Good places to visit in norfolk

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Hello everyone Doing a 3 day tour in Norfolk at the end of June starting in Peterborough. I have mapped the first day to end in Hunstanton. Day 2 I'm not so sure of, and day 3 needs to end in Norwich, so we can get the train back to Peterborough. Is Cromer a decent place and distance from Hunstanton?
If you know the area can you recommend me some places to visit?
Thanks
 

Zorro

Veteran
I am not sure if this is the right area exacly but cambridge is well worth a visit. Also near to cambridge is a small town of ely which has the most amazing wooden tower in the middle of the cathedral. Well worth it. Not sure if that helps!
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Don't know if you have visited this area before but from Peterborough to Kings Lynn isn't very interesting being pretty flat and boring. The roads can be pretty dangerous as well being long and flat. A road that is slightly off your route but in the middle of nowhere has had average speed cameras put on it as the local council did a survery after several cars left the road and ended up in the adjacent deep dyke canal. The occupants all died. The fastest car they recorded was 148mph :ohmy: and average speed was 88mph :ohmy:. This is on a 50mph speed limit road (B1049). Anyway I think it is slightly off your route, plus it now has average speed cameras on it :biggrin:.

From Peterborough to Kings Lynn try and avoid the big roads at all costs especially the A47 as the traffic can be heavy with lots of heavy lorries and fast moving traffic. There are lots of accidents on the A47 especially at Guyhirn, junction with the A141.

From Kings Lynn up to Hunstanton the flora becomes a bit more interesting as it is microclimate I think. You see a few more exotic trees and shrubs. The A149 from Kings Lynn up past Sandringham (call in to say hi to Liz and Phil :biggrin:) to Hunstanton can also be very busy and not a pleasant place to cycle as it is single carriageway. Maybe you could take the B road through Dersingham and Snettisham or just miss out Hunstanton and go straight for Brancaster following the B1153 inland through Docking which is quieter. Beware caravans as well, loads of them in summer :wacko:.

The scenic bit really starts from Brancaster just round the coast from Hunstanton (Brancaster beach is very long and wide depending on tide, nice golden sand as well), Wells very pretty (Holkham Hall nearby), there is a nice campsite on the beach with nature reserves all around at Stiffkey just past Wells. A bit basic but nice none the less. Blakeney (Seal boat trips to Blakeney Point, a very pretty harbour and town), Cley-next-the-Sea again small and very pretty (Cley windmill has a cafe in the base which serves excellent tea, scones the size of dinner plates and cakes - home made and huge portions (May '08). Road through Cley is very narrow), are all very pretty. There are lots of bird reserves and walks along this part of the coast so lots of twitchers and hides in the dunes. There are quite a few camp sites, tea shops, tat and arty shops in the smaller places as well. The roads can be very narrow in places and the traffic heavy in peak times and on fine week ends. The route is pretty flat becoming slightly undulating inland. After that toward Sheringham and Cromer the scenery tails off a bit. At Cley after tea and scones you could cut south to Holt, very picturesque, down the B1149 to Norwich rather than the busy A140 :sad:.

Cycling Weekly last week page 55 had a Norfolk training route part of which was Brancaster to Cley to Holt. The guy Duncan Urquhart lives in Watton near Swaffham and rides it regularly as it is a quieter route. I've also ridden it a few times myself :biggrin: and also been in the car a few more times :ohmy:. IMHO it is certainly a nice ride well worth doing. Just that the traffic can be heavy on a nice weekend and olidays.

Good luck.

:tongue:
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Forgot to say that Sheringham and Cromer are built up seaside resorts. Great if you like that sort of thing. IMHO the quieter places back toward Hunstanton are nicer.
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Cunobelin said:

Doesn't seem to be much on this post about actually cycling from Hunstanton to Cromer. The only route reference is the North Norfolk path on which cycling is prohibited as it is for walkers only. It seems to be more about what you can do or routing you to attractions to part you from your cash. The only decent route seems to be the old Peddars Way which is more for walkers but I'm sure some one else will have a different view.

