Which north Norfolk beach?

[Clarabellawilliamson]

We have booked a couple of nights in a travelogde family room next week in Kings lynn- me, DH and kids 5 & 3 years old. We will do one full day at the coast but which beach? Hunstanton? Cromer? Kids will want to paddle and make a sandcastle, I will want toilets and take away coffee...
Which is your favourite? Any things we must not miss?!

Old Hunstanton. My absolute favourite beach ever. We're currently in Wella and of course Holkham is beautiful too. So either of these I'd say!

*Wells !

Toilets at Wells are miles from the beach. Hunstanton better for facilities and closer to King's Lynn.

This is exactly the kind of knowledge I'm after!! Thanks @ninnynonny and @Spanielsarepainless anything I really must not miss out on locally?
Has it been crazy busy this year? Friends photos of Cornwall have been shocking!

Cromer

• plenty of parking
• rock pooling
• crabbing off the pier,
• surf school or paddle board hire for older DC
• theatre, pub and restaurant on the pier
• toilets on the pier at the entrance (or in the pub / theatre the other end)
• the sand is flat for quite a while and doesn't shelf and is clear, you can see fish.

As other things to do your DC are perfect ages for Bewilderwood and the steam railway.

Hunstanton is only half an hour away and has good facilities. Nice beach, toilets, fair, amusements, Sealife centre, leisure centre, crazy golf, shops and cafes. There are lots of lovely beaches in North Norfolk but Hunstanton has everything close together.

We've just come back from Hunstanton it was fab. Lots plenty of parking, amusements etc right bý the beach. Plus only about 30 mins from Kings Lynn

Cromer was crazy busy today. Massive queues for everything. The tide was also in so not much beach to sit on.

Sherringham or Cromer

Whatever beach you go to, I would pack up and go early and have breakfast in the car or when you get there. Do check the tide times before you go in Cromer low tide is around 6am/pm whereas high tide is around 11/12.

Surely tide times change daily? Just because high tide was at 11 today doesn't mean it will be in a week's time.

@bloodwhite cat sorry, I missed out part of my post when I retyped it after losing it.

Do check the tide times before you go. Today, in Cromer.....

Anyway next week's Cromer tide times are here

Different beaches have a different feel. You can go full on kiss me quick at one end of the spectrum or a more middle class jodhpurs and a black lab type experience at the other. What else will the children enjoy? Rock pooling? Crabbing? Fossil hunting? Playing in pine woods? Do they like amusements? Would you like excellent fish and chips or a decent seafood restaurant at the end of the day?

I'd consider the Dinosaur Park, Bewilderwood, the Norfolk Museums (Gressenhall is my favourite but there's Lynn Museum too), a ride on one of our steam trains.

The old part of King's Lynn is quite lovely. Along the Quay and around the Saturday Market place and courts for example. A picnic in the Walks and a play on the park is cheap and enjoyable. There's a surprising amount of v interesting history locally. Oh and the cinema has been refurbished if you like watching films. Other bits of Lynn aren't so pleasant!

Thanks everyone! Great info on the different beaches- I'll look into the steam trains too I think. Bewilderwood might be a bit much for this short trip but I've heard good things about it so we might have to make a return trip!

We went to Holkham Hall and loved it, there’s also a beach nearby (Holkham beach) and Wells is really near. We didn’t go in the hall but we hired bikes (they also do trailers for little ones) and it was a really lovely bike ride and afterwards there is a nice gift shop/team room plus big play area for the kids.

The other thing we all loved was a seal watching boat trip from Blakeney point - I’m guessing you’d need that booked up in advance.

We also did Roar dinosaur park and a lovely nature reserve type place called Pensthorpe - entry wasn’t cheap but there are lovely long walks, pond dipping and indoor and outdoor play areas.

Old hunstanston beach was nice (cafe and toilets near car park!) but my goodness that beach is big when the tide is out! If they need a bucket of water for sandcastles its a mile long trek 😅

Brancaster if you can get there early (before 10), toilets and beach hut selling coffee etc at the edge of the car park, lovely large beach, dog friendly.

Brancaster was my favourite too, easy parking, coffee shop, toilets and a beautiful beach.

I’ve never got the love for Hunstanton. I prefer Cromer or Wells.

@rainbowandglitter

Cromer was crazy busy today. Massive queues for everything. The tide was also in so not much beach to sit on.

Yep. We did a day trip there from Wells yesterday and it was very busy!

Reading with interest!

Brancaster

Brancaster is my favourite beach as well - you need to check the tide times though as the approach road is flooded each side of high tide for a good hour or so.