Seascapes of North Norfolk

This was an excellent vacation in every way.   Brilliant accommodation and very helpful staff.

Our stay at the Rose & Crown was the best hotel and Snettisham is very pretty to explore with a good coffee shop.Very useful to have an hourly bus service along the coast which takes away any stress about how long the walks might be. The beach at Holkham is amazing especially for children with pretty beach huts though few seem to be used. Thetrip on the railway to Walsingham was good but you need to get there early to be sure of a seat (it was a school holiday) and the pilgrim centre at Walsingham was really peaceful with a good cafe. We saw birds that we seldom see in Scotland such as egrets, avocet, spoon bills and red kites which was special. It was nice to join in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations at Blakeney. The circular walk from Blakeny to Cley was really good.

Memorable for the long views over salt marshes inhabited by a wide variety of birds that we would never see in our suburban garden, and we also heard a cuckoo.  All the accommodation was good (particularly Holkham).  Navigation was very easy.  Highlights were the huge herd of fallow deer and a six acre walled garden in Holkham Hall's grounds, together with Holkham beach. Thanks are due to Inntravel for advising us of a major footpath diversion and for suggesting alternatives which were far preferable.  The Moorings in Blakeney is recommended, although the meal at Blakeney House was also very good.  Taking supplies for lunch could be wise.  Some of the pubs have gone too far upmarket to provide a simple light lunch.

This was our 12th Inntravel holiday and was as good as ever. The hotels were all excellent, wild flowers and bird life fascinating, the walking very easy and the weather fine. Everyone was so friendly! We booked a visit to Sandringham on the day we travelled so that we'd have time to walk to Snettisham Beach on our first full day. Be aware that there's not much at the beach on a Monday, at least in May. The only place open was the shop at the caravan site and it closed at 2.00pm - shortly before we got back from our walk around the Reserve, alas. Fortunately we'd eaten a hearty breakfast at The Rose and Crown. Accommodation and food were as good as ever, though some people might be put off by the number of dogs in the restaurant at The Victoria. On the plus side, they provided a fridge in the room full of complimentary drinks which we felt it rude not to try. They also had printed instructions for using the shower. A really good idea! And the muntjacs and pheasants on the lawn at Blakeney House provided evening entertainment. We did try to catch the train to Walsingham, but the 12.00 service didn't run. It might be worth phoning ahead since it's quite a walk out of Wells to the station. Finally - no-one has mentioned the churches. All really interesting in different ways. I'm told that the view from the top of the tower in Blakeney is worth the climb, if you don't mind heights and 135 steps.

As we are getting older, it was nice to be able to do a less demanding Inntravel walk that was within our capabilties. Accomodation was very different in character and each location had its own particular charm.

Our 6-days walking the North Norfolk Coast was superb. A well-needed break with wide open spaces, fresh air, great scenery and all the comforts of great food and wine and a comfy room each evening. Loved it.

RSPB Titchwell outstanding. Very much enjoyed Snettisham, though you should be less woolly about the cafe availability in October... They were either not there, closed or fish and chips. We did manage to get a sandwich at the caravan shop, however. Holkham was gorgeous! My husband specially enjoyed the last day circular route. I went on the bus to Cromer and it was lovely. You could add as a possibility?

Splendid holiday walking along the North Norfolk Coastal Path. The details of the walks were excellent and easy to follow. Inntravel's attention to detail is impressive. The Rose & Crown in Snettisham was a lovely place to stay, very comfortable and the food choices outstanding. The only criticism was our room was over the bar and after closing the empty bottles were poured into outside containers, the noise continued at intervals for 30 or 40 minutes. Our next hotel was The Victoria in Holkham this hotel was outstanding, the room beautifully decorated, the staff charming and caring, and the food superb. Our final hotel the Blakeney House in Blakeney was satisfactory.

Snettisham spectacular in early morning to see the waders in murmurations fly above your head. It was a wonderful surprise that the spring high tide was that weekend. So always check RSPB website. The walks themselves and the scenery, we were surprised how busy the hotels/area were but you could still find wonderful peaceful spots on the walk . 

