_100 things to do on the Norfolk coast

You’re coming to the Norfolk coast and you haven’t done your research yet. Don’t despair. Let the Visit Norfolk team take you through you all the best things to do while you’re here, so you don’t waste a moment.

We’ve got spectacular beaches, wonderful walking and wildlife, iconic attractions and much, much more.

Norfolk has 90 miles of coast so we’ve split it into three stretches.

Royal Norfolk

1 Visit Holkham and walk in the footsteps of actors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman on the beach and in the forest. Stop for lunch at The Victoria.

What movies and TV shows were filmed at Holkham

2 Stand on the beach at Holme-next-the-Sea and imagine the day when the tide revealed the prehistoric Seahenge. There’s a replica of it in King’s Lynn Museum.

3 Stand on the stripy cliffs at Hunstanton and tell people the land you can see in the distance is Holland. (It’s actually Lincolnshire across The Wash).

Natural wonder of Norfolk: The Wash and Hunstanton cliffs

4 Walk the Norfolk Coast Path, which starts at Hunstanton. You can do it in chunks and get the Coast Hopper bus back to where you started.

5 Take a ride on the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, the world’s longest ten and a quarter inch narrow gauge railway.

6 Watch the sunset at Hunstanton, otherwise known as Sunny Hunny. It’s the only east coast resort that faces west. Stay at Le Strange Hotel.

7 Visit Burnham Thorpe, birthplace of Horatio Nelson, and go in the church where his father was rector. Have a meal or stay at The Hoste in nearby Burnham Market – it was a favourite of Nelson. Nearby there’s the relaxed No.Twenty9 Bar, Restaurant & Rooms.

8 Then stand on the quay at Burnham Overy Staithe and look at the river where Horatio Nelson learnt to sail.

Where to find Nelson in Norfolk

9 Visit Sea Life at Hunstanton for the otters, penguins and a host of other cute marine creatures. Don’t miss the seal hospital where you can see juveniles in the nursery ward and the Humboldt Penguins on the new penguin beach.

10 Visit RSPB Titchwell national nature reserve for amazing birdwatching. Listen out for a booming bittern and watch marsh harriers perform their amazing ‘sky dancing’. You could stay at Titchwell Manor or Briarfields.

11 Don’t miss the best traditional seaside food on this part of the coast at Eric’s Fish & Chips.

12 The huge beaches at Hunstanton and Brancaster are perfect for a game of beach cricket.

13 Have a fresh crab sarnie at The Crab Hut at Brancaster Staithe. Or go upmarket with superb seafood at The White Horse Brancaster. It has amazing views over the marshes.

14 Take an hour-long Seal Tour with The Wash Monsters from Hunstanton and you’ll get to see the local colony lounging around on the sandbanks.

15 Have a pint of local beer and know that it was made with some of the best malting barley in the UK, because it’s grown on the high fields here, particularly on the Holkham Estate, where it benefits from the salty sea frets. Learn more in the Holkham museum.

16 The soil here is also perfect for apples. Discover more at Whin Hill Norfolk Cider.

17 Discover the maritime history of King’s Lynn at True’s Yard Fisherfolk museum.

18 Parts of the 20,000 acre Sandringham estate are on the coast, but it’s the house and gardens you’re going to be enchanted by.

19 Visit Heacham Manor and learn about their connections with Pocahontas.

How a Norfolk man created The Special Relationship with North America

20 Look out for samphire on the menu, otherwise known as sea asparagus. They say that naughty London restaurateurs send people up to nick it.

21 Count the beach huts at Wells-next-the-Sea. You’ll need more than ten fingers and ten toes. You can hire them for the day from Pinewoods Holiday Park.

22 Take your dog for refreshments at the Wells Beach Café – they love dogs there.

23 Find the large grey stone block in the walls at Brancaster’s St Mary the Virgin church – it was originally used in the walls of a Roman fort that was in the village.

24 To properly explore Wells-next-the-Sea, make sure you stay – we’d recommend The Globe or The Crown, both on picturesque Buttlands.

25 Go on an African adventure safari at Watatunga Wildlife Reserve. You can even stay.

26 Pamper yourself with a wonderful spa experience at Congham Hall. The village hosts the annual world snail racing championships!

27 In late summer enjoy the county’s largest foodie gathering, the North Norfolk Food Festival, at Holkham.

28 The Hunstanton Lawn Tennis Tournament in August is the Britain’s largest open tennis competition and has been running for almost 100 years.

Norfolk Coast

29 Rock pool and fossil hunt at West Runton. This is where the world’s largest mammoth skeleton was found. All part of the Deep History Coast.

