Hemsby Beach

The beach at Hemsby stretches for miles along Norfolk's east coast, a proper windswept affair with soft sand and that particular grey-green light you only get on this stretch of England. It's the sort of place where the horizon seems to go on forever, and on a clear day you can see right across to the offshore wind farms turning lazy circles on the water.

What you get here is straightforward seaside - a wide expanse of sand at low tide, rock pools to poke about in, and enough space that even in summer you're not tripping over deckchairs. The beach shelves gently, which makes it decent for families with younger kids, though the water can be brass-monkey cold outside July and August. Serious walkers will find the hard-packed sand at low tide excellent for a long ramble, and the cliffs at the back - modest by most standards but distinctive here - are worth examining if you're interested in coastal erosion. Norfolk's been losing ground to the sea for centuries, and Hemsby's no exception.

It's free to access and you can spend as little as an hour or as long as you fancy. Summer weekends draw crowds, but mid-week or shoulder season it's blissfully quiet. The village itself is small and low-key, sitting a short drive from Great Yarmouth's arcade chaos, which means you're close enough to attractions if the weather turns but far enough removed to feel like you've actually got away.

If you're staying at Richardson's Hemsby Beach or any of the caravan parks dotted along this stretch - California Cliffs down at Great Yarmouth or Haven Caister just up the coast - the beach is your garden. It's functional rather than spectacular, but that's rather the point.