Norfolk Coast Path : Hunstanton to Cromer Walk

3 out of 10 - mostly level paths, or beach walking, but occasional stretches of hard going shingle

The North Norfolk Coast path is a national long distance trail that, as its names suggests, follows the north Norfolk Coast.

The path follows a mixture of low cliffs, sand dunes, very wide sandy beaches, salt and fresh water marshes. It is great for birds and, in one place, seals. The beaches are very wide with firm sand, and the sea goes out a long way, making great beach walking. There are barrier islands that can be explored at low tide. There are a few inland sections that can be bypassed by bus, or at low tide, by following the coast. There are many small harbours, which are 'sea' at high tide, and mudflats at low tide. The eastern end of the walk is quite different - gentle cliff top paths, or coastering at low tide, and some seaside resorts.

There is a regular bus service (1/2 hourly in summer) that follows the entire route, making day trips, or returning to your car very easy

Given the distance, this would be a good weekend trip from London

The coast path suffered in the December 2013 storm surge, but now seems back to normal. There is even a new re-routed section of the coast path at Beeston (near Cromer), and an extension south east beyond Cromer. See Griffmonster's blog for the latest news.

• Holme Dunes - Nature Reserve
• RSPB Titchwell Marsh - Nature Reserve
• Scolt Head - National Nature Reserve (wikipedia)
• Holkham Hall - large country house set in a deer park with waymarked walks. The renowned beach is a nature reserve. Near Wells.
• Blakeney Point (NT) - A sand dune and shingle spit with a seal coloney and ground nesting birds. A Nature Reserve.
• Sherringham Park (NT), inland, south of Sherringham - Parkland only.
• Felbrigg Hall (NT) near Cromer.

• North Norfolk Coastal Path - official website
• Photos - one man and his dog

Coasthopper bus

Kings Lynn (inland, station) - Hunstanton - Wells - Sherringham - Cromer (station).

The great advantage of this walk is the Coasthopper bus service, 1/2 hourly in summer, which follows the entire route. It links with the rail network at Kings Lynn at the west end of the walk, and goes via Hunstanton (where the walk starts), and follows the coast to Sherringham and Cromer (both have stations) at the east end. You can easily do day walks from a base, without too much in the way of pre-planning, walk as short or as long as you like, and get the bus back to your car/hotel.

Sample fares: Kings Lynn to Hunstanton: £3.70, Cromer to Wells : £3.20. A Coasthopper bus pass from Kings Lynn (inlcudes routes #10 and #11) to Hunstanton, then along the coast to Cromer, then inland to Norwich is: £9 (1 day), £18 (3 day), £32 ( 7 day). A combined 'Bitten Line' pass, including the Bitten Line train from Norwich to Sherringham, and Coasthopper bus from Sherringham to Hunstanton is also £9. Current prices online at Norfolk Green (click Fares)

Coast Path Extension from Cromer to Sea Palling

Bus #5 : Sherringham - Cromer (station) - Overstrand - Mundesley - North Walsham (inland, station)

Hourly Mon-Sat, this bus follows the coast for the coast path extension beyond Cromer as far south as Mundesley.

There are rare #34 buses from North Walsham (inland, train station on Cromer line) to Mundesley, then further south to Happisburgh. A few, with awkward times for walkers, go on to Sea Palling. Consider a bus there, and walking back to.

See www.sanderscoaches.com for details of these 2 buses.

London to Kings Lynn

There are direct trains from London Kings Cross (1hr 35 mins). Inside the Network Railcard area. Connects with the Coasthopper bus (and routes #10, #11 which run later). About 40 mins to Hunstanton.

London to Kings Lynn : Single : £23 single (Sat,Sun) £33.50 (Mon-Fri), £45 period return (1/3 off with a Network card). Advance fares, e.g. £17, only on the few direct trains from Liverpool Street.

London to Cromer

London Liverpool Street to Norwich, then change on to the Bitten Line (good website) Takes about 3 hours. Outside the Network Railcard area.

London to Cromer: From £9 'Advance' single (on a specified train) if booked in advance (at least the day before), otherwise £51 single or return for an 'any train' ticket

[Mar-24] Greater Anglia has occasional 'Hare Fare' promotions from London to Cromer and Sherringham, as little as £15 day return

By Car

About 2 to 3 hours from London. Nice places to stop along the way are: Bury St Edmunds (historic town), Cockley Cley (NT, moated house), Blickling Hall (NT, large house and parkland, south of Cromer), and Kings Lynn (large cathedral)

All the below have B&B's, with the larger towns having the bigger choice. Without a car, Wells-next-the-sea is a very good base for the coast path. "The two halves of the Coasthopper bus meet here, so you can access the whole route, and Wells is a very charming place. Its main shopping street is perhaps a bit over touristed, but the more inland parts of the town is charming. The way the harbour transforms from sand and mud flats to something like an ocean going port in the space of little more than an hour is also fascinating."

