A vast choice (Villages & Resorts in Norfolk)

Member Name: cpipe

Product:	Villages & Resorts in Norfolk
Date:	19/05/01 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Variety, Historic heritage, Calm

Disadvantages: Short on public transport, especially after 6pm

Norfolk villages? There are over 700 of them! And the coastal resorts of Yarmouth, Cromer, Sheringham, Cley, Blakeney, the Burnhams &c vary so much from each other they might almost be in different countries.

It's Yarmouth if you want amusement arcades, candy floss and plenty of nighttime entertainment; it's Cromer or Sheringham if you want a traditional English seaside resort with undulating hills just behind; it's Cley or Salthouse if you're a birder; it's Blakeney or the Burnhams (or the Broads)if you're a sailor. And I understand the golfing's pretty good, too.

The trouble is, some people don't do their homework. I once met some people on holiday in Cromer who were full of complaints. "Cromer's no good - everything shuts about half past nine! Only one Indian! No, we won't be coming again." Well, Cromer's got two Indian restaurants now, but those people would obviously have been happier in Yarmouth; yet no guidebook I know of will have told them Cromer would be what they wanted. So why were they complaining?

And as for the villages - well, if you like cycling (hundreds of miles of lanes!) or walking (plenty of footpaths, once F&M restirctions are over) or sailing or pottering around by car, there's a huge amount to see. Just remember that most Norfolk villages don't even have a shop these days! Outside the towns, you'll be lucky to find two pubs within walking distance of each other, but the ones that you do find will quite possibly be the nicest country pubs you could wish for!

And Norfolk does rather well for historic houses, and exceedingly well for medieval churches (more than you'll find anywhere else).

It's a pity that top-class concerts etc tend to be occasional rather than frequent (significant folk festival on Cromer pier, just once a year; internationally renowned musicians at Hingham, from time to time; and so on) - but you can't h
ave everything. Well, not at once anyway.

I grew up in London suburbs, and it took me a while to get used the idea that there might be space between the settlements, rather than each merging imperceptibly into the next. The villages and resorts of Norfolk still have a community identity, & it's worth exploring.

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