30 Climb the watch tower at Sheringham Park and be amazed by the incredible coastal view down to Blakeney Spit.

31 Take in a variety show at Cromer Pier – it’s the world’s last end-of-pier theatre.

32 Bird watch at Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley Marshes, one of the top birdspotting reserves in the UK and one of the oldest nature reserves in the country.

33 Ride the Poppy Line heritage steam railway from Sheringham to Holt.

34 Take a trip from Morston Quay with Beans Boats to see the seals at Blakeney – they’re very cute!

Where to see the seals in Norfolk, UK

35 Visit Roughton Heath near Cromer and you’ll be walking in the footsteps of Albert Einstein. He stayed here in 1933 after escaping the Nazis.

36 Climb up Beeston Bump near Sheringham and revel in the coastline views. This was the site of a second world war Y Station which linked to Bletchley Park.

37 Look out for Stewkey Blues on a menu – cockles from the tidal creeks at Stiffkey.

38 Admire the sea view from Roman Camp and know that you’re on the highest point in all of East Anglia.

Natural wonder of Norfolk: The Cromer Ridge

39 Visit the National Trust-run Felbrigg Hall for a long walk and a sneaky peek in their excellent walled garden.

40  Take a cycle ride on the coastal Quiet Lanes at Kelling Heath – you’ll be on the Cromer Ridge, the highest point in East Anglia!

41 Dine or stay at The Gunton Arms for the amazing art on the walls and the herd of deer outside the windows.

42 Head down the Gangway at Cromer for the RNLI Henry Blogg Museum, named after the most decorated lifeboatman of all time.

43 Discover the native animals of South America at Amazona at Cromer.

44 Walk along the prom at Sheringham, Cromer or Overstrand licking an ice cream. With a chocolate flake.

45 Enjoy a fresh seafood platter at Cookie’s Crab Shop at Salthouse. Bring your own beer or wine – they don’t have an alcohol licence.

46 Or at Cley-next-the-Sea buy an improvised lunch from Picnic Fayre and Cley Smokehouse and dine out by the River Glaven with Cley Windmill in the background.

47 Royal Cromer Golf Club boasts spectacular clifftop views with a wealth of sandy hills and abundant gorse and bracken. And they welcome day visitors.

48 Explore your inner Lewis Hamilton at Kart Trak Cromer.

49 Look out for a performance by the Sheringham ‘Lobster Potties’ dancing the traditional Norfolk Morris style or their annual Potty Festival.

50 Go strawberry-picking at Wiveton Hall and then have lunch at the Wiveton Bell.

51 Climb to the top of the tower at St Peter and St Paul Church at Cromer – it’s the tallest in Norfolk.

52 Take the circular Coastal Path walk from the lovely port of Blakeney to Cley-next-the-Sea.

53 Visit the Glandford Shell Museum in the Glaven Valley, a very picturesque waterside scene. The museum is just as picturesque, a small building with Dutch gables.

54 Walk the shingle spit at Blakeney to the Point where the largest seal colony in the country reside. It’s four miles so put on some stout walking shoes!

55 Step inside a cosy Victorian fisherman’s cottage at Cromer Museum. People were much smaller then! You’ll learn more about the town’s fascinating history.

56 Go crabbing off Cromer Pier or Wells-next-the-Sea quay.

57 If you’re here in May, don’t miss the Cromer and Sheringham Crab and Lobster Festival!

58 Enjoy the coast and Broads at Clippesby Hall. Stay and enjoy 18-hole mini-golf course, cycle hire, tennis courts, an adventure playground with zipwires and climbing wall.

59 Walk on the beach at Happisburgh and you’ll  the footsteps of the first tourists ever to arrive in the UK at Happisburgh on our Deep History Coast.

60 Go dune jumping at Winterton-on-Sea. The dunes are topped with marram, which is Norse for sea grass.

61 Visit the National Trust’s Horsey windpump and enjoy the views of Horsey Mere. You could stay nearby at Waxham Sands.

62 Discover the secret-ish beach at Sea Palling with its perfect bays and shallow swimming water.

63 There are more ‘secret’ beaches at Waxham, Cart Gap and Eccles-on-Sea.

64 Every September step back in time at Sheringham when the town and North Norfolk Railway host a superb 1940s weekend. Expect to see a lot of cos play!

65 The Thursford Christmas Spectacular is one of a kind. Auditions for the November/December show start in the West End in February. Or go along to enjoy the Steam Museum.

64 Carnival Weeks are a big thing at our seaside in July and August. Find them in Cromer, Sheringham and Wells-next-the-Sea.