We  were very happy with every aspect of our holiday, the scenery was very peaceful and enjoyable, all the accomadation was very good, and food excellent. It was easy to find places for our lunch and the bus was easy and clear timetables displayed. All staff were friendly and helpful. Walking by the coast and hearing noise from the birds and geese flying overhead, and on the salt marshes, gave a very special feel to the holiday. Excellent!

A very enjoyable holiday with easy walks. Spectacular views and the highlights being the huge number of special birds migrating through.

The stay at both Rose and Crown and Cley Windmill were extremely high standard. The walk at Snettisham was super as was the walk between Wells and Cley. Cley Marshes Nature Reserve is worth spending extra time to fully appreciate. It is essential to prebook evening meals at Rose and Crown and pubs in Cley as both have limited capacity. Food is well worth it!

HIGHLIGHTS: The incredible birdlife at Snettisham; Sandringham and Holkham parks; wonderful walks; great food every night; and spectacular birds all the way to Cley. Watching the seals off the shingle beach at Cley was another highlight but really the whole week was a continuous highlight.

Norfolk is a wonderful county. We were blessed with amazing weather. The walks were perfect. The new walled garden at Holkham Hall is well worth a visit. We loved the Victoria and Blakeney House. We wouldn't hesitate to do this holiday again. 

We were fortunate to have absolutely lovely weather for the whole week.  We met up with delightful fellow Inntravellers as is often the case.  Inntravellers usualy meet at least three out of four criteria; members of the National trust, shop at Waitrose (or Booth's); read the Guardian; listen to BBC Radio 4.

The accommodation was outstanding, the staff were all very friendly and the food provided was of a very high quality.

We enjoyed both the villages we stayed in, Snettisham and Blakeney. And staying in The Victoria Inn at Holkham provided a number of activities including visits to the beach, to Wells next the Sea and the estate grounds and Holkham Hall.

The walks give you a very good snapshot of both the North Norfolk coast and the interior. We particularly enjoyed the walk on the final day for its variety.

Very enjoyable easy walking along the North Norfolk coast with the assistance of excellent hourly bus service on some stretches. We saw lots of sea and coastal birds including egrets and avocets and also deer and stoats and several wild flowers native to the region. A seal accompanied us along our final walk along the coast, popping up occasionally to see how we were getting on! The hotels were very welcoming and the meals were excellent. And it only rained on one day! 

We wished we had booked another night at the Victoria hotel. All the walks were excellent but the highlight was the walk from Hunstanton to Holkham. The variety of the landscape from beach to marsh to boardwalk is stunning. The bus service was excellent and would recommend using the Lynx app to track the bus.

The highlight to us was that we were seeing the most beautiful countryside, in fact Norfolk at its best because of the weather.  Wonderful to have our trip planned for us and going to 3 locations meant that the week seemed longer.  Excellent!

HIGHLIGHTS: The meals at The Victoria hotel were outstanding, visiting Walsingham early in the morning by bus, watching the birds from the paths, sunset over Blakeney Harbour on our last night. We had a picnic of crab from the smokehouse in Cley and bread from the shop in Cley and sat on a bench near the Church in bright sunshine - magical...

Highlights: A large ginger pig walking out from a hedge right in front of us and casually walking past us on the first day. We had never been to this coastline before and it was amazing to experience the wide open empty beaches and skies. After a trip to Cornwall earlier in the summer where the beaches were jam packed, the emptiness of the coastline was amazing. 

We particularly enjoyed this walk as we were able to combine our love of walking with birdwatching.  We carried binoculars with us every day and there was plenty of time to stop and look for birds.  We fitted in a visit to Titchwell Marsh on Day 2 and spent a half day at Cley Reserve at the end of our holiday.  The route is easy to navigate and we hardly needed to refer to the detailed notes or maps, which allowed more time for tea or lunch stops.