With a car, try Wells, Stiffkey or Blakeney.

From east to west

Hunstanton

Large seaside resort town. Sainsburys. Lots of everything. A 40 min bus ride from Kings Lynn train station.

Old Hunstanton, to the north of the cliffs at the north end of town is a nicer place to stay, e.g. Best Western Le Strange Arms "a bit of a splurge at £70, but a very pleasant place, situated right on the edge of the dunes. The coast path runs across the bottom of its garden, and you can walk direct from its lawn onto the dunes and the beach... the pub attached to the hotel.. does nice food and from May to July or so you can enjoy sunset over the sea as you eat outside on the terrace"

Holme next the sea

Small village. Pub (White Horse)

Thornham

Small village. Pubs (The Lifeboat Inn, Kings Head)

Brancaster, Brancaster Staithe, and Burnham Deepdale

Small villages strong out along a road. Pubs: The Jolly Sailors and The White Horse are recommended. The Ship Hotel has changed hands since we visited, and is now a much improved hotel / gastrobub.

Burnham Deepdale has The White Horse (also a hotel), while pricey, has a nice deck overlooking the marshes to the sea, and the Deepdale Backpackers

Burnham Overy Staithe

Small village, pub (The Hero), pretty quay, can walk out to Scolt Head island at low tide.

Holkham

Massive sand dune backed beach with naturist area, hamlet and large country house and deer park. The Pub (The Victoria, not recommended) is about 1k, inland from the coast, the Country House is about another km inland (via waymarked path through its deer park). Entry to the Deer park is free.

Wells next the sea

Small seaside resort town. Chippies, YHA, many B&B. If staying, avoid the 2 seafront pubs, head inland to either of the pubs by the village green (Crown Hotel and Globe Inn). At the time of writing, the Crown Hotel had a good value 2 course for £10 deal on Sunday-Thursday.

Stiffkey

Hamlet, highly recommended pub (The Red Lion)

Morston

Hamlet, pub, picturesque NT Quay

Blakeney

Small village, pretty, recommended pub (Kings Arms), small shops

Cley next the sea

Small village, pretty, accomodation

Salthouse

Small village, pub

Weybourne

Small village, pub (Ship Inn)

Sherringham

Medium seaside resort town. Train Station. Steam Railways. Lots of everything

Cromer

Large seaside resort town. Train Station. Lots of everything

A large faded grandeur, but reasonably priced, seafront hotel is the Hotel de Paris

"I really liked Cromer, which at least in May was very quiet but has a wonderful Victorian grandeur about it. I stayed at the No 4 B&B in Vicarage Road, whose hyper-friendly owner pushes simply enormous breakfasts on you (I literally did not eat all day afterwards) and who has filled the house with fascinating bric-a-brac. The Red Lion (also a hotel) on the clifftop just east of the Hotel de Paris, was a good place to eat."

Scolt Head Island

Off the coast on day 2 of the walk, near Burnham Deepdale, is Scolt Head Island - a low sand dune covered barrier island which is a national nature reserve. The nature reserve does not usually restrict visitors as it gets so few of them (parts of the island may be closed during bird breeding season). The island is separated from the mainland by Burnham Harbour - shallow sea at hide tide, mud flats at low tide.

The official coast path follows the mainland, but a more interesting route would be to follow the tidal path shown on the OS map from Burhnam Deepdale out to the western end of the island, walk across the island, then return to the mainland with a second tidal crossing at eastern end, opposite Gun Hill. Only do this if you understand the very real danger and problems of tidal paths, the least of which is that low tides are 12 hours apart! Check first locally if this is possible and safe.

Burnham Deepdale Path (western end of the island): The path on the OS map was surveyed over 50 years ago, and the current path has moved since then, as it does each year in an active coastal system. Norfolk Council's "Public Rights of Way" Officer's advice [no change as of Mar-24] is only use this route if you have been shown the way by someone with local knowledge of the soft mud and tides - e.g. follow a local walking their dog. They also suggest the other alternative which is to use the seasonal ferry at high tide (which only operates for 2 hours of each 12 hour tidal period). You could also contact the Scolt Head Nature Reserve for advice.