65 The North Norfolk Music Festival takes place each August. It’s all over the place. In north Norfolk.

66 Every Summer at Blakeney Quay there is an Aquatic Sports Day which includes sandcastle building, crab catching, tug of war and the infamous ‘Greasy Pole’ challenge!

67 If you’re feeling very brave there’s a Boxing Day Swim at Cromer and fireworks from the iconic pier on New Year’s Eve.

68 Stay at the Sea Marge at Overstrand top enjoy ‘Poppyland’ – oh, and the fact, Winston Churchill was a frequent visitor.

Great Yarmouth

69 Enjoy the delights of Great Yarmouth with a traditional day on the delightful sandy beach – make sure to pack a picnic.

70 Step on board the Lydia Eva at Great Yarmouth’s South Quay – an original lovingly-restored drifter from the 1930s that featured in the Timothee Chalamet film Wonka.

71 See a show at Great Yarmouth Hippodrome, the country’s last complete circus building and home of the jaw-dropping water spectacular.

72 Visit St Nicholas Minster at Great Yarmouth, the largest parish church in the country. Nearby is the house of Anna Sewell, who wrote the children’s classic Black Beauty.

73 Walk the entire length of the Golden Mile at Great Yarmouth and spend a penny – in the amusement arcades.

74 Visit Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens to see the tigers.

75 Jet Adventures offers exhilarating rides to see the seals at Scroby Sands.

76 Enjoy go-karts, haybale mountains, swings, football and crazy croquet at Hirsty’s Family Fun Park.

77 Discover the beach at Gorleston-on-Sea. Director Danny Boyle, who shot scenes for his hit film Yesterday here, described it as ‘one of the great secrets of England. It’s beautiful’.

Where was Yesterday filmed in East Anglia

78 As you’re in the area, hop over the border to Suffolk for the thrilling rides and fun at Pleasurewood Hills.

79 Relax by the water at The Boathouse on Ormesby Broad.

80 Hit the heights in Great Yarmouth by taking a ride on the Big Wheel.

81 Step inside the Tolhouse Gaol Musuem at Great Yarmouth – it dates back to the 12th century and is one of the UK’s oldest gaols.

82 Head to Great Yarmouth’s South Denes and discover the original Nelson Monument, topped by Britannia and inscribed with the great admiral’s victories.

83 Learn about Great Yarmouth in days gone by at the Elizabethan House.

84 Tell everybody you’ve been to California… the one that’s just north of Great Yarmouth that is. Named after the California Gold Rush. Yes, really!

85 In July Great Yarmouth hosts the Wheels Festival on the Golden Mile.

86 In late Summer, Great Yarmouth hosts the world-class Festival of Bowls, the largest outdoor open bowling event in the country. In January, Potters Resort nearby hosts the World Indoor Bowls Competition.

87 Through the summer there are midweek fireworks at Great Yarmouth and Hemsby.

88 If you’re here in September, enjoy the superb Out There Festival at Great Yarmouth, a weekend of mostly free public performances with a circus theme.

What festivals are there in Norfolk

89 Also in Great Yarmouth, enjoy the Big Mini Golf Tournament, which takes place at a number of the town’s mini golf courses.

90 Gorleston has its Clifftop Festival every July. You’ll love to stroll along the ‘Prom, Prom, Prom! Where the brass bands play, tiddely-om-pom-pom!’

91 Ride the wooden rollercoaster at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach… the last one in the UK that needs a brakeman because there are no brakes on the track. Eek!

92 Order some freshly-made donuts on Great Yarmouth seafront. Bet you can’t eat one without licking your lips.

93 Ride the snails at Joyland in Great Yarmouth. One for adrenaline junkies. Not.

94 Take yourself back to Victorian times by a visit to the restored Venetian Waterways and Boating Lake at Great Yarmouth.

95 Walk through the tropical fish tanks at Sea Life Centre in Great Yarmouth – yes, through!

96 Visit Time & Tide Museum at Great Yarmouth and learn that in one day in 1907 fishermen brought into port 80 million herring. In ONE day!

97 Stand by the walls of the Roman Burgh Castle and imagine that in their time this was a huge estuary and Great Yarmouth didn’t exist!

Where to find Boudicca and Romans in Norfolk

98 Have fish fingers from the menu in a Great Yarmouth restaurant and know that the dainty digits were invented here in 1952.

99 Have chips from Great Yarmouth Market Place. They’re fried in beef fat and, liberally sprinkled with vinegar and salt, they’re fabulous.

100 Have a flutter at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, but don’t lose your shirt – save that for sunbathing on the beach.