Dogging in Norfolk: area guide

The lie of the land in Norfolk

Norfolk bulges out into the North Sea, and it feels remote. Norwich is the only city. King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Thetford, Cromer, Dereham and Fakenham are the main towns. Between them is mostly farmland, with big skies and long views.

The Broads is a protected wetland of rivers and shallow lakes in the east, with National Park status. The Norfolk Coast National Landscape runs along the north shore, and the Brecks, a sandy heath and forest area, covers the south-west. The Fens edge into the county around Downham Market and the Wash.

Few places are crowded, so traffic follows the main routes. Pockets near Norwich, Lynn and Yarmouth can be busy on odd nights when the rest of the county sleeps, and in summer the coast fills with holidaymakers.

Getting about safely

Norfolk has no motorway. The A11 links Norwich to Thetford and the M11, the A47 crosses the county from King's Lynn through Norwich to Great Yarmouth, and the A140 heads south to Ipswich. The A149 follows the north coast and is slow in summer. Much of the A47 is single carriageway, and a crash can leave long diversions on narrow roads.

Trains run from Norwich to London Liverpool Street. Branch lines go to Cromer and Sheringham, to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and, via Ely, to Cambridge and King's Lynn. Services are thin late at night, and many rural places have no station. Check the last train, or arrange a taxi, before you set out.

Coastal fog, called sea fret, rolls in off the North Sea in spring and early summer and can cut visibility quickly. The coast also erodes, and cliff edges and some tracks change from year to year. Beaches on the Wash and north coast have fast tides. Fen drains, deep ditches without barriers, run alongside many west Norfolk roads. Signal is weak in the Brecks and on the coast, so tell someone your plans. Carry a charged power bank, a torch and a warm layer, because the coast is windy and cold even in spring.