The coast path starts at the gate. The seals, the quays at Wells and Blakeney, Holkham’s beach and the summer’s carnivals are all a walk, a short drive or a ride on the Coasthopper away.
What’s on nearby
Plan your stay around something good.
Dates are set by each organiser, so check their site before you book. Where the dates are known, Book a stay fills them in for you.
Usually late July
Blakeney Sailing Regatta
Blakeney Quay
Racing in the harbour, and the greasy pole challenge on the quay
Blakeney Point is home to England’s largest grey seal colony, and common seals too. The boats leave from Morston Quay, two and a half miles east along the coast path from the gate, and take about an hour out to the seals on the Point. Trips run with the tide, so book ahead, especially in summer.
Beans BoatsFamily-run for over 50 years, daily in summer
Bishop’s BoatsTraditional wooden boats since the 1960s; well-behaved dogs welcome
Temples Seal TripsTickets from the Anchor pub in Morston
Ptarmigan (Blakeney Point Seal Trips)Daily from April to early November
Prefer to walk? At low tide the seals can be seen from the shore facing the Point. See the walking map — and check the tide first, the creeks fill fast.
The site from the air: the marsh, the harbour and the sea.
Places to go
A day out, close by.
Across the harbour
Blakeney Point
Four miles of shingle and dunes, with nesting terns in summer and the seals at the end. Walk out from Cley, or take a ferry that lands you there.
No car needed: the Coasthopper bus (CH1) stops at the end of The Greenway, for Wells, Blakeney, Cley and Sheringham. Coasthopper times →
The site’s own story
From army camp to campsite.
From 1939 to 1958 this was an army anti-aircraft training camp, with soldiers under canvas and in Nissen huts. When the Ministry of Defence sold the land in the early 1970s, a local farming family bought it, and it’s been run by the same family ever since.
Before 1958Today
The same ground, looking north to the marsh: the army camp before 1958, and the campsite today. Drag to compare.
1939
An army camp on the marsh
An anti-aircraft training camp opens: soldiers under canvas and in Nissen huts, with a cinema, dance hall, chapel and sergeants’ mess.
1958
The army leaves
Training ends and the camp falls quiet.
Early 1970s
A local farming family buys the land
The Ministry of Defence sells the site, and the same family has run it ever since.
1979
Tents on the grass
The campsite as it looked in the earliest photographs on this page.
1994
The army wash-houses retire
The camp’s original wash-houses finally give way to proper shower blocks.
Today
Still the same marsh
The old chapel builds boats, the sergeants’ mess holds the Rescue Wooden Boats Centre and Maritime Museum, and the view hasn’t changed.
The site, 1979Washing up at the old army wash-house, in use until 1994
★Members get £21 of extras on a weekend with their dog (£5 off, first dog free and family WiFi), and up to 10% off longer stays. Every 3rd visit, a night on us. £15 a year in the app.See how much you’d save
