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Norfolk Broads & Coast Road Trip Online Travel Guide
• Discover the Norfolk Broads and Norfolk Coast over 113 miles (181 km)
• Includes 19 key destinations and 100s of references
• Follow in 3 sections, tracing Norfolk Broads, Coast, North Norfolk, Norwich & King’s Lynn
Experience Norfolk:
A Journey Through Water, Coast and Living History
Norfolk is a county shaped by big skies, slow rivers, wide beaches and deep history — a place where you can drift, wander, explore and breathe.
This carefully curated road trip takes you on a complete journey through one of England’s most unspoilt and varied regions: from a medieval city of spires, into a watery national park, along a wild and beautiful coastline, and finally into historic market towns and royal landscapes.
It’s not a route about rushing between highlights. It’s about changing pace and changing scenery — from cathedral echoes and cobbled streets, to reed beds and river reflections, to sea air, salt marshes, fishing villages and great open skies.
You begin in Norwich, one of England’s finest small cities, rich in medieval architecture, independent shops and culture. From here, the road slips gently into the Norfolk Broads, where rivers replace roads and villages cluster around bridges, windpumps and boatyards. As the land opens out, you follow the North Norfolk Coast, a place of seals, marshes, wide beaches and timeless seaside towns. The journey ends in King’s Lynn, a historic port shaped by European trade, merchants and maritime ambition — a fitting finale to a route that has followed water in all its forms.
This is a road trip for people who love walking, wildlife, history, photography, small towns, quiet moments and big landscapes. It works just as well for a long weekend as it does for a slow, immersive week or more.
This road trip unfolds in four beautifully distinct parts:
Norwich – The City of Stories – Begin in one of England’s finest small cities, where medieval streets, cathedral cloisters, a Norman castle, markets, museums and independent shops create a rich, walkable historic centre full of character and culture.
The Norfolk Broads – The Water World – Drift into Britain’s most unique national park, where rivers replace roads and life moves at a gentler pace. Expect boat trips, windpumps, waterside villages, wildlife-rich marshes, walking trails and endless reflections.
The North Norfolk Coast – Big Skies & Wild Shores – Follow one of England’s most beautiful coastlines through salt marshes, seal colonies, dunes, cliffs, beach huts and classic seaside towns, all stitched together by the coast path and wide open views.
Sandringham, Castles & King’s Lynn – Power, Trade & Legacy – Finish among royal parkland, Norman fortresses and one of England’s great historic ports, where merchant houses, quaysides and medieval streets tell the story of power, trade and European connection.
What You’ll Experience Along the Way
Norwich – A medieval city of cathedral cloisters, castles, lanes, markets and culture
The Norfolk Broads – Britain’s most unique wetland landscape, with rivers, boating, windpumps and wildlife
Potter Heigham, Horning & Hickling Broad – Classic Broads villages and some of the most beautiful water scenery in the country
Great Yarmouth, Cromer & Sheringham – Piers, promenades, beaches, steam railways and traditional seaside towns
The Norfolk Coast AONB – Salt marshes, seals, dunes, cliffs and some of the best walking in England
Wells-next-the-Sea & Blakeney – Harbours, nature reserves, beach huts and huge skies
Sandringham Estate & Lavender Fields – Royal parkland, woodland walks and countryside calm
Castle Rising & King’s Lynn – Norman power and Hanseatic trade, ending in one of East Anglia’s great historic towns
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Signposted Attractions & Experiences
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![Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk Road Trip]()
Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk
Exploring Norwich is a pleasure best taken slowly. The city seems to gather itself around its great cathedral, whose vast stone walls and peaceful cloisters set the tone for everything that follows. From there, it’s easy to drift through a maze of cobbled lanes and timber-framed streets, past hidden courtyards, bookshops and cafés. Norwich doesn’t feel like a place that puts its history on display — it’s a city where the past is simply part of everyday life.
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![Norfolk Broads: Norfolk road trip]()
Norfolk Broads
The Norfolk Broads reveal themselves gradually. One moment you’re on an ordinary road, the next you’re following the River Bure past reed beds, old windmills and boats moored outside villages like Wroxham, Horning and Potter Heigham. Out at Hickling Broad, the landscape opens into wide skies and quiet water, alive with birds. It’s a place made for slow travel — for boat trips, riverside walks and stopping whenever something catches your eye.
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![Cromer Pier, Norfolk Road Trip]()
Cromer Pier, Norfolk
Cromer Pier is the sort of place that still feels properly part of the town rather than just something built for visitors. It stretches out into the North Sea with wide views back to the cliffs and along the coast, and there’s usually a small crowd of locals trying their luck with fishing lines or crabbing buckets. Even if you don’t take part, it’s a good place to pause, watch the weather roll in, and get a real sense of Cromer’s old-fashioned seaside character.
