Leeds to Norfolk - 2 nights in Summer


Itinerary At A Glance

  • 2 day independent itinerary for Holt and surrounds, based on driving from Leeds, in mid-August

  • Highlights include a boutique hotel stay, long road ride around North Norfolk, and fish and chips at the seaside

  • Based on a couple travelling

 

Honest verdict

Did I enjoy the holiday? Does the place live up to expectations?

Outstanding.

I would hear people announce how flat Norfolk, and while that might be true, before I visited, it led me to believe flat meant boring - not so. The landscape, the villages, the gardens………it felt like a view was peeking out around every corner and it was oh, so, quiet. A spectacular introduction to Norfolk, leaving us eager for more.

Did the itinerary work for the trip?

Yes….and no, in that we could easily have stayed longer (there is enough to do), and this was quite a long drive for just 2 nights. A cycling weekend is perfectly perfectly suited for Norfolk though, a framework I would look to replicate again.

Would I make another visit?

Definitely; even this same area around Holt would warrant another trip for us.


Itinerary Details

WHEN

August

Spectacular blue skies and warm sunshine.

TRAVEL MEANS

Car + Road bike

Drive from Leeds takes about 4 hours

ACCOMMODATION

The Harper, Hotel

boutique, luxury

intimate

fantastic restaurant

impeccable, yet thoroughly modern service


SCHEDULE

Day 1 - Friday

Drive in the morning, settle in

Dinner: At The Harper

Day 2 - Saturday

Ride: Long road-ride loop around Holt, 73km (gpx download here)

Coffee & Cake Stop: Heydon Village Tea Rooms - absolutely delightful, in a pictureque village setting

Fish & Chip Supper: French’s, Wells-next-the-Sea - be prepared for a very, very long queue!

Day 3 - Sunday

Spa & Sauna morning: The Harper allows you to pre-book the pool, hot tub and sauna on an exclusive use basis for 30-minute sessions

Breakfast at the hotel

Drive home


Ideas for another trip

  • Visit Sandringham during the winter, for its annual light trail ‘Luminate Sandringham

  • Stay at The Victoria Hotel on the Holkham Estate (accepts dogs)

  • Stay at The Wiveton Bell (accepts dogs)

  • Dine at Meadosweet in Holt

  • Tour The Boards National Park on a bike - 125 miles of navigable waterways – more than Amsterdam or Venice. The Broads was originally dug out in medieval times to provide peat for fuel. In the 14th century, these peat diggings flooded, creating the beautiful waterways we see today.

  • Visit Norwich - best-preserved medieval city in the country (the Industrial Revolution left it unscathed because of a lack of fast-running water), largest permanent covered market in Europe, only city within a British National Park, hosts Europe’s best-protected chalk river and it was England’s first City of Literature.

  • Visit Norwich Castle Museum (undergoing a major renovation project, set to re-open 2025)

  • See a show at Cromer’s end-of-pier theatre

  • See Grey seal pups at Blakeney Point during the winter, when the mums come ashore to have their young

  • See red deer on the Holkham Estate in the winter

 

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