On this post I will highlight what we visited during the day we spent in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, England.
Subscribe to my blog, so you will not miss any of my posts published every week.
During the summer months we always take short trips to visit somewhere in the UK. We either go by ourselves or with friends.
One of these trips was to Wells-next-the-Sea, a seaside town on the North Norfolk Coast, about 1:30 minutes away from where we live.
If you are planning a trip to England and prefer to have everything organised by a tour, you should check the tours at Tourradar, which offers various tours to many places in England.
Tourradar has tours that suits every length of time and budgets and if you use my links to book your trip and enter code RoseG50 you will get a discount on your booking.
Below is a map showing the places we went to while in Wells-next-the-Sea:
We have been there many times before, but this time we also included a visit to Holkham Hall a period estate very close to Wells.
We left our house at about 9 am and arrived in Wells just after 10:30 am. Upon arrival we parked the car in the main car park in The Quay.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA
Wells’ name came from the number of spring wells it used to have.
Originally Wella, then Guella after the Norman Conquest, the town’s name became Wells-next-the-Sea from the 14th century.
By the 14th century the town was an important seaport suppling grains to London, and later, to miners in the northeast.
In the 18th century it was a large producer of malt and there were many maltings and granaries in town.
One of these granaries is a large building with an overhanging gantry at the quay built in 1903 that had been converted into luxurious flats in the last few years.
In the 19th century it was a commercial port where many vessels were built in shipyards in Wells. This trend lasted until the 1970’ and 80’s. Lately, vessels became too large to be accommodated at the Quay and this caused the end of the trade.
The town centre is a network of narrow streets with old buildings, some are hundreds of years old and are listed.
Nowadays the town is famous for its beautiful beach and wilderness attracting many tourists to this Norfolk seaside resort.
Besides enjoying the beach there are many activities that can be done, such as: cycling, walking, seal trips, bird watching, crabbing, harbour tours and scenic miniature train journeys.
There are other local attractions such as Holkham Hall and Wells Maltings to visit as other activities to do.
VISITING WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA
After parking the car, we walked down to the beach via the raised path that affords lovely views of the marshes.
Wells beach belongs to Holkham Estate, and it is about 1 mile from the town. There used to be a miniature train that could take you from town to the beach, but this has been terminated. In its place now there is an electric bus service that can take you there.
Alternatively, you can drive down and park close to the beach, but we always park in town because we enjoy the long walk with the dog.
Dogs are allowed in parts of the beach but not via the main entrance. The area where dogs are allowed is further down near the pinewoods entrance.
There is a café near the entrance to the beach and we stopped there for an ice-cream and some rest before continuing to the beach. We walked a good part of the beach before going back the same way to the Quay.
We had lunch at The Golden Fleece pub which has very good food. We tried it before on one of our previous visits. On that day I chose the fish curry and my husband the tuna dish. Both dishes were delicious and the right size portions, we ate everything.
After lunch we drove to Holkham Hall which is about 10 minutes away by car.
Holkham Hall is a stately home rich in history and full of attractions to visit during your day. We only had an afternoon, so we decided to visit the main house and take in turns to stay with the dog outside in the café.
The Hall is of Palladian architecture and was idealised and built by the heir of the estate Thomas Coke, late the 1st Earl of Leicester.
He became orphan at the age of 10 and by his teenager years got himself into trouble by involving himself in cockfighting and gambling and was sent away to a big tour of Europe for 6 years.
Those were the kind of punishments for the rich aristocrats in those days!
When he returned to England, he was wiser, educated and refined and brought with him all the art he collected during his travels. That was when he decided he needed a big place to house all his treasures.
The building started around 1734, but Coke died in 1759, 5 years before the building was completed. The result was an amazing building full of paintings and statues from Coke’s collection.
The most impressive part of the building is the Marble entrance Hall, with its impressive dome and beautiful grand staircase.
The visit includes all the state rooms, the saloon, bedchambers, galleries, libraries, and the old kitchen.
The tour of the Hall exceeded our expectations with such beautiful architecture and art.
After we both visited the interior of the hall, we explored the gardens in a nice walk to see the deer that run free in the parkland.
We saw some of the attractions of the estate such as the obelisk and the Ice House.
Unfortunately, it was already late, and we had to drive back home, so we didn’t stay longer to walk around the lake or to visit the Walled Garden.
There are so many attractions and things to do in Holkham Hall that you could easily spend the whole day there.
You can hire a bike on the estate or bring yours and explore the parkland that way.
You can also catch the tractor trailer tour that goes all over the estate whilst hearing about the conservation work, they are doing to preserve the landscape.
We had the most enjoyable day visiting Wells-next-the-Sea and Holkham Hall and I hope this post gives you some inspiration to plan a visit yourself to the lovely resort town and the beautiful Holkham Estate.
I hope this post helps you to plan your day out or a few days break in Wells-next-to-Sea. There are more days out on the blog, such as: Sandringham and Norfolk Lavender or Norwich.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Wells-next-the Sea. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
WHAT TO SEE IN WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA
1 – Explore the Quay
2 – Walk down to the beach or take the electric bus
3 – Enjoy Holkham Beach
4 – Visit the town centre
5 – Visit Holkham Hall
WHERE TO STAY
1 – Bang in Wells – 3* – ££
2 – Anchorage Wells Lodge – 3* – ££
3 – Heron’s Hideway – 3* – ££
4 – Fisherman’s Retreat – 3* – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation just search and book via the widget below:
WHERE TO EAT
1 – The Golden Fleece – *** – ££
2 – Bang In Wells – ££
3 – Beach Café – ££
4 – Wells Crab House – ££
5 – The Crown Hotel – £££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
Leave a Reply