Discover Wells-next-the-sea and Holkham

Holkham is home to a 25,000 acre estate on the north Norfolk coast, in which stands Holkham Hall, an 18th century Palladian house, home to the Earl of Leicester. Surrounding the house is rolling parkland with Fallow Deer and Red Deer.

The unspoilt picturesque beach at Holkham, which won the Coutryfile Magazine Beach of the Year 2018 award, has expansive white sands backed by sand dunes and pine woods. The setting for many films and popular with walkers and bathers alike, it can feel almost empty even at the height of summer. Behind the shoreline lies a basin, which, at high tides, fills to form a spectacular shallow lagoon. Holkham beach is also part of one of the largest National Nature Reserves in the country and is home to many rare species of flora and fauna.

Between world-renowned Holkham beach and the unique bird sanctuary of Blakeney Point, lies the pretty harbour town of Wells-next-the-Sea. Its harbour is sheltered by salt marshes from the open sea and was once one of the great ports of eastern England in Tudor times. Today the harbour is still used by sailing and crabbing boats and is overlooked by an imposing granary dating from 1904.

Wells town has a leafy Georgian Square and on Staithe Street you'll find a mix of traditional and contemporary shops. On the outskirts, is a light railway which takes on a four mile train ride to Walsingham. You can walk from the town to Wells beach, or take the seasonal narrow-gauge railway.

Take a walk through shady pinewoods to the sandy beach, and you'll be greeted with a row of colourful beach stilted huts and seals basking on the sand banks. Set in north Norfolk’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Wells is part of the largest coastal nature reserve in England and Wales, and is a magnet for bird-watchers. Its marshes provide the perfect habitat for wading birds, bitterns, avocets, marsh harriers and winter geese.

With many places to stay, Wells-next-the-Sea and Holkham offers a perfect setting for a north Norfolk holiday.