Glamping in Norfolk

Big skies, blue seas and miles upon miles of agricultural countryside, Norfolk is a veritable glamping haven and a real heartland for glampers in the south east of England looking for a weekend away or a longer summer glamping holiday. With the exception of mountains, it is a region that has it all – miles of beaches, a rich dynamic coast with marshland, woods and dunes, quiet inland roads (perfect for cycling), excellent footpaths for walking and a vast network of rivers and waterways that wiggle their way through the fen land and, further south, create the exciting landscape of the renowned Norfolk Broads National Park. From a sandy beach break to a peaceful waterside retreat, glamping in Norfolk offers something for everyone.

The History of Norfolk

The wide, flat beaches of Norfolk are a hint to the time when it was connected to the rest of Europe many millions of years ago, when animals could walk across the now submerged Dogger Bank that bridged the North Sea to the Netherlands. Human communities have existed in Norfolk since the last ice age but it was only when the Iceni tribe were booted out by the Roman conquest in 43 AD that the likes of hard roads, forts, villas and towns were built. Many created the foundations of routes that stand to this day, notable for their straight, directness across the landscape. After the Romans, Norfolk became a part of the Kingdom of East Anglia, until the Normans, when Norwich emerged as the central hub of the region, complete with its mighty castle. Norwich grew steadily and became an important mediaeval city as the county surrounding it became the most productive agricultural region in the country. To this day, farming remains at the core of the county’s offering. Vegetables, cereals, dairy herds and pigs all populate the countryside, with old water and wind mills dotted among the meadows, while tourism too, makes for much of the coastal trade. The harbours offer the important landing place for mussels, crab and fish – and were also once the key transport areas for barley – while, inland, the scattering of great country houses, including the Queen’s estate at Sandringham, show that even the lords and ladies of days gone by yearned to call Norfolk their own home.

Glamping Accommodation

Along the coast, bell tent glamping is particularly popular. Here, many glamping sites pop-up for the duration of the summer and offer simple bell tent glamping that capitalises on the seaside location. Yet bell tents are just the tip of the ice-berg. Really, there is no one consistent type of glamping accommodation in Norfolk and the variation in style, price and levels of comfort is vast. In Thetford Forest you’ll find luxury, en-suite shepherd’s huts with all the bells and whistles, along with an airstream glamping site, while yurts, romantic gypsy caravans and even tree-houses are all on offer if you know where to look. And that’s where we at Cool Camping come in. We’ve been up and down the county finding, what we believe are the very best glamping sites in Norfolk. The price, the size, the accommodation type isn’t what matters either. What we look for is based on an innumerable and incalculable amount of different factors that is best summed up with that famous French phrase, je ne sais quoi. We look for glamping sites with that certain something that makes them stand out. All we know is that every one on this list is a corker!

Eight Exciting Things To Do When Glamping In Norfolk

– Eat fresh fish and chips on Cromer pier.
– Explore the Queen's second home at Sandringham.
– Rent a boat and take a day out in The Broads National Park.
– Discover the museums, galleries and eateries of vibrant Norwich city.
– Catch crabs off the quay at Wells-Next-The-Sea.
– Cycle through the trees at Thetford Forest Park.
– Break out the binoculars for some birdwatching at a Norfolk nature reserve.
– Hop on a boat out to see the grey seal colony at Blakney Point.