Holkham Beach
A seemingly infinite stretch of golden sands running down to the blue-green waters of the North Sea, backed by huge horizons...
At Holkham, the sensation of space is totally liberating, and you can’t help feeling as if you could walk forever.
Of course, with a coastline that runs from west to east for almost 100 miles, Norfolk has plenty of beaches – but none are quite as special as Holkham.
Stretching for around four miles, it’s one of Norfolk’s most spectacular natural features, and it gained worldwide fame in 1998 when the iconic final scenes of the seven-time Oscar winning film “Shakespeare in Love” featuring Gwyneth Paltrow were filmed there.
That was over 20 years ago, but Holkham hasn’t spent the last two decades resting on its laurels.
More recently, this awe-inspiring beach was judged ‘Beach of the Year’ by a nationwide BBC poll – and acclaimed as the best beach in the whole of the UK by a panel of international travel writers just a few weeks later.
The beach at Holkham is atmospheric enough over winter, but visit the beach during summer and you may be lucky enough to catch the incredible sight of the Queen’s Household Cavalry Regiment riding their horses along the beach. They’ve chosen this beach for over 25 years for their annual two-week ‘holiday’ for rural training.
And don’t miss The Lookout, a brand new visitor centre just behind the beach itself which highlights the diversity of the nearby Holkham estate’s nationally-important nature reserve.
