We have just stayed at Lee's Caravan Park in Hunstanton for five nights and we had a great time. The weather has been beautiful, around 25 degrees Celsius everyday! We had one summer storm in the night that shook the caravan and nearly defeated our awning - a little reminder that we need to replace a few poles and bits on our awning.
Dogs are welcome on the beaches at Hunstanton and Cromer (the ones we visited) all year round with the only restriction of the main beach groins (I think that's what they're called?) between May and September.
We found the prices to stay at campsites around Norfolk quite expensive compared to what we're used to paying, but we loved it so much we'd pay it again. Lee's Caravan Park is situated literally a two minute walk from the sea, to the edge of the town centre so dogs are welcome on the beach there all year round.
The camp site had 10 pitches, which seemed to be close to each other. There were around five caravans that were permanently sited there so it was actually very quiet. The toilets and showers were kept fairly clean but they are in desperate need of modernising. The toilets are the really old ones that are huge and when you're sat on them your knees are almost touching the stall door. The owners were very friendly indeed and made us feel welcome. They had two dogs of their own and they were happy for our dogs to roam freely as long as we kept them under control, which makes for an easier life.
It was a 10-15 minute walk along the promenade into the town centre where there are amusements, independent shops, seafood stalls, cafes and a high street. The dogs are welcome in every amusement arcade but one, the one that stands on the promenade at the bottom of the green. Dogs are welcome in some shops in Norfolk but there were no window signs displayed, you had to ask.
There is also a traditional funfair which looked great for people with children, ad the dogs were welcome to walk around the fair.
The sea at Hunstanton is very warm and very calm and very beautiful. We were very unprepared as the weather report had forecast storms all week so we hadn't taken many summer clothes or any swimming gear. I wished I'd had my batho so I could have gone swimming with the dogs, who had such a great time and went swimming in the sea every single day. Nick went wading out with them in his shorts and had to hand wash them every night as he'd only taken that one pair!
One day, we drove to Cromer on a mission to try the famous Cromer Crab! It was an hours drive from Hunstanton, through countryside where we passed some little fruit stalls trading on the road. Cromer is a lovely town with lots of independent shops and boutiques, a gorgeous beach and fish mongers.
We found a little shop selling daily-caught Cromer Crab and Cromer Crab sandwiches. Nick had a delicious chicken tikka baguette from The Baguette Shop and I had a Cromer Crab sandwich from the stall. My sandwich was made from normal brown bread, which was disappointing at the side of Nick's baguette, but the Crab was absolutely delicious!
We found a little shop selling daily-caught Cromer Crab and Cromer Crab sandwiches. Nick had a delicious chicken tikka baguette from The Baguette Shop and I had a Cromer Crab sandwich from the stall. My sandwich was made from normal brown bread, which was disappointing at the side of Nick's baguette, but the Crab was absolutely delicious!
There was a great little fishmonger called the Davies fish shop, which sold a wide range of fresh seafood including a bag of fish for pets for £1. We bought one as a treat for the dogs and it contained two huge fish skins! Very cheap when you consider a small bag of Fish4Dogs dried fish skin treats is £3. When we got back I had to pour boiled water over the fish to defrost it, despite how hot it was that day, and I have never seen the dogs so eager to be served their dinner and it was great to watch them shred the fish skin with their teeth, two very happy dogs indeed!
I picked up a great little guide to North Norfolk in the tourist information centre in Hunstanton, where I read about The Orange Tree Pub in Thornham, five miles from Hunstanton. Although it wasn't far away, we couldn't see a walking route so drove along the A149 and had a look at the little villages on the way to Burham Market. I'd read great things about Burnham Market, aka "Chelsea-on-sea", but it's really not worth a visit if you have dogs with you. It was a very quiet village with lots of independent Art galleries and a few little clothes shops aimed at the over 50's, no where you would want to take a dog.
So we called at The Orange Tree on our way back for a late lunch. I was desperate to go there to discover their 'Doggie Menu' that I'd read about. The pub has a beautiful beer garden with a very relaxing atmosphere where even the two crazy cockers were happy to chill.
I was still obsessed about local seafood so I ordered the seafood sandwich that had crayfish and smoked salmon on it. Nick isn't as daring as me and we weren't ready for a big meal so he ordered fries and cheese (he didn't even pick the hand cut chips with cheese!). And we ordered two marrow bones for the dogs. It was order at the bar where Nick was given the marrow bones (at £2.95 each!) in a metal dish. Call me silly but I was disappointed that the dogs weren't served by the waiter, those bones would be 50p each back home from a pet shop, and the metal dish was filthy. The dogs didn't care of course and the other punters were very amused by it all. The silver lining was that the waiter made a mistake and brought out a prawn salad starter on it's own to our table, which had two slices of bread with it so I assumed it was my seafood sandwich and tucked in, to then be served with my actual seafood sandwich and Nick's cheesy fries, so we had a delicious free starter. The food was perfect and we really enjoyed the meal, but I wouldn't go again as I thought it was all overpriced. The mains were around £15-£20 each, fine if you're dressed up for an evening meal but not what I like to pay when sitting in a beer garden with the dogs.
I was still obsessed about local seafood so I ordered the seafood sandwich that had crayfish and smoked salmon on it. Nick isn't as daring as me and we weren't ready for a big meal so he ordered fries and cheese (he didn't even pick the hand cut chips with cheese!). And we ordered two marrow bones for the dogs. It was order at the bar where Nick was given the marrow bones (at £2.95 each!) in a metal dish. Call me silly but I was disappointed that the dogs weren't served by the waiter, those bones would be 50p each back home from a pet shop, and the metal dish was filthy. The dogs didn't care of course and the other punters were very amused by it all. The silver lining was that the waiter made a mistake and brought out a prawn salad starter on it's own to our table, which had two slices of bread with it so I assumed it was my seafood sandwich and tucked in, to then be served with my actual seafood sandwich and Nick's cheesy fries, so we had a delicious free starter. The food was perfect and we really enjoyed the meal, but I wouldn't go again as I thought it was all overpriced. The mains were around £15-£20 each, fine if you're dressed up for an evening meal but not what I like to pay when sitting in a beer garden with the dogs.
We tried to have a BBQ one afternoon which failed - down to either the disposable BBQ from Poundland or the wind that blew it out. So we ended up cooking in the caravan with our Cookworks oven from Argos but it was till nice to eat outside.
We had a great time in Hunstanton and we will definitely go be going back next year.
Happy Caravanning!
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