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![Norfolk Coastal Path: Norfolk Road Trip]()
Norfolk Coastal Path
Walking the Norfolk Coast Path is one of the best ways to understand this stretch of coast. Between Cromer and Sheringham, or further west towards Blakeney and Wells-next-the-Sea, the path threads its way along cliffs, through salt marshes and past wide, quiet beaches. You don’t need to do long sections — even a short walk gives you big skies, sea air and a sense of how open and changeable this coastline is. It’s less about ticking off miles and more about simply being out here.
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![Holkham Beach, Norfolk Road Trip]()
Norfolk's beautiful beaches
Norfolk’s best beaches are scattered along this coast like a series of quiet rewards. Wells-next-the-Sea has its vast sands backed by pine woods, while Holkham feels almost endless on a clear day. Cromer and Sheringham are livelier, with cliffs and promenades, while places like Blakeney and West Runton are better for wide views and space. Even at busier times, it’s easy to find somewhere to walk, breathe and feel a long way from everything else.
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![Norfolk Windmills: Norfolk Road Trip]()
Norfolk Windmills
Windmills are part of the everyday scenery in this corner of Norfolk, and you tend to come across them when you’re not expecting to. Horsey Windpump rises out of the marshes like something from another age, while St Benet’s Abbey Windpump sits quietly beside the ruins by the River Bure. Out towards the coast, Cley Windmill watches over the salt marshes. None of them feel like museum pieces — they’re just part of the landscape, markers in a place shaped by wind and water.
Norfolk Road Trip
Norfolk Broads & Coast Road Trip Guide
Point-to-Point Guide and Plan, More Than Just a Map
Our guides are built for road‑trippers who want to go beyond some pins on a map - with flexible, curated itineraries designed to help you explore with purpose and make the most of every moment.
From 3‑day getaways to 2‑week adventures, we provide a point-to-point plan to cherry-pick from, not just how to get there. This is not just a map; it’s a thoughtful guide for a meaningful way to explore with loads of extra travel information.
Digital & Accessible – Read anytime on phone, tablet or desktop for 12 months.
Flexible Itineraries – Plan trips from 3 to 14 days with mix-and-match options.
Curated Highlights – Signposting to attractions, experiences and overnight stops.
Travel and Transport Information – including by car, parking, public transport, and air.
Maps and Route – Google Maps point-to-point, plus references and pre-populated customisable routes.
Online access - nothing to download
Local & Practical Tips – Includes self-guided walking tours, hidden gems and references.
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Printable Shortlist – Save and print your personalised itinerary.
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A Journey Through Three Norfolks
Norfolk is a county that changes character quietly but completely. This road trip is designed to let you feel that change — from medieval city streets to open water, from salt marsh and sea air to royal parkland and old stone walls.
You begin in Norwich, one of England’s most complete and satisfying historic cities. Its cathedral and castle still dominate the skyline, but what stays with you most is the way the city invites wandering: lanes that turn into courtyards, markets that spill into old streets, cafés tucked into buildings that have been standing for centuries. It’s a place with weight and texture — and the perfect starting point.
Leaving the city, the world loosens. Roads begin to follow rivers. Fields flatten into marsh. And almost without noticing, you slip into the Norfolk Broads — a landscape shaped by water, peat cutting and wind. Here, villages like Wroxham and Horning sit at the edges of slow-moving rivers, and windpumps such as Horsey and St Benet’s stand as reminders that this is a landscape engineered as much as it is natural. This is the part of the journey where driving matters less and time matters more: boat trips, riverside walks, and long pauses become the real highlights.
Eventually, the land opens again and you meet the sea.
The North Norfolk coast is not a single place but a long, beautiful sequence of moods. Around Cromer and Sheringham, cliffs and promenades still carry echoes of classic seaside holidays. Further west, places like Blakeney and Wells-next-the-Sea sit on the edge of vast salt marshes and big skies, where harbours glow at sunset and seals haul out onto distant sandbanks. Beaches backed by pine woods at Holkham feel almost continental in scale. Walking here — even for an hour — gives you a sense of how wide and open this landscape really is.
Then the journey turns inland one last time.
Around Sandringham, the landscape becomes quieter, greener, and more deliberate. The royal estate sits in deep woodland and parkland, a reminder that this part of Norfolk has long been a place of retreat and power. Not far away, Castle Rising rises abruptly from open fields — one of the great Norman fortresses of England, massive, uncompromising, and unexpectedly moving in its isolation.
The journey ends in King’s Lynn, a town shaped by ships, trade and European connections. Its quays, warehouses, merchants’ houses and great church feel like a summing-up — a place where all the threads of water, travel and history finally tie together.
Why This Route Works
What makes this road trip special is not just the places it visits, but how they flow into one another: city to water, water to coast, coast to castles and old ports. It’s a journey that feels complete, varied and deeply rooted in landscape and history — and one that rewards taking your time.
Every great road trip begins with an idea — a place that pulls you in, a view you can’t stop thinking about, or simply the urge to get out on the open road. You can dip into fresh inspiration, find experiences to excite you, look for the kind of vehicle that suits your style of travelling, and get practical road trip planning tips to make planning simple rather than stressful. However you like to explore, you’ll find everything you need to start turning your trip into something memorable.
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