The Norfolk Coast Path: Route, Stages and Stays
Eighty-three miles of salt marsh, shingle, pine-backed dune and enormous sky, from Hunstanton round to Hopton-on-Sea. Almost entirely flat, exceptionally good for birds, and it joins the Peddars Way to form one National Trail.
Published 18 August 2026
The Norfolk Coast Path runs 83 miles from Hunstanton on the Wash round the north Norfolk coast and down to Hopton-on-Sea, south of Great Yarmouth. It meets the Peddars Way at Holme-next-the-Sea, and the two together form the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path National Trail: 129.5 miles in total, and one of the National Trails of England and Wales.
It is the flattest National Trail by a distance, which makes it a genuinely different proposition to the Pennine Way or the Cleveland Way. The difficulty here is exposure rather than ascent. There is no shelter on a marsh in an easterly, and the wind comes off the North Sea with nothing between you and Denmark.
The sections
| Section | Roughly | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Hunstanton to Burnham Overy | 15 miles | Cliffs at Hunstanton, then Holme dunes and marsh |
| Burnham Overy to Stiffkey via Wells | 12 miles | Holkham’s pine-backed dunes and the great beach |
| Stiffkey to Cley via Blakeney | 9 miles | Salt marsh, the Blakeney Point seal colony, Cley’s reserve |
| Cley to Sheringham via Weybourne | 8 miles | Shingle bank, then the only real hills on the route |
| Sheringham to Mundesley via Cromer | 14 miles | Cliff top, crab boats, the Norfolk coast at its most conventional |
| Mundesley to Hopton via Winterton | 25 miles | Eroding cliffs, big empty beaches, the Yarmouth end |
Holkham
The stretch through Holkham National Nature Reserve is the finest of the whole trail, a vast beach backed by Corsican pines planted to stabilise the dunes, with the sand running out so far at low tide that the sea is a rumour. It is the beach from the closing scene of Shakespeare in Love, and it absorbs crowds better than anywhere else in Norfolk.
Birds and seals
This coast is one of the best places in Britain for wildlife on foot. Blakeney Point holds one of England’s largest grey seal colonies, with pups born from around November, best seen from a boat trip out of Morston rather than by walking out along the shingle spit. Cley Marshes is the flagship Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve, and Titchwell is the RSPB’s.
Practicalities
- The Coasthopper bus runs along the north coast and makes linear day walks straightforward: walk one way, ride back.
- Tides matter. Some marsh and beach sections are affected by high water; check before setting out on the Blakeney and Stiffkey stretches.
- Erosion. The eastern cliffs between Mundesley and Happisburgh are among the fastest-eroding in Britain and the path gets moved. Follow current signage over old maps.
Where to stay
We list 11 sites within ten miles of the coast path corridor and 32 across Norfolk as a whole. The north coast villages, Wells, Burnham, Blakeney, are the classic bases and book up early for summer and half terms.
Sites near the Norfolk Coast Path
Within ten miles of the north Norfolk coast.
See all 11 sites (5 more not shown here).
Inland, the Norfolk Broads is a different trip entirely and pairs well with a coastal week.
Common questions
- How long is the Norfolk Coast Path?
- 83 miles from Hunstanton to Hopton-on-Sea. Combined with the Peddars Way it forms a 129.5-mile National Trail.
- Is the Norfolk Coast Path easy?
- It is almost entirely flat, so the physical difficulty is low. Exposure to wind and weather is the real challenge, as there is little shelter on the marshes.
- Where can you see seals on the Norfolk Coast Path?
- Blakeney Point has one of England’s largest grey seal colonies. Boat trips from Morston are the recommended way to see them, particularly during pupping from November.
- When is the best time to walk the Norfolk Coast Path?
- Autumn and winter, for the migrating birds, the seal pupping season, the light and the empty beaches.
Keep reading
- Long-distance trailsThe Peddars Way: A Roman Road to the SeaA guide to the Peddars Way, 46 miles along a Roman road from Knettishall Heath in Suffolk to the north Norfolk coast, with stages, history and stays near the route.
- Long-distance trailsThe Cleveland Way: Moors to CoastA guide to the Cleveland Way National Trail, 109 miles from Helmsley across the North York Moors and down the Yorkshire coast to Filey, with stages and stays.
- Long-distance trailsThe Coast to Coast Walk: Stages and Where to StayWainwright’s Coast to Coast, now a National Trail, around 190 miles from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay through three national parks, broken into stages, with stays near the route.
- Long-distance trailsThe Cotswold Way: Walking It in SectionsA guide to the Cotswold Way National Trail, 102 miles along the escarpment from Chipping Campden to Bath, broken into stages, with sites near the route.