The Acre

You can expect starry nights and sandy toes during a stay at The Acre as this back-to-basics campsite is just steps away from Sea Palling beach on the Norfolk coast. This simple site, run by friendly couple Gayle and Nicholas, offers an almost-wild camping experience for August only with countryside in one direction and an award-winning beach just over the dunes.

Far from the madding crowds of Great Yarmouth and the crab-eating ones of Cromer, Sea Palling is an altogether quieter spot for a stay on the Norfolk coast – although still popular in summer. Here, you pass the bigger caravan sites of the area to pitch your tent on one of 15 undesignated pitches and enjoy a taste of the simple life. A trailer of portable toilets, a fresh water supply and an open-air washing-up sink are the sum total of the facilities but, for those who will like it here, that’s enough. This place is not about spending time on site but about being as close to the beach as possible. And it’s a good one.

Separated from the site only by marram grass-covered dunes, Sea Palling beach offers sandy expanses and shallow waters protected by man-made breakwaters. The result is wonderfully calm waters for swimming, with crescent pools between each off-shore breakwaters like a perfect cove. The main area of the beach is watched by lifeguards in summer and, strolling further along the coast, it’s a popular spot with walkers and birdwatchers too. In fact if you’re into nature, you're in the right place. The Acre is just five miles from Hickling Broad Nature Reserve and the seal colony at Horsey Beach. Both are perfectly easy to access, too, with free walking routes that give great views of the wildlife on offer. 

If it’s straightforward seaside fun you’re after, stay put at Sea Palling where there’s a small dose of everything you’d expect: ice cream kiosks, fish and chip shops, cafés and amusements. For more of that, head for the brighter lights of one of Norfolk’s bigger and more traditional seaside resorts, which are not too far away for a day trip. Cromer is about 20 miles north of here, Great Yarmouth 20 miles south.