Alby Wild Camping

It's a five-minute walk to Alby Crafts (01263 761652), a local barn conversion complex that's home to a superb café, craft shops, a pottery studio and more, and five minutes by car into Aylsham, a pleasant market town with a good antiques shop, more cafés and a farmers market on the first Saturday of each month. Aylsham is also a good place to pick up the Weaver's Way if you like walking (it's an easy route following the path of an old railway line and suitable for cycling, too, in many places). There are two National Trust properties less than 10 minutes from the campsite. Blickling (01263 738030) is best if you want to visit the gardens (paid entry for the main garden and house) or find intrigue in the grounds, including woods, a tower, a mausoleum and a good lake to walk around with views of the back of the 17th-century hall. But choose Felbrigg (01263 837444) if you want big, classic estate grounds, grazed by sheep and with a more open setting – it too has a lake and there's a nice circular walk from the Jacobean hall, to the church, across to the lake and back via the woods, taking in the kitchen garden by the main car park to finish off with. Of course, you don't come to this part of Norfolk without spending a decent bit of time on the coast. It's a 10-minute drive to Cromer – walk the beach eastwards to Overstrand then return along the clifftop coastal path beside the golf course, finishing with fish and chips at the end – the town is home to a pier and a good number of shops and pubs. Sheringham Beach and Sheringham Park are also within a 15 minute drive, while more marshy stretches of the coastline, around Salthouse, Cley and Blackney are within half an hour and are particularly good for birdwatching, with some of the most interesting stretches of the Norfolk Coast Path.

The nearest pub is the Alby Horse Shoes (01263 761378) near the entrance to Alby Crafts (01263 761652) where there's a good tearooms and café. But it's worth driving the five-or-so minutes to the Buck Arms (01263 732133) or the Black Boys (01263 732122) in Aylsham or, by day, visiting one of the two excellent butchers there, as well as the Bread Source bakery (01263 733733) and Charlie Hodson's cheese deli. For a real treat, the campsite practically backs on to the Gunton Estate, where the old gatehouse is now a superb, award-winning restaurant (01263 832010) that specialises in venison and cooks steaks and meats over a huge open fire in the middle of the dining room (where an enormous set of elk antlers adorn the wall). The owner is also an at dealer by trade, so expect striking art work on the walls and there's an excellent atmosphere, with tables outside for drinks, too, with views over the deer park. If you're on the coast, enjoy sea views with your fish and chips from Galton Blackiston's award-winning fish and chip restaurant, No. 1 (01263 515983), or head further up the coast to The Dun Cow (01263 740467) at Salthouse (a good place to combine a meal with watching the sunset on Salthouse's pebble beach).