20 Attractions to Explore Near Houghton Hall & Gardens Norfolk

Great Bircham Windmill is a Grade II listed tower mill in Great Bircham, Norfolk, England. Come and enjoy this family run attraction with something for everyone. Bake some bread, climb to the top of the mill. Play in the garden. See the sheep being milked at 2pm daily. Sample some homemade bread, cakes and cheese all on sale in our tearooms and to take home from our bakery.

Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is the private home of Elizabeth II, whose father, George VI, and grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a 20,000-acre estate in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The house is listed as Grade II* and the landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Snettisham Park is a working farm where you and your family can have an adventurous day out. You can bottle feed lambs, collect fresh farm eggs and ride ponies as well as taking a walk on one of three wonderful trails. The farm is grazed by a 400-ewe flock, a herd of red deer, horses and ponies too.

Castle Rising Castle is one of the most famous 12th Century castles in England. The stone keep, built in around 1140 AD, is amongst the finest surviving examples of its kind anywhere in the country. In its time Rising has served as a hunting lodge, royal residence, and for a brief time in the 18th century even housed a mental patient.

The Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a protected landscape in Norfolk, England. It covers over 450 km2 of coastal and agricultural land from The Wash in the west through coastal marshes and cliffs to the sand dunes at Winterton in the east. It was designated AONB in 1968, under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.

Norfolk Lavender is at the heart of the West Coast of Norfolk. It is England's premier lavender farm, renowned worldwide. There are over 100 types of Lavender, and the Field and Distillery Tours are well worth a visit.

It was one of the largest and best-preserved monastic sites in England dating back to 1090. It was the home of the first Cluniac order of monks to England and the Cluniac love of decoration is everywhere reflected in the extensive ruins. Originally the priory was sited within the walls of Castle Acre Castle, but this proved too small and inconvenient for the monks, hence the priory was relocated to the present site in the castle grounds about one year later.

RSPB Snettisham is an extensive reserve situated in the southeast corner of The Wash. This site is most famous for its flocks of whirling waders over the wash, they appear to take on a single entity like a shoal of mackerel avoiding a predator, truly awesome to watch. By far the largest part of the reserve is on the mudflats of the Wash that provide the feeding grounds that attract the huge number of waders, especially in the autumn and winter.

Titchwell Marsh is blessed with diverse habitats that include reedbeds, saltmarsh, and freshwater lagoons where avocets, bearded tits, and marsh harriers nest. It was one of The RSPB's most popular reserves from sandy beaches to lagoons and reedbeds. This internationally important reserve is part of the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is also protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area, and Ramsar li

Pensthorpe Natural Park is a modern day nature reserve with a focus on inspiring the next generation to enjoy wildlife and the great outdoors. Explore 700 acres of woodland walks, nature trails, lakes and a variety of habitats teaming with wildlife including wetlands, woodlands, farmland and grassland. The site was created as a nature reserve by Bill Makins in the 1980s, before being bought by Bill and Deb Jordan in 2003, of Jordans cereals.

Walsingham Priory was a monastery of Augustinian Canons regular in Walsingham, Norfolk, England seized by the crown at the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII.They contain the ruins of the Augustinian Priory of The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the premier shrines to Our Lady in England, up to its dissolution in 1538.The priory is perhaps best known for having housing a Marian shrine with a replica of the house of the Holy Family in Nazareth.

vBrancaster beach is one of the best of North Norfolk's stunning beaches, with miles of unspoilt golden sand, stretching from Titchwell to Brancaster Staithe. This beach is part of the Brancaster Estate which is now owned by the National Trust. This iconic stretch of coast is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and also home to important natural features such as the tidal salt marshes of Scolt Head.

Holkham Hall, an 18th Century Palladian, Stately home, is privately owned and a lived-in family home. It is home to the 8th Earl of Leicester and his family. It is one of England's finest examples of the Palladian revival style of architecture, and the severity of its design is closer to Palladio's ideals than many of the other numerous Palladian style houses of the period.

A wide, sandy beach backed by dunes with beach huts nestled within, Old Hunstanton Beach is quieter and close to nature. The beach itself is a world away from the pebbles of Hunstanton main beach. Instead, it is an expanse of fine golden sand, backed by dunes and the renowned striped cliffs. Storms deposit items on the beach including marine life this may be strandings of cetaceans, mass strandings of starfish and shellfish or boats wrecked in storms.

The Norfolk Coast Path runs from Hunstanton in west Norfolk round to Sea Palling on the north east Norfolk coast. The majority of this walking trail runs through the dramatic landscape of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There are lovely settlements to explore along the trail, including seaports, fishing villages and seaside resorts, each boasting their own interesting history and welcoming charm.

Holkham is one of the most unspoiled and beautiful stretches of sand in the country. Behind the shoreline lies a semi-circular basin, which, at very high tides, rapidly fills to form a spectacular shallow lagoon. As part of Holkham National Nature Reserve, the beach is home to large flocks of wintering birds and is an important site for breeding Little Terns, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher. The extensive dune system is rich is wildlife with colorful carpets of yellow flowers in the summer which

True’s Yard is a heritage site and town museum celebrating the fishing community of the North End which made a significant contribution to Lynn’s economic and social life for 900 years. The cottages consist of just two rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. At one time in cottage no.5 a family of eleven squeezed into the tiny rooms.

Holkham Bay is the finest stretch of beach on the North Northfolk coast. There is something magical about this beach that just takes your breath away, and it is extremely difficult to capture in words how beautiful it is. The long drive way called ‘Lady Ann’s Drive’ guides you directly to one of the most unspoilt, beautiful stretches of sand in the UK.

The famous Wells & Walsingham Light Railway steams between the Norfolk seaside town of Wells-next-the-Sea and the beautiful Abbey village of Walsingham*.Visit the longest 10 1/4" narrow gauge steam railway in the world and see the unique Garratt locomotives "Norfolk Hero" and "Norfolk Heroine" built specially for this line. A great adventure for all the family in the delightful countryside of the north Norfolk coast.