About the North Norfolk area

Cromer

The Gem of the Norfolk Coast, as Cromer is subtitled on its signposts, has been sparkling for generations.

The once quiet fishing town, made fashionable by the spa seeking Georgians and accessible by the Victorian railways, has never looked back as one of the best known traditional bucket and spade resorts in Britain.

Its award-winning beaches are watched over by an impressive pier, whose theatre runs a summer season variety show that is the envy of seaside stages across the country.

Visitors and locals enjoy the combination of holiday resort and working town, that sees a colourful row of crab boats nestling on a shoreline shared with beachcombers and sandcastle builders.

A few paces away is a lifeboat museum charting the town's seafaring life-saving heroics, while a brand new lifeboat station at the end of the pier show the tradition is set to span many more generations.

Many of the men who have manned those boats are from the local fishing fraternity, whose most famous catch is the well-known Cromer crab - a delicacy to be sampled as part of the Cromer experience.

Cromer also boasts the region's biggest carnival, which brings tens of thousands of extra visitors in mid August.

Standing sentinel in the middle of the town is Norfolk's tallest parish tower - whose 160ft high summit gives a superb gull's eye view of the town, as well as the sea, cliffs and countryside that are the setting for the Gem.

Sheringham

Steam trains, shopping and the stage are all woven into daily life at Sheringham.

The former fishing stronghold is now better-known as a busy resort, rich in attractions for trippers.

Nestling between the hillocks of Beeston Bump and the local golf course the town's flint-faced streets lead from the seafront to a range of facilities enjoyed by visitors and local alike.

The smoke-belching steam trains of the North Norfolk Railway stoke up nostalgia, and wonderment among the younger generation, on their trips to Holt.

Sheringham's Little Theatre is a year-round arts centre promoting live music, drama and films in its recently revamped venue.

On the outskirts of the town is Sheringham Park, a slice of countryside cared for by the National Trust and most famous for its early summer blaze of colour from rhododendrons and azaleas. Also nearby are the ruins of Beeston Priory, nature haven of Beeston Common, popular picnic spot at Pretty Corner, and on the Splash leisure pool.

On the seafront is a 105-year-old lifeboat in the shed where it was built - now a museum to the town's lifesaving heritage. Plans are currently under way to house three more former Sheringham lifeboats around town in a collection spanning a century that the resort says would make it unique in the world.

Holt

Holt is a bustling Georgian country market town situated in undulating wooded countryside just three miles from the North Norfolk coast, and close to the busy seaside resorts of Cromer and Sheringham.

It has maintained its country town character through the years, despite the arrival of modern businesses and new shopping areas.

Holt's prosperity for centuries centred on its market, which used to be held in Market Place, and later behind the Feathers Hotel. The last was held in 1960 after some 900 years of hustle and bustle. Although there is no longer a market, the town has a lively mix of unusual and specialty shops, selling clothes, food, antiques and crafts, plus art galleries, book shops. In fact the variety in this compact area would put many a larger shopping centre to shame.

There are three pubs: the Feathers Hotel and the Railway Tavern, both in Market Place, and the King’s Head in the High Street.

The parish church of St Andrew's is in Church Street, ad there is the Methodist Church in Norwich Road and the Vine Family Church which meets in Holt Community Centre.

Every year the town holds a carnival, usually in July.

Aylsham

An historic market town, Aylsham is handy for the city of Norwich, the North Norfolk coast and the Broads.

The wide market place - still with a lively market, interesting old buildings and varied shops, make it the business and shopping centre for the surrounding villages, and for visitors from further afield.

Close by lies the National Trust's Blickling House, a 17th century treasure which attracts thousands of visitors.

The Church of St Michael's is well worth a visit, with the tomb of landscape gardener Humphry Repton in the churchyard.

Town events include the weekly livestock auction, with very different auctions at G A Key, whose sales of antiques, furniture and collectables attract visitors from miles around.

The Aylsham Show — run by the Aylsham Agricultural Show Association - takes place on August Bank Holiday weekend at Blickling Park.

 

Mundesley

Stop off in the North Norfolk seaside town of Mundesley. Built at the mouth of the tiny river Mund, this is one of the county’s best kept secrets.

The town prospered at the start of the 20th century when the railway arrived, and for a time it was something of a health resort with two sanatoriums.

Today Mundlesey is a quiet holiday town with a clean beach, and shallow pools left by the turning tide.

As well as the beach you’ll find a few good gift shops here and some of the finest fish and chips!

 

Burnham Market

Burnham Market is widely considered one of the “loveliest” villages in North Norfolk.

It is the largest of the seven Burnham villages and known for its attractive buildings and wonderful shops.

The village has an attractive main street and green, with elegant 18th century houses and pretty flint cottages. Here you’ll find a spectacular array of antique, book and craft shops as well as some of the finest places to eat in the county.

Bolton House here was the home of Lord Nelson’s sister, while his daughter was married at St Mary’s Church in 1823. Burnham Thorpe to the east was the birthplace of Lord Nelson.
More about Lord Nelson on EDP24

Wroxham

Wroxham, capital of the Broads, is one of the few holiday towns in Norfolk that seems busy all year round.

Hundreds of thousands of people visit in the summer, but even in winter it’s a centre for weekend shopping trips for locals, too.

The community of the “capital of the Broads” clusters around the narrow hump-backed bridge over the River Bure, and is dominated by the various sections of Roys store - which describes itself as the largest village store in the world.

The river around Wroxham is busy, too - with private and hire boats, for day use or longer holidays, pottering up and down the river, and homes old and new lining the water's edge.

Wroxham gets all the publicity - but in fact the greater part of what people call “Wroxham” is actually not Wroxham at all, but Hoveton. The River Bure is the dividing line - and many amenities are in Hoveton, not Wroxham.