The perfect holiday in Norfolk

Norfolk’s vast sandy beaches are its chief draw for visitors: even on the busiest summer day there is always space for games, kite-flying or a family picnic in the dunes. Boating, crabbing, digging for cockles and wading in creeks provides hours of entertainment for all.

But there’s much more to Norfolk’s coast than its beaches. It’s also a landscape of dense pine forest and large expanses of salt marsh, which flush purple with sea-lavender in August. Birdlife is astonishingly rich, and wildflowers include yellow-horned poppies and lilac-flowering sea pea.

Inland, the undulating countryside and sleepy flint-built villages are perfect for gentle cycling, walking or touring by car. Grand stately homes make enjoyable days out, and almost every village has a sublimely beautiful medieval church at its centre.

Lively Georgian towns such as Burnham Market and Holt offer quirky shopping – and, wherever you are, you’re never far from an atmospheric pamment-floored pub serving local ales, or an excellent delicatessen selling the region’s specialities. Look out for pungent cheeses, smoked fish and salt-marsh flavoured honey.