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Route Wells-next-the-Sea - Cley County Norfolk Difficulty Moderate Distance 16km (10 miles) Typical time Four hours OS grid reference TF917437, Explorer 251 Starting point The quayside at Well-next-the-Sea

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Blister rating: 2/5 View rating: 3/5

Forget the overcrowded and over-rated Broads; this walk from the candy-floss resort of Wells-next-the-Sea to tiny but perfectly formed Cley offers the tang of Norfolk.

Wells is not only “next the sea”, it’s also next to the glorious Palladian pile of Holkham Hall, with its vast sandy beach (remember a shipwrecked Gwyneth Paltrow wading ashore at the end of Shakespeare in Love?) and its delightful pine woods.

Blakeney, with its 14th-century Guildhall, is one of England’s most unspoilt and picturesque harbours, inaccessible except for little boats, and with a seven-mile shingle spit (Blakeney Point, famous for its basking seals) that’s a bracing romp of a walk in itself. And Cley is another secret jewel.

Around them, you’ll find beautiful National Trust-owned reed marshes that are the birdwatchers’ paradise of East Anglia, stunning medieval churches bespeaking the past wealth of this area, stalls selling crabs and fish straight off the boat, fine pubs, imposing windmills and little lanes of pebble-walled houses.

Oh, and if you time your walk right, you’ll catch the lavender fields in dazzling bloom. It’s a briny, breezy corner of England that time forgot.

The route

1 Begin at Wells Quayside. Follow the road east; when it swings right (A149) continue straight ahead on minor road past chandlery.

2 At end of road, take left path through boatyard. Climb on to sea wall and turn left at end of wall.

3 Pass through small wooded area, following path round with creeks on left and hedge on right.

4 Pass gate and track to right and continue on coastal path. After 15 minutes, head between brambles. Join a short curve of tarmac and leave on grassy path to right. Pass bird hide on right, through car park and take wide muddy track on far side.

5 Follow path on to sea wall and walk by Stiffkey Fen. At end of sea wall go left after gate. Keep right on path past boats. Soon you can see blue building on Blakeney Point to your left.

6 Cross mud and keep to right-hand track by fence.

7 Follow track by sea wall, climb wooden stairs over sea wall and head for Morston Sailing Club. From car park, detour along road to small and friendly Anchor Inn. Return to car park and along sea wall to Blakeney. After 20 minutes, path drops down from sea wall on wooden steps.

8 Follow path into Blakeney Village.

9 From car park, follow path north along sea wall.

10 100m after a rotting boat hulk, bear right along the sea wall.

11 Turn right at end of barbed-wire fence. Cley Windmill is directly ahead.

12 On reaching another sea wall close to Cley, bear right.

13 Climb stile and turn left into Cley Village. Bus stop is opposite the delicatessen. It is worth wandering out to visit the windmill. To see the sea, follow path from windmill out to shingle bank (good views, small cafe). Walking for any distance along shingle bank is punishing on the legs.

Source: walkingworld.com

Contributor: Nicholas Rudd-Jones. Walk: No 343

Things to see: A charming walk by the coast offering lovely views and the chance to spot diverse wildlife and birds

Pub rating: 4/5

Pub: The King’s Arms, Blakeney

A traditional Grade II listed inn just yards from the quay and renowned for its good, unpretentious fare

Where to stay

Crown Hotel
A family-friendly seaside hotel with excellent food and views across a pretty Georgian square.

The Globe Inn
Welcoming and wholesome describes the food, ambience and staff of this lovely Norfolk inn.

Read more reviews of hotels in Norfolk

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