King's Lynn

Medieval streets wind through a port town that's lost none of its working grit. King's Lynn still feels like a proper trading hub, with lorries rumbling past Georgian warehouses and fishing boats tied up along the Great Ouse. The old town centre has some cracking architecture - Tuesday Market Place is massive and lined with merchant houses that speak of serious money from centuries past.

Great Bircham Windmill makes for a brilliant afternoon out, especially if you're travelling with children who've never seen grain being ground the old-fashioned way. The surrounding countryside is classic West Norfolk - big skies, arrow-straight roads, and villages marked by their distinctive painted signs. East Rudham Village Sign and West Rudham Village Sign are proper works of art, each telling the story of their communities in intricate detail.

Coxford Wood offers decent walking when you need to stretch your legs, while Wicken Pond attracts plenty of birdlife if you're into that sort of thing. The landscape here is dead flat - cycling country, really - and you can see for miles across the fields.

King's Lynn sits about 45 minutes from Norwich by car, though the A47 can be a bit of a slog during peak times. The town has its own railway station with direct links to London, making it surprisingly accessible for a place that feels this remote.

Staying at one of the nearby parks puts you within easy reach of both the Norfolk coast and the Fens. It's an ideal spot for families who want to experience proper East Anglian countryside without being completely cut off from civilization.