Norfolk is often overlooked as a choice for a cycling trip, but once you start exploring, this big sky county is full of surprises.
A spin along the tranquil lanes reveals quaint timeless villages, peaceful wildlife havens and buckets of quirky charm, from prehistoric mammoths to steam railways.
You’ll find medieval churches full of original carvings and paintings, or barns of the same age that are now bat sanctuaries. Glide through the gently rolling, minimal traffic ‘Quiet Lanes’, follow single track paths through timeless woods, stop to watch swans on secret inland lakes, or ride alongside deer in the evening sun.
While it’s not actually totally flat, gentle gradients mean the riding is easy and legs last longer so you can cycle further and see more – or just let the relaxed pace of the region guide you on a serene glide.
When you need to feed your appetite, surrender your taste buds to scones in the gardens of sumptuous Tudor stately homes, fine local produce in farm shops, or freshly landed crab at Cromer all in the same ride.
When you’re done exploring for the day, you can choose from an equally eclectic mix of places to stay: from campsites to youth hostels or hotels where aristocrats and royals once stayed.
We’ve aimed to keep our routes to a leisurely distance, but there’s potential to expand each one to take in even more treasures of Norfolk.
Head further east along the coast past nature reserves, or towards Aylsham to link between our two EXPERIENCE hubs in Cromer and Wroxham/Hoveton.
You could link up a whole string of grand stately homes, or just enjoy the woods filled with birds or big sky landscape free from the usual troubles of traffic or tiring hills.
These cycle-friendly hubs are great bases for a visit
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Cromer
With a fabulous Victorian pier and seafront architecture to match, Cromer is the perfect example of a traditional English seaside resort and thoroughly deserves its ‘Gem of the Norfolk coast’ tag.
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Diss
Diss sits on the Suffolk border in a rich farming and forest landscape well away from the busier broads and north coast.
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Fakenham
Fakenham is a pretty market town on the river Wensum with roots going deep into the past of the rich agricultural area near the north coast of Norfolk.
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Hunstanton
Hunstanton a resort blessed with beautiful beaches where you can watch spectacular sunsets melt into the ‘Wash’.
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Swaffham
A pretty market town with a centre full of beautiful Georgian houses and shop fronts, with pubs, old coaching inns and coffee houses.
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Thetford
The forests and Breckland heaths around Thetford are a natural oasis of timeless tranquillity.
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Wroxham and Hoveton
The ‘capital of the Broads’ has a medieval heart that has flourished as a boaters’ paradise with a real ‘seaside’ vibe.
EXPERIENCE is a €23.3 million project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, €16 million) through the Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme 2014-2020, boosting visitor numbers in six pilot regions across England and France. This project will harness the experiential tourism trend to extend the season (October – March), generating 20 million new off-season visitors spending €1 billion across the Channel region by June 2023.
