach from the town, but you can catch
cute little miniature train down for a few pounds. It's a fun way to travel in a mock
steam train to the edge of the sea. You can either take a return journey or enjoy the
long but scenic walk from the town, the sea in either direction.
Venture into Wells. It was a commercial fishing point, the legacy of once-wealthy Wells has
left architecture at its most graceful. Beautiful sash windows and pastel colors. Going up to
[inaudible 00:08:37] Street and onto Butland, take your time to admire the traditional streets
of Victorian and Georgian houses. Stop by Ground. They focus on top quality, locally-roasted
coffee and tasty food. I have only scratched the surface of what to do on the Norfolk Coast.
It has won me over, and I hope this list inspires you to go. For more England destinations,
watch this playlist popping up now.