Golf on the Norfolk Coast

The north-west corner of Norfolk holds two of England's great old links, sitting almost side by side on a beautiful stretch of unspoilt coast. Royal West Norfolk — known to everyone as Brancaster — is one of the most atmospheric links in the world: laid out in 1892 between salt marsh and beach, famous for its walls of sleepered bunkers and for the tidal marsh that, at the highest spring tides, floods the approach road and cuts the course off from the mainland.

A short drive west, Hunstantonis widely rated the best links in East Anglia and a regular Open Final Qualifying venue — firm, fast fairways through classic sandhills, with subtle greens ranked among the finest in England. It is also the scene of one of golf's strangest feats: in 1974 the amateur Bob Taylor holed the par-3 16th in one on three consecutive days.

Old Hunstanton and Brancaster put both links on your doorstep, while the pretty foodie village of Burnham Market makes a characterful base minutes away. Note that Brancaster keeps strictly limited visitor numbers and takes no reservations at weekends or during August, so plan a weekday round. From here it is an easy hop to the Yorkshire & North-East links, or see the best courses in England.

Titchwell Manor, a stylish coastal hotel with an excellent restaurant, sits between the two links, while The Hoste in the pretty Georgian village of Burnham Market is the social heart of the coast. For something grander, Congham Hallnear King's Lynn is a Georgian country-house spa, and The Victoria Inn on the Holkham estate and Caley Hall at Old Hunstanton put you close to the golf.

This is one of Britain's finest food coasts. The White Horse at Brancaster Staithe — with its deck over the marsh — is famous for oysters and mussels pulled from the beds you can see from the table. Titchwell Manor and The Hoste both cook seriously well, and the string of gastropubs through Thornham, Brancaster and Burnham Market — the Lifeboat Inn among them — is as good as any on the east coast.

The Norfolk Coast — a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty — is a paradise of huge skies and empty beaches. Holkham, a vast pale-sand bay backed by pinewoods and a grand Palladian hall, is one of the finest beaches in Britain, and boat trips from Blakeney Pointvisit England's largest grey-seal colony. The royal estate at Sandringham and the birthplace of Nelson at Burnham Thorpe are both close by for a rest day.