"Gun Hill crossing" (eastern end of the island) At the far eastern end of Scolt Head (opposite Gun Hill on Holklham Beach as marked on OS maps), it is possible to cross (the about 15 metre wide) channel between the island and the mainland. This crossing is possible only at absolute low tide, but you might have to wade / paddle through shallow water. It also depends on how 'low' a given tide is (it varies). At mid tide the channel would be a very dangerous 'tidal race'

Trip Report of eastern (Gun Hill) crossing

The remarks in the document about wading out or back from Scolt Head Island are potentially dangerous. I can't say how passable the right of way at the west end [Burnhm Deepdale crossing] of the island is, but I can confirm that from the east end you can only walk to the mainland with the greatest difficulty and potential peril. I approached this area from the west end of Holkham Bay beach, at very low tide (full moon, 0.7 metres). At this time, the channel marked Burnham Harbour on the OS Map was fordable in at least one place, about 150 metres to the seaward end of the dunes on Scolt Head. Here the water was only 10-15cm deep and the bottom gravelly. But I imagine this changes from year to year, and this was at the BOTTOM of the tide, with no tidal current running in or out: any tidal current at all would change things very dramatically.

Once on Scolt Head Island I saw a local heading inland and followed him at a discreet distance. His route followed the sand/mud banks of the river, which looked easy enough from a distance, but in practice the sand was sometimes alarmingly soft, and I was glad to have his footsteps to guide me. He then turned inland across the marsh. This was a very risky area. You think you are doing fine and then you come to an unexpected muddy gully that blocks your way, with very gloopy mud at the bottom. I had lost sight of my unwitting guide at this point and started to panic. He had in fact found his way onto a low ridge across the marsh, which he followed until a certain point and then crossed to a bigger ridge. On this second ridge was a broad (though potentially very muddy) path that led towards Burnham Overy Staithe, and which was clearly in widespread use (lots of boot marks). But when this came out opposite the river you then had TO WADE THE CHANNEL again to get to dry land. As I say I did all this at very low tide, so it was no problem, but at any other state of the tide I would have been marooned, and without my "guide" would have got into serious trouble.

My conclusion is DON'T TRY TO CROSS FROM SCOLT HEAD TO THE MAINLAND or vice versa. If you are curious about this place, approach it at very low tide from Holkham Beach, and if you are able to cross the channel, return the same way you came within a short space of time.

In practise, the only viable way for a vistor to is for an hour or so a) at high tide from Burnham via the seasonal ferry, or b) at low tide from Gun Hill. In summer only (as the ferry is seasonal, and due to daylight) is would theoretically be possible to catch the ferry to the island at high tide, then leave at Gun Hill 12 hours later at low tide. This is maybe why the island has few visitors!

• The Island Review - Scolt Head

Blakeney Point

Sat Nav: NR25 7BH (Morston Quay).

Blakeney Point is a long shingle spit covered in sand dunes and a low grassy hills. It is a National Trust land, and a nature reserve. Its not quite a barrier island, as it connected to the mainland at its eastern end at 'Cley Eye'. South of the spit is Blackeny channel - shallow sea at high tide, mud flats at low tide.

At certain times of the year, a seal coloney lives on the western tip of the island, at other tides, parts of it are closed in bird breeding season (the western tip - April to mid-August)

There are 3 ways to the island

1. Walking from Cley Eye (car park) at the eastern end of the island - about 5km each way,
2. Seasonal and tidal ferry service (operates for a few hours each 12 hours tide cycle) to the island from Morston Quay (which gives you an hour on the island). At certain times of the year only, you can see hundreds of seals basking on the point - ask before you buy your ticket
3. Not sure if this is possible to walk/wade to the island at low tide. The NT do not recommend it. See local advice.

The best idea is either walk out-and-back from Cley Eye, or catch the ferry out, and walk to Cley Eye.

Links : NT (main page), NT Blog ( Intro and articles), wikipedia.

In Summer 2014, the coast path near Beeston Bump (between Sherringham and Cromer) was officially rerouted closer to the coast, similar to our suggested route below. The coast path used to be inland at this point.

In Summer 2014, a new 17 mile extension of the Coast Path opened at the east end of this walk, from Cromer south to Overstrand, Mundesley, Bacton, Happisburgh and Sea Palling

See GriffMonster's blog for details, including permissive paths closer to the coast than the official route, and which beaches are tide safe.

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Mar-24 Andrew