A friend has offered the use of her cottage. We think that's wonderful but can't find much information on what to see and do. Does anyone have suggestions? It is in the village of Southrepps, near Cromer which is a small town on the Norfolk coast. We will be taking the train there from London where our daughter lives. Should we rent a car?

You've got to have a car.

Southrepps is, literally, miles from the station - and the train goes only to Norwich and Sheringham. If you don't want to drive out of London, collect a hire car at Stansted - but I can't see the point of getting a train to Norwich, then hiring, or getting the one car in Cromer.

The North Norfolk coast can be fun, especially if you avoid the Islington overspill around the Burnhams (there's a limit to how many conversations about falling house prices in Canonbury most people can cope with)

However, there's an excellent reason why it's not visited by foreign tourists as much as the Cotswolds - or even Suffolk. It's prettyish and a pleasant place for North Londoners to have a holiday house and teach Tristram and Olivia to sail. But it can be bloody cold (the winds are easterlies, and there's practically no barrier between Siberia and Norfolk to moderate them) and its pleasures are about calmness. There are absolutely no 'must sees', though lots of "that was nice"es

www.visitnorfolk.co.uk

Here you go - stuff to do and places to go within 10 miles of Cromer

http://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/norfol...c-results.aspx

Thanks Flanerruk and Nona1. I'll do more research on that website but the first attraction Oasis Camel Centre doesn't sound too promising.

It is a great area to explore. You can use it as a base to see the whole Norfolk coast and other parts of East Anglia

Places like Sandringham http://www.sandringhamestate.co.uk/ , Blickling Hall http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...lgardenandpark , Houghton Hall http://www.houghtonhall.com/htmlfiles/1024index.htm , great birding, walking, etc.

But yes - you will 100% need a car, and it can be bloody cold and windy

Thank you janisj. Do you think it will be very cold in September? So sorry about your sweet cat. You did the right thing.

Thanks so much Micheline. I made a biiiiig mistake yesterday. Saw a kitty adoption in the local PetCo and there was this one enormous black and white cat who reached out and grabbed my arm as I walked away. He was trying so hard But I just can't (CAN'T) right now.

As for the temps in Sept - it usually isn't all the cold, but it can feel colder because of the winds off the sea. For instance I looked up last Sept using Great Yarmouth as a reference. Sept's high was 70ºF, low was 45ºF and winds ranged from calm to 46 mph. That was last year and doesn't mean anything re this year - but the winds are pretty much a constant.

I know this is very late but I thought you might like to know that we loved our stay in Norfolk. The cottage in Southrepps had two bedrooms and was right in the heart of the village, just a minute to shops and pub. The friendly pub offered great food and the dining room was always full. Sophie the taxi driver was waiting for us at the train station, less than a mile from the cottage and was always available to drive us if we decided not to take the bus to surrounding towns and villages. We walked 4 miles to the sea to Sheringham(thought it would be two miles) and taxied back. It was wonderful to find the Ship pub after this walk where we sat outside at a picnic table overlooking the water while we sipped cold ale and cider and snacked on cheesy chips.
One day we bussed to Cromer (4 miles) where we picked up the Hoppa bus which goes all the way along the coastline picking up and dropping off walkers, bird watchers, etc. at key points of interest.
Staying in the English countryside was a great experience.

I've just seen this....

Cromer's the mutt's nutts.

Best chippy in the south of England (its called - withuot apparent irony - Mary Jane's). The Bristol hotel has a nice little restaurant attached.

Go and look at the seals, the coast generaly and maybe take a trip to Holt on the steam train (Holt is the ultimate chocolate box village).

It's lovely. Well done.

"Cromer's the mutt's nuts" Is that good? We liked Cromer and we had a very nice lunch at the Bristol. At the pub side one of the customer's on learning we were Canadians asked if we saw many "bars" in Canada and we quickly nodded and said we were trying to see them all. After much waving of arms and growling we realized he meant "bears".

I was amused to hear about your trip to Sheringham. Sounds like nothing much has changed since the 1950s, when my parents took us to north Norfolk and we found that every signpost indicating X miles to the next village led you to another, pointing in the same direction, indicating it was now X+Y miles to the same place. My Dad said they must have got the signposts muddled up when they put them back after the war, but maybe it's just "normal for Norfolk"....

Yes those signs are still the same! We were surprised after walking 2 miles to find no Sheringham and another sign indicating Sheringham 2 miles.