The ultimate guide to Norfolk beaches

The only west-facing resort on the east coast, so expect spectacular sunsets.

The elegant old Victorian town has its Esplanade Gardens and a sedate air but there’s also the buzzy family centre with sandy beach, pony rides and amusements.

Lots of nearby facilities, including trips to see the Wash seals.

Close to the quiet village, a large car park leads to a huge beach backed by the famous striped cliffs.

There are some amenities nearby, but it's the expanse of sand that brings people here. A great place for beach cricket.

A lovely stretch of fine sandy beach backed by dunes, chalets and Hunstanton Golf Club.

You won't find many people here as you have to park in the village and walk through. But it's worth it!

Take the Beach Road off the A149, and you’ll have Hunstanton Golf Links to your right. One of the most secluded beaches in Norfolk, this is where the Peddar’s Way joins the Norfolk Coast Route.

Look left to Hunstanton lighthouse and the cliffs, look right for deep, powdery sand backed with grassy dunes.

This is the beach where the famous Seahenge was discovered. Nearby is Holme Dunes National Nature Reserve with three birdwatching hides overlooking grazing marsh and pools.

As well as being one of the RSPB’s most popular reserves for birdwatching, the lagoons and reedbeds are completed by a lovely sandy beach.

Birdwatching in Norfolk

Brancaster beach, accessed at the car park by the Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, has miles of golden sand for long or short walks, a great place for building sand castles and also a specific area for power kiting sports.

Why not visit the National Trust Brancaster Millennium Activity Centre at the quay while you’re in the area.

Scolt Head Island is an area some 727 hectares of sand dune, beach and saltmarsh, owned jointly by The National Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust and a nature reserve since 1923.

The saltmarshes are considered to be among the finest in the UK and the sandy beach is a hidden gem.

The site is reached by a seasonal high tide ferry from the village of Burnham Overy Staithe. It operates from the Quay in front of the Boathouse. You can also wade across but be aware of the fast-running tides.

You have to walk beside the River Burn for around a mile from the staithe to get to the beach but it’s worth the effort – it’s another of those beaches where you’re likely to be on your own. Look to your right and you’ll have uninterrupted views all the way down to Holkham and Wells.

The tidal beach is backed by marram-tufted dunes. This is the beginning of the Holkham National Nature Reserve which stretches to Morston in the east.

Regularly appearing in lists of the best beaches in Britain, Holkham is accessed by the car park at Lady Ann’s Drive, adjacent to the entrance to Holkham Hall. The miles of sandy tidal beaches are backed by shady pinewoods and popular with horse riders. In summer you’ll often see the Household Cavalry taking their steeds in the water. 

The outgoing tide leaves lovely warm pools of shallow water to swim in or paddle.

Drive the mile-long road from Wells town or take the Wells harbour railway to reach Wells beach. Capacious at any time of the day, the beach is vast when the tide is out – you’ll wonder where the sea has gone as you gaze off to the horizon. You’ll just be able to make out the tumbling waves far off in the distance, at the end of The Run, the channel that leads from the sea to the harbour.

This is home to perhaps the most iconic Norfolk images – the row of 200 candy-painted beach huts.

Take the beach road from just outside the quaint village of Cley-next-the-Sea to the car park to reach the shingle and sand spit of Blakeney Point. This isn’t a bucket-and-spade beach, but a national nature reserve - it’s attraction being to walk along the spit to see the seal colony and to see the birds. Alternatively, you can see the seals by boat from either Blakeney or Morston quays.

From here the westward-moving dynamic coast begins to change to traditional seaside.

Birdwatching in Norfolk

Seals in Norfolk

The beach here is shingle and pebbles but marks the beginning of the north Norfolk cliff section that stretches all the way around to Happisburgh.

Look left and you'll see the shingle spit of Blakeney Point, where the seals are.

The last stretch before Cromer has the cliffs at their highest – this is part of the Cromer chalk ridge, the highest point in East Anglia. During low tides beneath the Beeston Bump you can find the curious paramoudras and flint circles. At West Runton children can rockpool for shore crabs, starfish, beadlet anemones and squat lobsters. If you know what you’re looking for, you might even find a mammoth tooth.

Deep History Coast

As of late Summer 2019 nearly two million cubic metres of sand were brought ashore to create a new 6km-long dune, ostensibly to protect Bacton Gas Terminal and nearby homes from coastal erosion but also producing an entirely new beach!

In the first 'sandscaping' project on this scale to be carried out in the UK, a combination of wind, waves and tides will move the sand into a natural position and protect the shoreline for around 15-20 years.

Just south of Bacton are the sandy beaches of Keswick and Walcott.

You’ll know when you’re at Happisburgh because you can’t miss the red and white candy striped lighthouse, the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain and sometimes open to the public on summer Sundays. The sandy beach extends for miles in both directions, but is dominated by the cliff protection barrier, helping to slow the rate of cliff erosion. Happisburgh beach is famous for being the site of the oldest-known footprints found outside Africa’s Great Rift Valley.

Deep History Coast

Impressive artificial flood defence reefs have created wide sandy bays and water sports ranging from swimming to jet skiing are a part of Sea Palling life. Once known simply as Pawling or Pauling, the village was renamed with its prefix after Edwardian holidaymakers discovered its delights as a beach resort. Facilities include a beachside amusement arcade and cafes.

Winterton-on-Sea has mile upon mile of pale, sandy beach stretching into the distance. Overlooked by the graceful white blades of the Bloodhills Wind Farm to one side and low sand dunes to the other, this is a great beach where you can escape from it all, with not an amusement arcade in sight.

Alongside the beach is the Winterton Dunes National Nature Reserve with a wide range of both breeding and overwintering birds and just north of Winterton a colony of grey seals live and can be regularly seen basking on the beach or popping their heads above the water.

California beach is a lovely, wide, sand and shingle beach at the bottom of low sandy cliffs, merging with Scratby beach. Peaceful and picturesque part of the coastline accessed via steep steps down the side of the sandy cliff or can be pleasantly walked to from Caister along the beach.

Caister on Sea's beach has a long concrete esplanade and sand dunes leading to a wide sandy, golden beach. Ideal for dog walkers who can enjoy a pleasant stroll along the beach and dunes going up and along the sand cliffs to California. There are also good opportunities for surfing, particularly during the quieter winter months, best when the offshore winds are west southwesterly.