The wooden gate at the edge of the Broads, the 5-bar, the creak, the cow pat in the field beyond, the dyke full of the reeds, the windmill in the distance (the drained the marsh, the brick, the 19th-century, the sails, the 3 of the 4 remaining), and the sense that the Norfolk is the flat, the big-sky, and the best-kept walking secret in the England, is the start of the walking holiday in the Norfolk. The Norfolk is the not the Lake District or the Snowdonia: the highest point in the Norfolk is the Beacon Hill at the 105 metres (the lowest county top in the England), and the walking is the not about the ascent and the descent. The walking in the Norfolk is about the big sky, the coast, the marshes, the wildlife, and the sense of the space. Here is the planning guide.

All You Need to Know About Planning a Walking Holiday in Norfolk

• The essential Norfolk walks: The Norfolk Coast Path (the 84 miles from the Hunstanton to the Cromer): the best long-distance walk in the south-east England: the Hunstanton Cliffs (the striped, the white chalk, the red chalk, the carrstone, and the best geology in the Norfolk), the Holkham Bay (the beach, the pine woods, the Holkham Hall, the Palladian, the 25,000 acres, and the best beach walk in the England. The essential section: the Wells-next-the-Sea to the Holkham, the 3 miles, the sand, the pines, and the best 3 miles in the Norfolk), the Blakeney Point (the 4-mile shingle spit, the seal colony, the 3,000 grey seals, the boats from the Morston: the Beans Boats, the £15 for the 1-hour trip, the seals, and the best wildlife experience in the Norfolk), the Cley-next-the-Sea (the windmill, the 5-storey, the bed and breakfast, the £120/night, and the best windmill hotel in the England, the salt marshes, and the best birdwatching in the UK: the Cley Marshes, the NWT reserve, the £5, and the essential for the birdwatcher), and the Sheringham to the Cromer (the cliff-top, the best views, the Cromer pier, the 1901, the Pavilion Theatre, the crab, the Cromer crab, the sweet, the brown meat, the £12 for the dressed crab, and the essential Norfolk dinner). More UK →
• The Broads and the practicalities: The Broads: the 125 miles of the lock-free navigable waterways, the largest protected wetland in the UK, and the best walking in the inland Norfolk: the How Hill (the Broads Nature Reserve, the thatched, the boat trips on the electric launch, the £6, and the best introduction to the Broads), the Ranworth Broad (the boardwalk, the Conservation Centre, the view from the church tower, the £2, and the best view in the Broads). The essential Broads walking: the Weavers’ Way (the 61 miles from the Cromer to the Great Yarmouth, the Broads section is the essential: the Acle to the Stalham, the 13 miles, the flat, the dyke, the windmill, and the best Broads walk). The practicalities: the accommodation: the pub (the Norfolk has the best pub accommodation in the England, the room, the dinner, the breakfast, the £100, 120 for the double), the Walkers Are Welcome villages (the Cromer, the crab, and the Wells-next-the-Sea, the beach hut), the luggage-transfer services (the Brigantes, the Walkers’ Britain, the £10–12 per the bag, the essential for the point-to-point walking holiday), and the essential: the Ordnance Survey Explorer maps, the OL40 for the North Norfolk Coast, the OL24 for the north-east Norfolk, the £9 each. The essential walking season: the April–October is the best, the July is the best for the birdlife on the coast, and the November–February: the seal-pupping season on the Blakeney Point, the best wildlife spectacle in the Norfolk