Last weekend, we took a trip to Norfolk. I'm sure you know by now how much we love that area of the country, but we'd never been in November before. We lucked out weather wise and had a couple of beautiful, crisp, completely cloudless days which made for such a gorgeous weekend by the coast. This trip was extra special as well as we were staying at the newly renovated, ridiculously beautiful Eden Hall. You can see more of our stay below {and alll the interiors inspiration} if you'd like.. 

We drove up on Friday morning, our first stop being the sweet village of Holt for lunch. 

Hello pink houses! {in almost every Norfolk/Suffolk town}. We hadn't visited Holt in a long time and forgot just how lovely, and bustling it was for a Friday in November. There are so many lovely little shops and delis there. Our favourite for lunch turned out to be Byford's for granary rolls, delicious cakes/cookies and B&J's seafood for fresh Cromer crab. We made a picnic in the car.

Also, we were quickly reminded by just how amazing this area is for food, having so many farms for fresh produce and the sea so nearby. There are independent green grocers on almost every corner, something we really wish we had more of in Hertfordshire.

Crab sandwiches, our ultimate favourite.

We ended up going back to B&J's the next day too, they had amazing soup and such a cute lady who was running it.

Killing time until we could get into the cottage, as it was so cold and grey that first day, we drove from Holt to Horsey Gap to see the seals on the beach and take a coast walk.

It's only about twenty minutes on from the cottage which is based in Bacton/Mundesley.

And it was soo good to see the sea, even on a grey day. It's such a beautiful beach with the sand dunes, but is carefully managed with all of the seals living there. At this time of year, they have their pups on the beach and will stay there until around January. It's managed by the friends of horsey beach so there's an official car park {our only bug bear is paying for parking} and a path that you walk along behind the dunes before going up to a couple of viewing points. It's fun to learn about the seals on the walk though. 

All wrapped up breathing in the sea air. I'd feel pretty rubbish the week before with a cold that had stuck around so escaping here was the ultimate R&R.

Take a good camera if you want to photograph the seals up close, my iPhone wasn't great but the pups were so sweet. 

We stopped off at Waitrose on the way to the cottage to stock up for our weekend there and then arrived!

I'm not sure if you follow Plum & Ashby on Instagram, the gorgeous luxurious candle & hand wash company which is all made in England? Vicky, behind Plum and Ashby has lovingly renovated this cottage. I could bang on and on about just how beautiful it is, but I think the fact that my husband said when we came home 'that was the nicest place we've ever stayed at in England' says it all really.

It was just finished earlier this summer, and I've enjoyed watching their renovations take place on Instagram. It's super inspiring, you have to look at the before photos to wonder just how on earth they had the vision for all of this work. It, of course, made me want to come home and redecorate our house, or run off and renovate a cottage of our own!

It's huge as well. When we booked, Vicky had offered us the chance to take some friends or family with us but in the end it was just a break for us two as a couple. I don't think I quite appreciated just how big it was though before we arrived, it sleeps 10 and there are five bedrooms {one of them with bunk beds in} and four bathrooms. There's a kitchen, beautifully made by Humphrey Munson, big enough for a feast and I'm very envious of the family who have booked it out for Christmas, it would be incredible for a big family dinner. 

We just loved the style, all of it so impeccably designed yet still sympathetic to the original building. And when we first arrived, almost got lost exploring it all. We had to decide which bedroom we'd sleep in as they were all rather tempting.

The light was failing that first evening so we cooked dinner and I decided that I'd do a proper photo tour the next morning. We woke up to this cool view {in fact, I woke up to the smell of pain au raisin's baking as my husband had got up before me. You have to buy Waitrose frozen pain au raisins, they're the best and such an indulgent breakfast for a weekend away like this}.

Cottage photos below... 

A beautiful, super equipped kitchen, boot room and utility room.

I wanted to steal this deck chair.

A large, cosy lounge with two big sofas to sprawl out onto in front of the fire. 

A myriad of bedrooms to choose between. I had headboard envy with this room.

A sweet children's bunk room.

and the bathroom of all bathrooms. 

We slept in this Boat Yard room, just off of the kitchen.

We'd woken up to bright blue skies. It was an area of Norfolk which we weren't familiar with and although I'd planned a whole weekend around our favourite spots of Holkham/Wells/North Norfolk, we realised that we'd be spending too much time in the car going backwards and forwards. In fact, that's the only slight bug bear for us with this cottage is the location which is fab for local beaches, but a little far from our usual haunts. So we decided to spend Saturday nearer the cottage and discover somewhere new.

Vicky had left a guide with the best of the local area in so we followed that for a walk along the coast to Happisburgh. 

These beaches were deserted, I imagine in the summer it's perfect for quiet, huge empty beaches too as it's a relatively undiscovered area of Norfolk.

Sunny and bright winter days. The best kind.

We walked for miles until we reached the lighthouse, following the coast path the whole way along.

Craving more crab sandwiches we drove into Holt for lunch, and a trip to Stiffkey Stores {one of our favourite spots}.

SUCH a beautiful day.

We couldn't wait to get back to the cottage for a cosy afternoon by the fire. Ben had the rugby and I had a stack of magazines. H e a v e n. 

Plum & Ashby's new Christmas range had me feeling festive. In fact, I'd never tried Plum and Ashby before staying at the cottage and I loved how in every bathroom there were different scents to try as well as diffusers/soap/hand lotion scattered around the house. Such lovely products.

We started watching Season 2 of The Sinner and got hooked.

On Sunday, we got up and decided to pack up before spending a whole day around Wells/Holkham. We were sad to leave the cottage but equally couldn't wait to see our favourite beach.

A Christmas tree by the sea!

We parked in Wells and then walked through the town {stopping at Bringing the Outside in, a fab shop} along to Holkham beach.

Just as beautiful on a hot summer's day as a cold wintry one {the last time we were here in August it was 30c!}.

Although wrap up warm as that wind was freeezing.

My husband pretending that he doesn't need a coat... in November.

That light.

<3.

We'd loved dinner at The White Horse Brancaster Staithe on our last trip so booked in again for Sunday lunch.

Book ahead of time as this place is always super popular. It looks out over the sea and is such a lovely setting.

We decided to go for something different to a regular Sunday roast {although they looked so good} as we can get good roasts at home, but we can't get yummy dishes like this. 

Cod and crab risotto. Deeelicious.

The puddings were the real stars of the show though.

We were desperate to stick around until sunset, especially with such a clear sky, so visited Burnham Market on our way along the coast to Old Hunstanton {the best sunset spot in Norfolk}

Such a pretty town.

Stopped off at Eric's to buy dinner for later on the car journey home. I mean, not that we really needed it after that huge lunch though... 

We'd watched the sunset in this spot back in August and I'd pretty much been dreaming of coming back ever since. We lack good spots like this near us. Oh to live near the sea and watch the sunset over it most days... 

It was even more incredible than we'd remembered. And we walked up on the cliffs by the lighthouse before getting back down on the beach to catch the last of it disappearing into the sea. The end to a beautiful day.

It felt like we could have been in California that evening. 

Pure. Happiness. {excuse the wonky photo}

Pink skies. I definitely cried a tiny bit that evening. Just too damn beautiful.

And then it was hometime. Sunday night driving back in the dark before a busy new week ahead. What a weekend. We <3 you Norfolk. You get us every single time.

You can find more on Eden Hall Norfolk here.

and more on our favourite spots in Norfolk from this past post here.

R <3 xxx

{I was a guest of Eden Hall, with many thanks to them for our lovely stay, but as always all opinions are 100% my own and I'm super picky as to where I review/recommend!}