Norfolk

Sand and groynes either side of the pier, under the church tower and the cliff-top gardens, with crab boats hauled up on the east beach. This is one of the few North Norfolk beaches with a summer dog exclusion, and it is properly signed and enforced. Out of season it is one of the best winter beach walks in the county, west towards East Runton.

The gap beach a mile west of Cromer pier, with a slipway, a beach cafe and sand that joins up with Cromer's at low tide. This one only came under an order in December 2025, so the summer exclusion here is newer than the rest of the coast and worth re-reading. The eastern half of the year is unrestricted.

Four miles of sand, dune and pinewood inside Holkham National Nature Reserve, reached by the boardwalk through the Meals from Lady Anne's Drive. Dogs are welcome the year round and most of the bay is open to off-lead walking under close control, which is why this is the beach dog owners drive across three counties for. Pay-and-display parking on Lady Anne's Drive, from £3.80 for two hours.

The town beach below the green and the promenade, the only west-facing resort sand in Norfolk and the one that watches the sun set over the Wash. It also carries the longest dog ban on this coast, seven months rather than the usual five, so out of season is the time to bring a dog. Walk north past the end of the prom for Old Hunstanton, which is open all year.

A wide, clean, Blue Flag beach with beach huts, a promenade and sand that runs for a mile at low tide. It is one of the eight North Norfolk beaches with a summer dog order, so between May and September you need to read the signs at the ramps. From October it is a first-rate winter walk with the cliff path above it.

Sand and groynes below a low cliff, reached by the ramp at the end of Pauls Lane, with a beach cafe at the top and far fewer people than Cromer two miles west. The centre of the beach is closed to dogs in summer under a council order; the marked zone is small and the sand continues beyond it. Winter here is close to empty.

Sand held in place by nine offshore reefs, which makes calm shallow lagoons at the gap and long empty stretches on either side. The gap itself carries a summer dog exclusion; walk out to the reefs east or west of it and the restriction ends. Parking and a cafe sit right at the top of the ramp.

A shingle-and-sand beach with concrete groynes below the town promenade, good rock pools at low water and the lifeboat station at the west end. The central beach in front of the prom is closed to dogs in summer, but the stretches beyond the signed zone stay open, so walking east or west solves it. From October to April the whole beach is dogs' own.

Chalk reef, flint shingle and the best rock pooling between Cromer and Sheringham, reached down the gap at the end of Water Lane. The elephant found in the cliff here in 1990 is still the biggest ever dug up in Britain. A summer exclusion covers the beach and slipway, so check the signs at the top of the ramp before you go down.