Dog-friendly guide to visiting Norfolk
Norfolk’s great outdoors is a delight for dogs and their humans. Scamper across wide open spaces, along vast empty beaches and down endless scenic footpaths soaking up the scenery and burning off lots of energy. Or stroll through ancient woodland, wildlife-rich nature reserves and along the unspoilt coastline. You can even take a steam train ride or a boat trip to watch basking seals with your dog in tow. We’ve also picked out good places to eat and stay that go way beyond tolerating dogs and show their appreciation with treats, suggested walks and more
Dog-friendly walks
On the fringe of the Bure Marshes National Nature Reserve, the Salhouse Broad is a glittering 32-acre lake surrounded by ancient woodland and fen, where Great Crested Grebes mate in spring. A popular spot amongst local dog walkers, yet somehow always quiet and tranquil, it has a network of pathways and boardwalks to sniff out and, if you climb the grassy hill behind the beach, you’re rewarded with a panoramic view across the expansive broad.
The rivers of the tranquil Norfolk Broads offer paths and marshes, woodlands and waterways to explore on two legs and four. It enjoys over 190 miles of meandering footpaths, including circular walks from pretty villages and boardwalks leading into the marshes. Remember to keep dogs on a lead near the reedbeds, where birds such as the rare marsh harrier nest between March and July.
Just outside North Walsham, follow the yellow waymarked trail through Bacton Wood, a sustainably managed woodland filled with 30 species of tree including beech, pine, douglas fir, larch and veteran oaks. It’s a charming pick for dogs who love to chase a scent trail through the trees and at just 2.5 miles it’s an easy-breezy stroll just a few miles inland from the north Norfolk coast.
Dog-friendly places to eat & drink
An unassuming wooden cabin turned food stall, perched on Brancaster Staithe just where the sea breeze blows, is the place to pitch up for simple yet sublime seafood. With no indoor seating, dogs are welcome, of course! Picked as one of the Guardian readers favourite spots throughout Europe, they said, “Scoff small bowls of whelks, cockles and crayfish, and generous rolls stuffed with local crab. There’s no seating so grab a picnic bench or walk through the marshes and take a seat on the sand dunes.”
Doggie Diner is a café for humans and hounds, serving special menus for you and your dog. Awarded the most dog-friendly café in the UK in 2021, dogs can tuck into cookies, cakes, beer and pawsecco while you get soup, sandwiches and scones. In the heart of lovely Cromer, you can be on the beach (dog-friendly except in high summer) or coast path in minutes.
The beautifully restored Gunton Arms overlooks one thousand acres of lush and historic parkland and the setting is stunning. Inside, a chic hunting-lodge style reigns. Warm red hues, wooden floors, a blazing log fire in the traditional bar where you can dine with your dog, elegant lounges with pretty views of deer from every window. Tuck into rib of beef, a mixed grill of estate fallow deer served with crab apple jelly, Brancaster mussels and chilli tossed in linguine or a Cromer crab in summer.
Dog-friendly days out
Dogs are welcome in all public areas of the railway, including the café, and fresh water bowls are strategically placed. Dogs travel for £4 so all aboard for a nostalgic steam train trip on Norfolk’s longest narrow gauge railway, which runs between the historic market town of Aylsham and bustling Wroxham in the heart of the Norfolk Broads. With over 100,000 visitors a year and trialling e-coal to reduce emissions and carve out a sustainable future, the railway is run on a not-for-profit basis by a small team and enthusiastic volunteers.
Looked after by English Heritage, Castle Acre Priory, dating back to 1090, is one of the largest and best preserved monastic sites in England. Dogs on leads are welcome and as well as the atmospheric ruins there’s a herb garden, similar to one the monks would have tended, growing a bountiful selection of scented greenery. There’s also a lovely 6-mile circular walk starting from the Norman castle in the village, founded soon after the Battle of Hastings, that takes you along the footpath waymarked Nar Valley Way.
If your dog has its sea legs then take a boat trip to Blakeney Point to visit the largest seal colony in England. Between October and January, around 4,500 seal pups are born. Departing from Morston Quay, trips take about an hour, and are an opportunity to watch basking seals and flocks of migrating birds. The more inquisitive seals may swim close to the boats, so dogs must be well-behaved and kept on a lead. Beans Boat Trips have been running for over 80 years and have lots of local knowledge, so feel free to ask questions.