Highlights & Tips: RSPB Snettisham was well worth the circular walk all the way round. Morston Staithe is very attractive, with the NT cafe a pleasant bonus. Blakeney is a very attractive place to stay. Monday is not the best day to visit Burnham Market - many places, including cafes, were closed. Wiveton Down is worth a quick detour - it is a different type of habitat, being heathland - good picnic spot. 

Enjoyed the holiday, first time in that area and interesting that the coastal path is not really on  the coast! Holkham was brilliant great estate and hotel and did beach walk to Burnham. We think the distances we walked were more than indicated in your notes - as indicated by our phones / fitbit.

Fab holiday in a wonderful part of England.  Birds and flowers galore.  Amazing food, which we thankfully walked off ready for the next meal! Weather glorious.  Accommodation great, but the 'Vic', Holkham was perfect.  Include long sits on the beach and take a swimming costume with you on the walks. Thank you.

Nice variety of walks and hotels lovely. Went seal watching when staying in Blakeney and saw lots of seals.

Overall, it was a great walking experience, especially the stretches on the coastal path; to us, a unique landscape, with wonderful  wildflowers, even on the dunes. It was good to know, especially when caught in heavy showers that we would have an attractive and very comfortable place to stay that night and that often we could catch a bus to our destination if it all got a bit much. 

Mostly a very enjoyable holiday particularly because of the weather in the first three days. The hotels were all very good and the first three walks very enjoyable. We didn't manage the last walk from Blakeney to the windmill because I fell over and felt a little too shaky to carry on - but it was relatively minor.

Our favourite place to stay was the Victoria Inn in Holkham although all the accommodation was very good. We thoroughly enjoyed our walks and the meals at the end of the day. The holiday was excellent overall. The only negative we felt was that the beaches weren't really safe for swimming at and often the tides were so far out that you had another long walk to get to the sea. Obviously, this is nothing that Inntravel have any control of but should be borne in mind by people who enjoy swimming.

Our best walk was from Hunstanton to Holkham. We stopped in the town and walked the beach with its famous cliffs rather than start from Old Hunstanton. We also walked on to Titchwell which was very good and easy to get to and from. All accommodation and food was excellent with the Victoria Inn the pick of the three with outstanding facilities and service.

We had a wonderful walking holiday in a part of the UK that most of us had not experienced before. The walks, coastal scenery, wildlife and weather were just lovely and the accommodation is top notch!

Holkham was a good place to spend time and we very much enjoyed our e-bike experience in the beautiful grounds. We were glad that we had added an extra day there.

We had a superb meal in The Old Bank, Snettisham and another in the Wells Crab house, Wells-next-to-the-Sea, both of which we had booked well in advance. The Deli in Burnham Market was also very pleasant on our walking day in and around there.

All the accommodation was very good with the Country House atmosphere of the Victoria Inn and its beautiful rooms standing out, although the delightful Rose & Crown in Snettisham is a close run second. Blakeney House was comfortable with everything that was needed and good food but the other two stand out. 

Generally this was a very good experience. We thank Inntravel for their organisation and the way they have coped with the challenges of these difficult days.

Despite the weather fantastic holiday. Accommodation above our expectations. Walking not too arduous and easy to follow. Recommend you get to know the easy bus route (generally about 1 per hour) to get back from some lovely pubs. We did take a car to Norfolk. Parking was easy and Inntravel guides adjusted accordingly. We'd highly recommend.  

The RSPB reserve near Snettisham has a new 'hide' which allows you to be very close to the nesting black-headed gulls and have a panoramic view of their nesting without disturbing them. Don't miss it.  

The nature reserve at Holkham has coastal access, woodland walking, views over the saltmarsh and sightings of the marsh harrier which we had heard about. Another walker, a more experienced bird watcher, helped us to locate him gliding over the saltmarsh.  

Rose and Crown outstanding.

Routes interesting and wildlife extraordinary.

A really enjoyable holiday: accommodation in three very different but uniformly good places (a pub, a hotel and a windmill!), excellent food, and some excellent walking, helped by (for 2021) unnaturally fine weather!

