When it came to planning our summer holiday this year, our first as a family as four, an hour’s drive was all I was willing to commit to. With a 3.5-year-old that cannot sit still and a 3-month-old in tow, I just couldn’t face a long journey and to be honest, I liked the idea that we could go home without too much fuss if we really needed to. So we settled on North Norfolk.
Our Airbnb was an old farm, all the barns converted to cottages and one very picturesque shared indoor swimming pool, where each cottage had allocated times to have it to themselves. The cottage was on one floor, and the garden backed onto a large field with a playground area and ride-along tractors. It was really peaceful (well until we arrived with our 3-year-old) and there were dozens of rabbits just hopping about. It was perfect for families, and we used the pool nearly everyday.
North Norfolk also turned out to be extremely child friendly. And my favourite kind of child friendly, where things directed at adults still had things for the kids or vice versa. So, here’s what/where I’d recommend for adults and kids alike:
Wells-next-the-sea
This cute little town is perhaps a tad overhyped in my opinion but definitely still worth a visit. There’s lots of cute shops – I sadly didn’t really have the opportunity to delve into the homeware places thanks to buggy/small children, but I was itching to all the same. We did, however, explore some of the food places along the front which is an activity the entire family can get on board with. Two Magpies Bakery was my favourite (excellent cakes, and decent hot chocolate) and we had a tasty lunch at Wells Deli. For the kids, there is a very good playground right in the harbour – big slide, pirate ship, tractor, obstacle course; enough to keep a kid entertained for a decent amount of time basically.
Hunstanton Sealife Centre
Depending on how much you love sea life, this leans more towards the kids than it does adults. But then, what adult doesn’t want to walk through an aquarium tunnel and see a shark swim over their head? It was the first time we’d taken Alfie to something like this, and it was a lot of fun seeing him so engaged with it – in particular, how much he loved watching one of the seals swimming around. We named him Sammy obviously.
Beaches
I can’t talk about North Norfolk without mentioned the stunning beaches – Brancaster and Holkham in particular (if you go to Holkham, The Lookout café is worth a visit) but I’m not going to pretend that I massively enjoy going to the beach with a young baby. Trying to breastfeed as the wind whips sand around you is not the one. Neither is trying to keep the baby in the shade when the sun beats down (although I think my idea of using the buggy parasol and wandering up and down the beach like a Jane Austen character was kinda genius). But obviously worth going if you don't have a freshly baked one.
Pensthorpe
Hard to know who had more fun here, me or Alfie (okay, it was Alfie but only by a small margin). This is a very beautiful nature reserve, humming with wildlife – don’t forget to check out the flamingos – but it was the epic outdoor and indoor play areas that made it worth every penny of the ticket price. The slides were so much fun and Alfie had the time of his life – we literally had to haul him out kicking and screaming when it was time to go. Also, the shop was a dream if you’re into interiors.
Droves Orchards
This orchard includes a lovely farm shop, various lifestyle shops and some very good food places. Eric’s fish and chips was very tasty, but their sister pizza place took it up a notch – would highly recommend the goat’s cheese and pumpkin one. They had a great sandy children’s play area with a big boat to clamber on. The ice cream place was also good, and they also had a children’s play area with a kitchen and plastic ice creams that kept Alfie entertained for ages.
Stiffkey Stores
I would put this firmly in the ‘for-adults’ category if it wasn’t for the fact that, once again, little touches had been added to make it appealing for kids as well. This picturesque coffee shop / interiors and homeware shop / general store is a lovely quiet spot for a coffee and (really good it has to be said) brownies, as well as a browse around the kind of homeware shop that makes you want to buy everything. The little courtyard area had a mud kitchen so kids can happily play in the outdoors whilst you enjoy your coffee, and the kid's area of the shop also provides a great distraction as long as you’re prepared to part with money.
Fat Cow Burgers
Situated in a beautiful wildflower meadow, these guys serve delicious burgers (and soft serve ice cream, although the machine was sadly broken on our visit) in a gorgeous setting. If you happen to time your visit on a hot summer’s day, which we did, it makes for one of those dream-like summer scenes that you envision when fantasising about the summer ahead. Colourful wildflowers swaying in a gentle breeze, soft music playing, that golden light as the sun gets lower in the sky. The perfect dinner setting. And if you’re thinking this sounds like it wouldn’t be child friendly, the first thing I noticed upon arriving was a neat little row of Ikea highchairs lined up in the grass. Also, only a few minutes from Pensthorpe. Would highly recommend this place.
Pretty sure we’ve only scratched the surface of North Norfolk but the great thing about holidaying not far from home is it won’t be long before we can go back for more.
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