Dog-friendly beaches
A little north from Hunstanton town and a world away from the town’s pebbly beach, you’ll discover a sweep of fine golden sand backed by grassy dunes home to a clutch of colourful beach huts. It’s often quiet, welcomes off-lead dogs year-round and can be accessed whether the tide is in or out. West-facing, it also offers spectacular sunsets. You park near the old lighthouse and pick your way down the steep path to the beach, on your return you can stop at the Old Town Beach Café that welcomes dogs.
Part of the Brancaster Estate, Brancaster Beach is an endless expanse of golden sand stretching for miles in both directions. It’s especially good for high-energy dogs with 4 miles to zoom up and down. You may find some areas roped off to protect nesting birds between March and September but a quick glance at the information board will tell you everything you need to know. When the tide is out, it’s a great spot for beach combing and shell collecting. Often the tideline washes in hundreds of razor clams. Dog walks, sand castles, kite flying, a small wooden shop with beachy supplies, Brancaster has it all.
Consistently voted Britain’s most beautiful beach, Holkham is glorious. Come for a vast golden sweep of sand, undulating dunes and a bird- and wildlife-rich salt marsh, all framed by tall marching pinewoods. Part of the unspoilt 9,600-acre National Nature Reserve, conservation and sustainability are part of the lifeblood here, with rare species and biodiverse habitats all carefully protected. To ensure the safety of nesting birds, dogs must be kept on leads around Holkham Gap and any cordoned off areas between April and August. Dogs are well catered for, with plenty of dog bins and a dog-friendly café with lush views over the unspoilt scenery.
Dog-friendly places to stay in Norfolk
This is a beautiful Georgian merchant’s house with an indoor pool and treatment rooms set in 30 acres of parkland. Gardeners grow flowers for the house, vegetables for the kitchen and keep everything looking serene. There are sunbeds and a hot tub on the decked terrace, too. Inside, country house interiors have an elegant contemporary feel with an open fire in the sitting room. If you want to dine with your dog, eat in the Library or Bar where meals from the main dining room menu are served. The 11 Garden Rooms are all dog-friendly, big and airy, and open onto the kitchen garden. The hotel recommends dog-friendly walks in the countryside and on local beaches (the north Norfolk coast is close), as well as places where your pooch can run off lead. Don’t forget to hose muddy paws on your return.
Escape to this cosy, restful cottage – a stroll from the village pub, close to the coast – for birders, walkers and loafers, and their dogs. Pack binoculars and take to the boardwalk through the acres of reed beds and woodland of the nature reserve just beyond the garden gate. Bring walking gear and explore little-changed countryside and the wild north Norfolk coast where seemingly endless empty beaches blend into the sky. Coastal villages, some now chic, like Holkham and Stiffkey, have good pub food and bistros; No 1 Cromer’s fish and chips are renowned. You’re left dog walk and dog-friendly beach information, a welcome pack with treats and a dog holiday collar tag. Return to settle by the wood-burning stove with a well-run dog at your feet.
Charming gardens for you and your dog and an 1880s Norfolk farmhouse with Little Barn attached but utterly private. Inside is immaculate yet homely; cook as elaborately as you like in the well-equipped kitchen/diner while chatting to everybody else in the sitting room with the cosy wood burner a step below. French windows open to your own beautifully kept piece of garden, completely secure for dogs, and with table and chairs for eating al fresco – you’re free to roam the big garden too. Take walks or cycle from your front door, stock up in Briston (one mile), the coast is half an hour away. Comfortable to return here after a day of blowy walks, crabbing, bird and seal watching, or exploring historic Holt.
We hope this guide gives you a little bit of tail-wagging inspiration for travelling with your dog to tranquil Norfolk. We’ve included a taster of some of our dog-friendly places to stay but you can browse our website for even more special places to stay that dogs and their humans will love all across the county.
View all our dog-friendly places in Norfolk >
Written by
Carmen McCormack
Carmen is a freelance writer specialising in travel. She once lived in a bus in north Wales, skipped off to study in Barcelona, and now calls Bristol home. When she’s not tapping away on her laptop, she can be found reading (a lot), lake swimming (a little), and pottering on the allotment with husband and two kiddos. She’s currently dreaming about cold cerveza and torta in Mexico.
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