Dog-friendly The Brecks & West Norfolk

A farm brewery and taproom beside the ruins of West Acre priory on the river Nar, open Friday to Sunday with local street food. Dogs and families are welcome, and the big courtyard is where everyone sits. The Nar Valley Way passes the gate, which makes this a natural end to a river walk.

Five miles and around two and a half hours on chalk track, water-meadow path and the broad green line of the Peddars Way, out of the finest medieval village in Norfolk past the priory ruins, down the Nar to West Acre and back over the fields. Start from the free village green car park inside the castle bailey at Castle Acre, postcode PE32 2AE, which is untimed and takes about thirty cars; the priory has its own small car park when it is open. The Nar is a shallow chalk stream that gives a safe drink and a swim the whole way, sheep and cattle graze the meadows so leads are needed there, and the Peddars Way itself is stile-free.

Three and three quarter miles, an easy hour and three quarters on level forest rides, following the Desert Rats interpretation trail through the pines where the 7th Armoured Division trained before D-Day, with a Cromwell tank standing at the entrance. Turn off the A1065 Brandon to Swaffham road about two miles beyond Mundford into High Ash, postcode IP26 5BZ, where there are no parking charges at all and the car park is open dawn to dusk. Dogs are welcome and the rides are wide, quiet and safe for off-lead work with good sightlines, but there is no water at all on the site so bring your own, and roe deer are common enough that a whistle beats a shout.

Three miles in about an hour and a half on gravel path, grass ride and a stretch of estate track, round the two hundred species of the arboretum, past Lynford Hall and along the lake where hawfinches feed in the yews in winter. It starts at the Forestry England car park on Lynford Road, postcode IP26 5HW, which is £1.80 for two hours and £3 all day by RingGo, free to members, and open dawn to dusk with no toilets. Dogs are allowed throughout, the going is level and firm enough for an elderly dog, the lake gives a safe shallow drink at the bridge, and the arboretum is popular with birdwatchers so a lead in the yew paddocks is courteous.

Three and a half miles in about an hour and three quarters on hard woodland tracks and sandy rides, combining both of the waymarked nature trails through the six hundred acres of pine, oak and rhododendron behind the house. Start at the visitor centre car park, postcode PE35 6EH, where the first thirty minutes are free and it is then £3 for two hours, £5 for four and £7 all day, with dog waste bins throughout. Dogs on leads are very welcome across the whole country park including both waymarked trails, but they are not admitted to the formal gardens, the house or the museum, and there is no natural water on the route.

Six miles and around three hours on estate roads, forest ride and field-edge path, out through the country park to the carrstone cottages of West Newton and back past the Appleton water tower and the ruined round-tower church. It starts at the Sandringham visitor centre car park, PE35 6EH, with the first half hour free and £7 for a full day; the walk can be split at West Newton where there is a village hall car park. Dogs on leads are welcome throughout the country park and on the estate tracks but not in the formal gardens, house or museum, the field sections hold sheep and cattle, and there is water only at the visitor centre.

Seven and a half miles one way, about three and a half hours, following the Roman line of the Peddars Way north out of Swaffham over open chalk arable to the Nar crossing and finishing at Castle Acre's castle and priory. Start from the free long-stay car park off the Market Place in Swaffham, which is the town's main parking and untimed, and arrange a lift back or use the infrequent bus, since there is no circular option that keeps the whole trail. The Way is a broad hedged green track with no stiles and easy walking for any dog, but there is no water at all between the two settlements and the arable margins hold sheep in some fields, so carry a bowl and a lead.

A timber-framed inn on Watton high street with four changing cask ales and a place in the Good Beer Guide. Pets are accepted in the bedrooms by prior arrangement only, at five pounds a night, which is among the cheapest dog charges in the county. Thompson Common and the pingo trail are ten minutes' drive south.

Two hundred species of tree planted in the 1950s beside Lynford Water in Thetford Forest, with a lake, a picnic area and hawfinches in the paddocks in winter. Dogs are allowed, and the surfaced rides make this the sensible Brecks walk when everywhere else is under water. There are no toilets on site.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust's oldest reserve, a stretch of Breckland heath and Scots pine belt with two meres that fill and empty with the water table. Dogs are allowed on a lead on the waymarked routes. Some parts of the site can carry a temporary no-dogs restriction, so read the signs at the car park before you set off.

A dry chalk valley behind Hunstanton, the largest surviving piece of chalk grassland in Norfolk, thick with wild thyme and marjoram in summer. Dogs are allowed on a lead, and the valley floor gives an easy there-and-back walk with high sides and no road noise. Open dawn to dusk all year.

A Breckland common of grazed grassland and pingos, the shallow ice-age ponds that make this one of the best amphibian sites in Britain, with roe deer and great crested newts. Dogs are allowed on a lead, and sections of the path are boardwalk. Open dawn to dusk, all year, and rewarding in any season.