Cromer Beach
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.
Cromer to East and West Runton
4.8 MI · 2H 15M · 80% OFF-ROADFour and three quarter miles in a little over two hours, west along the beach below the cliffs to the two Runtons and back on the clifftop path, with the chalk reef and the fossil beds exposed at low water. It starts at the Runton Road cliff-top car park in Cromer, pay and display and the closest to the western beach ramp; check the tide before you set off because the beach section is cut off at high water and the only exits are the gaps at East and West Runton. Dogs run free on the sands outside the restricted zones, the rock pools and freshwater seeps give a drink, but the council excludes dogs from the marked areas of Cromer and West Runton beaches from 1 May to 30 September.
Cromer to Overstrand along the clifftop
4.6 MI · 2H 20M · 80% OFF-ROADFour and a half miles there and back in two and a quarter hours, out along the Norfolk Coast Path east of the pier past the lighthouse and the golf links, dropping into Overstrand for a turn on the promenade before coming home the same way. Start from the Cromer Meadow car park behind the church, the biggest in town and a five-minute walk from the pier; the Coasthopper and the Sheringham train both stop nearby if you would rather go one way. The cliff path is grassy and unfenced with a long drop, dogs can go off lead on the golf-course margin but not on the fairways, and the council bans dogs from the marked areas of both Cromer and Overstrand beaches and requires leads on the proms from 1 May to 30 September.