Heacham just south of Hunstanton is quite a nice place to stop there is a campsite near the nature reserve although you can only get to it via the A149 ;).
 
Thanks all especially Crankarm. The route i've plotted goes nowhere near A and B roads, and generally follows NCN11. It passes Wittersley, March, Wisbech and goes south of Kings Lynn. Then through sandringham country park and by Dersingham, Snettisham and finally to hunstanton.

The route then goes parallel to the coast, avoiding that A road and all of the B roads, cuts down to the coast at Cromer and then on a yellow road south to Mundesley, which is the end of day 2.

For day 3 back to Norwich I was thinking of ambling through the broads but I've never been there before so don't know what's good.
 

Will1985

Über Member
Location
South Norfolk
Kirstie said:
For day 3 back to Norwich I was thinking of ambling through the broads but I've never been there before so don't know what's good.
Wind.

There are plenty of things to see around the Broads. Depending on how far you want to ride, I would go from Cromer to Felbrigg then along the coast to Mundesley and then drop down to East Ruston (very nice gardens) followed by Potter Heigham and maybe Horning, crossing at the ferry to Woodbastwick. Then you could meander back to Norwich via Ranworth.
 

JackE

Über Member
Location
Hertfordshire
Sounds a lovely route. Leave time for a visit to this excellent bike shop in Hunstanton: http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
I rode around the Norfolk and Suffolk coast last summer- Peterborough to Hunstanton, then to Gt. Yarmouth (only because that's where I got to- although I found the place oddly interesting), then Felixstowe (I wanted to go on the ferry to Harwich), then home.

I found Peterborough to Hunstanton a good first day's ride. I'm not used to absolutely pan-flat terrain and I found it unusual and strange, especially not ever having to change gear. No coasting either. As you get towards Hunstanton the terrain becomes more rolling. There are plenty of good-surfaced quiet routes to take (I followed a fair amount of the on-road parts of the Sustrans routes through this area).
 

samid

Veteran
Location
Toronto, Canada
Just a small point to add: A few years ago I took a boating holiday on the Broads, going from Wroxham to Gt. Yarmouth, south from there (do not remember exactly where we turned back) and back to Wroxham. I did not bike there but remember that the land that could be seen from the boat looked very nice, scenic and pleasant even if mostly flat, with lots of beatiful small villages and towns and some nature reserves. So exploring the roads around that area might be worthwhile (and, looking at Google maps, there seem to be lots of minor roads criss-crossing the area).
 

andym

Über Member
The ride along the coast between Hunstanton and Cromer is really nice. There are lots of neat little places like Wells-next the Sea and Cley-next-the-Sea. I've got fond memories of staying in a seafront B&B in Cromer. going to sleep with the sound of the waves etc etc.

Hunstanton-Cromer seemed like a full day to me but then I'm an idle b*gger prone to dawdling, following interesting tracks off the road, stops for ice cream etc.

I also thought that Ling Lynn to Hunstanton was far enough. Can you catch the train to Kings Lynn from Peterboro'? The NCN in that area is a good choice.

Sorry can't help very much with the route back to Norwich from Cromer.
 
andym said:
The ride along the coast between Hunstanton and Cromer is really nice. There are lots of neat little places like Wells-next the Sea and Cley-next-the-Sea. I've got fond memories of staying in a seafront B&B in Cromer. going to sleep with the sound of the waves etc etc.

Hunstanton-Cromer seemed like a full day to me but then I'm an idle b*gger prone to dawdling, following interesting tracks off the road, stops for ice cream etc.

I also thought that Ling Lynn to Hunstanton was far enough. Can you catch the train to Kings Lynn from Peterboro'? The NCN in that area is a good choice.

Sorry can't help very much with the route back to Norwich from Cromer.

I think I managed to suss one out featuring a couple of novelty 'glorified bathtub' ferries.

The first day is around 66miles, the second 55 ish and the third 54 or something like that - those are typical of the kind of touring I do.
 

andym

Über Member
Now I come to think of it I did Kings Lynn - Hunstanton and then back again as a day- ride. D'Oh!
 
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