Pensthorpe Nature Reserve

Pensthorpe sits just outside Fakenham and is proper Norfolk wetland - the sort of place where you actually see things rather than squint at distant shapes through binoculars. It's a working nature reserve, not a manicured visitor attraction, which means the appeal divides sharply. Bird enthusiasts will spend hours tracking warblers and water fowl across the pools and reed beds. Families with restless kids under eight? Less certain. There's walking, yes, but it's quiet observation stuff - you need patience and a decent field guide.

The reserve covers around 200 acres of wet woodland and open water, with viewing platforms dotted about so you're not tramping through mud in your good shoes. Spring and autumn migrations are the real draw - May mornings can be extraordinary for spotting passage migrants. Summer is muggy and the insect life gets a bit much. Winter's crisp but the birds thin out unless you catch a cold snap pushing continental species this way.

If you're staying at Norfolk Coast Caravans just down the road, Pensthorpe makes a decent half-morning before heading to the coast proper. It's genuinely free entry, which removes the guilt if you only stay an hour. Allow two to three hours if you're serious about it, less if you're just tagging it on. Bring binoculars - proper ones, not the tourist shop rubbish. And wellies, because the paths flood properly after rain.