So relaxing, so beautiful...  We felt like we were in a secret corner of the country while eveyone else rushed off to the southwest. Great food as well. We will be back!

We have never been disappointed or let down in any way by Inntravel. The holiday was made so easy and relaxing by the fantastic attention to detail in the notes about the area, the maps and the local knowlege. It saves so much precious holiday time if you know where to look for the best experiences and Inntravel certainly go out of their way to provide all the information you could possibly need.  

We thoroughly enjoyed our 6 night break in Norfolk. If you wish to visit Holkham Hall do book in advance. We also pre-booked restaurants. The Victoria Inn is very special and the food is excellent. We stayed at the Windmill in Cley-next-the-Sea and our room was first class overlooking the broads. All in all we would recommend this trip. We could certainly have stayed longer. We may rerturn and do the walks we didn't manage. Also the bus service is first class.

The coastal bus was very useful & we used to combine routes & so more in a day

We very much enjoyed the walking & xploring an area that was new to us

A thoroughly enjoyable holiday in an area that was new to us. The perfect antidote to lockdown.

The walk to the coast and back was great. On the second day we went to Sandringham and enjoyed the walk through the country park, the gift shop and cafe. Inntravel was great with booking and amending our holiday, we appreciated that. We also received the holiday pack in record time. We look forward to our next holiday with Inntravel.

Well done to Inntravel for putting together this gem of a holiday. We stayed at The Rose and Crown, Snettisham, and The Victoria Inn, Holkam, before having to return home because of lockdown. So ours was a 4 night break. We enjoyed it immensely and will return when we can to visit Blakeney. The accommodation was excellent, and the staff all very friendly and super efficient. The food was outstanding and there was a very varied choice. The deli at Thornham was brilliant. We enjoyed a late lunch of freshly made sandwiches, coffee and home made pecan pie. We tailored our walking to enjoy maximum bird watching opportunities including the RSPB reserves at Snettisham and Titchwell. The bus service was on time, so no problems at all. Waking up to the sounds of flocks of migrating birds was memorable. There just seemed to be so much space and vast blue skies.

All the accommodation was excellent, especially the windmill at Cley: we could see it for miles before we got to it, surrounded by reed beds, just beautiful. 

Although it is a very flat coast, we were surprised by the variety of the walks: huge sandy beaches, raised dykes winding their way round the salt marshes, raised board walks, Holkham Estate, RSPB reserve and a couple of seaside towns thrown in. Add to that lots of birds (really, thousands of them) and plenty of water to sit and stare at.

This walk being a Level 1 felt less of a challenge than other Inntravel holidays we're been on but we really enjoyed it: it was so characterful and the food (especially at The Rose and Crown and The Victoria) was outstanding.

Walking was easy and invigorationg with all that fresh sea air! Watching the birds along the coast even to our unknowledgeable eyes was wonderful.

The whole holiday was a pleasure, especially in COVID circumstances.  In mid-October one needs some good fortune with the weather, and I had it: not only limited rain, but a cloud cover that often lifted over the coast, revealing expansive blue skies.  The North Norfolk coast itself is intriguing not only for its wonderfully large beaches (as at Holkham), but for its 'in-between' spaces - mud flats, lagoons and reed beds, and grazing marshland - places where nature teems on its own terms, and humans can observe and conserve but do not compete for the spaces.  The final day's walk takes one back into richly-cultivated countryside, and adds further value to the experience - the Blakeney Esker is of particular interest.  Good (varied) hotels, and good food too.  A holiday to lift the spirit in a bleak year. 

Great holiday. We were unable to stay at Holkham but this didn't have a negative impact on the holiday. Beware that Blakeney House does not serve food on Mondays and there are limited alternatives in the village. The last bus from Wells to Blakeney leaves at 16.30pm so be sure to check your walking times.

If you wish to visit the RSPB reserve at Snettisham it is possible to continue along the beach and enter the reserve at the far end. There is a small causeway across the lake and a footpath takes you across the fields and through to a disused railway line at Ingoldsthorpe which leads back to Snettisham. This extends the walk to about 15km.