We arrived at the sea just as the sun was setting. After days of walking Peddars Way — through heath, farmland, and flint villages — the moment we reached the dunes at Holme-next-the-Sea felt like stepping into another world.
The land suddenly opened. The light stretched across the sky in bands of soft colour, and the sound of the sea replaced the wind through trees. There was a stillness, but also movement — tide shifting, birds turning in the air, dune grass brushing in the breeze. It was surreal. Unforgettable.
This was the start of the Norfolk Coast Path, but it felt more like an arrival than a beginning.
The transition between Peddars Way and the Norfolk Coast Path isn’t just physical — it’s tonal. You move from the grounded stillness of rural Norfolk into something wider, softer, more changeable. The sky becomes the main feature. The sea, a constant presence.
That evening, we didn’t walk far. We wandered to the edge of the sand, watched the last light fall behind the dunes, and stood quietly for a long time. After days of walking inward — through fields, woods, and lanes — it was as if the path now asked us to look outward.
Over the next days, the Norfolk Coast Path would take us along tidal creeks, pine forest trails, and raised banks above saltmarsh. We passed through quiet villages where boats tilted in harbours and flint cottages leaned gently toward the wind.
In places like Brancaster, Wells-next-the-Sea, and Cley, the rhythm of the coast shaped everything — the meals we ate, the birds we watched, the way we walked. There’s something about coastal walking that feels more fluid. The land gives way. The trail moves with the weather, and you move with it.
One of the best things about this trail is how many ways there are to walk it. You can move from place to place, staying in coastal inns or quiet cottages — or linger in one town and explore in slow loops. We stayed extra nights in Wells and Blakeney, taking time to paddle the creeks, visit the nature reserves, and let the salt air do its work.
By the time we reached Cromer, we were walking a little slower, looking a little longer. The pace the coast asks of you is gentle — and once you find it, it’s hard to let go.
Whether walked as a continuation of Peddars Way or as a journey of its own, the Norfolk Coast Path offers a gentle but unforgettable route. The walking is never difficult, but always immersive — a trail where landscape and rhythm work together to slow you down. It’s a path for birdwatchers, for wanderers, for anyone needing a little more sky in their life.