📍 Mundesley → Walcott📏 3.5 miles⏱ 1.5–2 hours🟢 Easy🚌 Bus back from Walcott★ Local favourite
⚠ Important — Please Read Before Setting Off
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✓ Study a current OS Explorer map before every walk (OL24 / OL25 for North Norfolk)
✓ Check tide times before any coastal or salt marsh walk
✓ Verify bus timetables directly with Sanders Coaches before travel
✓ Tell someone your route and expected return time
✓ Carry a charged phone, paper map, food and water
✓ Wear appropriate clothing and footwear for conditions
✓ Assess whether the route suits your fitness and experience
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The final walk in the Coasthopper series passes through some of the most characterful stretch of the East Norfolk coast — Stow Windmill, the magnificent medieval Paston Great Barn, the clifftop path and the extraordinary moment at Walcott where the road runs right alongside the sea, separated only by a low sea wall. A short walk with a big personality.
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Local knowledge: The coastal road at Walcott is one of only a handful of places in England where a public road runs at sea level right beside the open sea with no barrier between them. On a rough day the waves break over the sea wall and onto the road. Dramatic, memorable and completely unique on the Norfolk coast.
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Distance
3.5 miles
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Walking time
1.5–2 hrs
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Difficulty
Easy
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Bus back
CH2 from Walcott
Route map — Mundesley to Bacton to Walcott
Start (Mundesley)
Finish (Walcott)
Local highlight
Point of interest
Walking route
🚌 Coasthopper CH2 — Practical Information
Start pointMundesley Beach Road stop
Finish pointWalcott Coastguard stop (Coast Road)
Bus backCH2 Walcott → Mundesley → Cromer
Single fare£3 (government fare cap, extended 2026)
Explorer Day ticket£12 adult · £10 age 5–19 · £25 group
From Mundesley beach, the Coast Path heads south along the clifftop, passing close to the distinctive tower of Stow Mill — a perfectly preserved 19th-century windmill standing alone in the fields behind the village. The path continues along the clifftop through the farmland above the beach, with views south along the coast towards Bacton and the distant outline of the Bacton Gas Terminal — one of the largest gas terminals in the UK, processing a significant proportion of Britain's North Sea gas. While industrial, the terminal has its own strange drama against the coastal landscape, particularly at dawn. The village of Paston is reached after about 1.5 miles — home to one of the finest medieval farm buildings in England.
Stage 2 — Paston to Bacton Beach
1 mile · 25 mins
From Paston the path descends to the coast at Bacton — a quiet village whose beach is broad and sandy, largely undeveloped and rarely crowded even in summer. The beach at Bacton is backed by low dunes and scattered beach huts and offers good swimming at high tide. The view north from Bacton beach back towards Mundesley and the cliffs is one of the finest on this stretch of coast. Just inland, the vast pipe and infrastructure complex of Bacton Gas Terminal occupies much of the land — an unexpected juxtaposition of industrial scale and wild coast.
Stage 3 — Bacton to Walcott
1 mile · 25 mins
The final section of the walk — and the most dramatic. From Bacton, the Coast Path joins the coastal road heading south to Walcott. As you approach Walcott the character of the coast changes entirely — the cliffs that have accompanied much of this walk disappear and the land meets the sea at exactly the same level. The road at Walcott runs right beside the sea, separated from it only by a low concrete sea wall. At high tide in rough weather, waves break over the wall and onto the road. There is nothing quite like it on the Norfolk coast — intimate, exposed, slightly precarious, and unforgettable. The Coasthopper bus stop is on the coastal road.
Best time to see Walcott's sea wall
Walcott's coastal road is most dramatic at high tide during a northerly wind — when waves come directly onshore from the North Sea. Check the tide times at bbc.co.uk/weather/coast-and-sea before visiting. Even at low tide the sea wall and the flat, exposed shoreline give a vivid sense of how exposed this coast is — and why sea defences matter so much here.
Points of Interest
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Stow Mill, Paston
Stow Mill is a beautifully preserved 19th-century tower mill standing in the fields just behind Mundesley — visible for miles along the coast. Built around 1827, it ground corn until 1930 and has been carefully restored as a private residence. While not open to the public, it is one of the finest windmill buildings on the Norfolk coast and makes for an excellent photographic subject from the coast path. The combination of the mill against the wide Norfolk sky is a classic image.
