Burnham Market
Norfolk's Chelsea

Compared to the tranquillity of Morston, Blakeney or Cley, where visitors are content to wander the marshes, watch birds, browse the odd gallery and enjoy good food and drink in peaceful surroundings, Burnham Market is decidedly more fashionable.

If your holiday pleasures include shopping, people-watching and dining out, then this may be just the place for you. 

The nice thing about Burnham Market is its individuality.

There's a post office, a butcher, a baker and a fish monger, plus a good selection of other shops, cafes and restaurants.

There's a very popular farmer's market.

And there are galleries and fashion shops and a deli - all looking as if their owners take great pride in them and all offering a slightly wacky and unusual selection of products.

Burnham comes close to my idea of what an English village might have looked like before chain stores and franchises made one High Street look like any other. And that can't be a bad thing.

Footpaths connect all the villages along the River Burn, so you can walk straight from your door to visit Admiral Lord Nelson's birthplace at Burnham Thorpe or make your way down the River Burn to Burnham Overt Staithe where boats bump softly against the quay.


For more holiday ideas return from Burnham Market to the Norfolk page.

Rent a holiday cottage or check out a few other places along this glorious coast:

• Blakeney
• Cley-next-the-Sea
• Sheringham Park
• Castle Acre
• Castle Acre Priory
• Cromer