Norfolk is the fifth largest county in England. Bordered in the north by the Wash, its sweeping coastline stretches for over 100 miles, looking out over the North Sea to the north and east. Inland, the landscape gently rises from east to west, with an abrupt fall down to the flat Fens area, bordering Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. The low lying coastline provides many stunning long white sandy beaches and quiet seaside towns. It was from these shores that one of Britain's most famous seafarers emerged, Admiral Lord Nelson, who was born Burnham Thorpe and attended King Edward VI's Grammar School in Norwich.
To the east of the county is a wide flat landscape containing over 200 miles of interconnecting waterways. This beautiful area, known as the Norfolk Broads, was the result of extensive digging for peat in the Middle Ages. The UK's largest protected wetland, it attracts two million visitors a year, who come to soak up the expansive views and enjoy its wildlife from the comfort of their pleasure boats.
Norfolk is home to a host of historic buildings, from medieval churches and majestic windmills to stately residences, such as the magnificent Sandringham estate. Its towns and villages are brimming with traditional flint cottages and period houses.
'...Peggotty said, with greater emphasis than usual, that we must take things as we found them, and that, for her part, she was proud to call herself a Yarmouth Bloater.'
Norwich - distance from London: 115 miles (185 km)
Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Suffolk
Norwich (International)
A47, A140
Near Roman Camp, Sheringham, 336 feet
Ant, Bure, Burn, Chet, Little Ouse, Nar, Ouse, Stiffkey, Tas, Thet, Waveney, Wensum, Wissey, Yare
Common Poppy
Cromer crabs - known for their tender flesh and high proportion of white meat.
Norfolk Dumplings - called 'swimmers' as they're made with a bread dough, not suet.
Baconsthorpe Castle | Bircham Windmill | Blakeney Point | Blickling Hall | Bressingham | Norfolk Broads | Burgh Castle | Caister Roman Site | Castle Acre | Castle Rising | Felbrigg Hall | Grimes Graves | Holkham Hall | Oxburgh Hall | Sandringham | Thetford Forest
Cromer, Dereham, Great Yarmouth, Hunstanton, King's Lynn, Norwich
First recorded in 1043. An Anglo-Saxon term meaning 'the place of the North folk'.