One of the finest medieval barns in England — a thatched flint barn around 70 metres long, built in 1581 for the Paston family, whose famous letters written during the Wars of the Roses are among the most important documents of 15th-century English history. The Paston Letters, as they are known, are the earliest surviving collection of private correspondence in English and give an extraordinary window into medieval life. The barn is a Grade II* listed building open to the public in season. The thatched roof — one of the largest in Norfolk — is alone worth a detour.
📍 Paston, NR28 9TE · English Heritage · Free entry · Open seasonally
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Bacton Gas Terminal
The Bacton Gas Terminal is one of the largest gas processing facilities in the UK, receiving and processing natural gas piped from the North Sea. It handles a significant proportion of Britain's gas supply. Visible from the coast path, the terminal's scale is striking against the open coastal landscape — a reminder that this remote stretch of coastline is also part of major national energy infrastructure. The terminal occupies a large area between Bacton village and the coast, which is why the beach at Bacton retains an unexpectedly wild and undeveloped character.
📍 Bacton, NR12 0QT · Visible from coast path only
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Walcott — The Road by the Sea
The coastal road at Walcott is one of the most distinctive spots on the entire Norfolk coast. Unlike the cliffed sections to the north, Walcott sits at sea level — and the road runs right beside the sea wall with nothing between the tarmac and the open North Sea except a low concrete barrier. In rough weather, waves break over the wall and flood the road; the village has experienced serious flooding events over the years and sea defences here are a significant and ongoing concern. Standing on the sea wall at high tide with a northerly blowing — looking out at the same open sea that stretches to Norway — is one of those experiences that stays with you.
📍 Coast Road, Walcott NR12 0NB · Free access
Wildlife on This Walk
This southern section of the CH2 route has a different character to the northern cliff walks — the farmland behind the coast supports different species, and the beach and sea wall at Walcott attracts waders and seabirds not found further north.
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Skylarks — song flights above the clifftop farmland between Mundesley and Paston, particularly in spring. The song is one of the most evocative sounds of the Norfolk countryside.
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Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers — these compact waders feed along the base of the sea wall at Walcott, particularly in winter. Turnstones flip over seaweed and stones with great energy; purple sandpipers are quieter but distinctive with their purplish winter plumage.
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Gannets — visible offshore throughout the year, diving spectacularly from height to catch fish. Their white plumage with black wingtips and impressive 2-metre wingspan make them unmistakeable.
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Painted Ladies and Red Admirals — the clifftop path flowers attract butterflies in late summer, particularly the annual influx of painted ladies that arrive from the Continent on south winds in August and September.
Food and Drink
Beach Café, Mundesley
Café · Start of walk
Stock up on drinks and snacks before setting off — there are limited options on this section of the walk until you reach Walcott. Open seasonally.
📍 Beach Road, Mundesley NR11 8BW
Bacton Beach Café
Café · Midway
A small beach café at Bacton open during summer months — good for a mid-walk stop with views over the beach. Check opening before relying on it outside peak season.
📍 Bacton Beach, NR12 0EW · Seasonal
The Lighthouse Inn, Walcott
Pub · End of walk
A traditional pub right on the coast road at Walcott, with views over the sea wall from the beer garden. Excellent finish to the walk — good food, real ales, dog friendly.
📍 Coast Road, Walcott NR12 0NB
The Stow Mill Tea Room
Tea room · Near Paston · Seasonal
Occasional opening as a tea room in summer at the historic Stow Mill. Check before visiting — when open, the setting is beautiful and the teas excellent.
📍 Mill Lane, Paston NR28 9TE · Seasonal
Extending the Walk
Walcott is not the end of the Norfolk coast — from here the CH2 Coasthopper continues south to Happisburgh, Sea Palling and eventually North Walsham. Both Happisburgh and Sea Palling are worth visiting:
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Happisburgh — the red and white striped lighthouse, the fastest-eroding cliffs in Europe, and the site of the oldest human footprints found outside Africa (800,000 years old). A compelling and slightly melancholy place.
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Sea Palling — artificial reef created in the 1990s to protect the coast has created sheltered lagoons. Popular with families, the beach is genuinely beautiful and far less visited than the North Norfolk coast.
🎉 You've completed the full Coasthopper Walking Series
All 8 walks — Wells to Walcott — covering the entire North Norfolk coast by bus. From the salt marshes of Wells to the sea wall at Walcott, it's one of the finest coastal walking routes in England.
