Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

You’re not going to climb any mountains in Norfolk, but Gunhill, west of Holkham Bay, gives a beautiful panorama across land and sea.

Arts and culture

Norfolk history is everywhere you look, from the beaches where Nelson played as a boy to the 16th-century brothel that is now the marvellous Hoste Arms (see Bars and restaurants). As well as Sandringham (the Queen’s country retreat, so check when it’s open: +44 (0)1553 612908), Holkham Hall at Wells-next-the-Sea (+44 (0)1328 710227) and Felbrigg Hall just outside Norwich (+44 (0)1263 837444) will provide satisfyingly stuffy days out with cream teas, antique rooms and beautiful gardens. Ask at your hotel for the best local estate and gardens.

Something for nothing

The beaches along the north Norfolk coast are well known and well loved for their beauty and romance. Take a blanket and picnic (or just a bottle of something good) and find your own spot among the dunes.

Shopping

Most towns have a market at least once a week. Cromer’s is on Fridays, Sheringham market is Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Swaffham has an antiques market on Saturdays. If you drop in to the Saracen’s Head at Wolterton for some food or an afternoon’s supping in the beer garden, there’s a lovingly run (and affordable) little gallery and vintage interiors shop, The Shed, next door.

Activities

The Coasthopper bus runs every half hour along the northern coast, stopping at each seaside town and pretty beach along the way (+44 (0) 1553 776980; www.coasthopper.co.uk). Take advantage of the long beaches by learning to surf at Cromer Beach (+44(0)7966392227; www.glidesurfschool.co.uk – board hire also available), and harness the high coastal winds kite-surfing or windsurfing at Hunstanton (+44(0)1485 534455 www.hunstantonwatersports.com).

And

'Very flat, Norfolk,' as Noël Coward so succinctly said in Private Lives. So it’s important to know a bit about the tides: they change hundreds of acres of perfect sandy beach into a pretty but pebbly few yards. The BBC’s weather webpage is handy for times of low and high tides.