It’s safe to say that my family and I have fallen in love with the North Norfolk coastline. It’s renowned for its big sky and it certainly didn’t disappoint as thankfully we mostly saw it in varying shades of blue.

Wells-next-the-Sea was our perfect holiday spot even though the actual harbour and town are not ‘next-the-sea’ but a mile from the sandy beach. A small train takes you most of the way, or you can walk, cycle or scoot along the safe footpath from the harbour to the beach. However you get there, it’s well worth it as you walk through the pine trees then up and over the brow to be rewarded with your first view of Wells beach.

As lovely as the vast expanse of golden sand is, it’s worth checking the tide times. High tide makes for a perfect paddling spot near the entrance to the beach with the colourful beach huts as a backdrop. At low tide it is definitely worth a walk out beyond the sand dunes to the sea where there are lovely shallow channels that children can play in and search for sea life.

The Beach Hut cafe, recently taken over by the nearby Holkam Estate does a roaring trade in ice creams and in winter the fire is lit and hot chocolate is a welcome ice cream substitute! Breakfast on the beach was just about my favourite part of the holiday.

Back along the path to Wells town and you find a bustling harbour and high street. Somebody is always crabbing, whatever the time of day, and we spent quite a bit of time doing this too, whiling away hours catching, counting and returning little gilly crabs.

The harbour front at Wells has changed in recent years with an art gallery and wine shop opening alongside gorgeous home interior and gift shops. That said, as you wander up Staithe Street there is no shortage of seaside shops to draw in young children as well as fishmongers where you can buy some local crab; I think it’s this mixture of shops and goings on which give it such charm.

If you don’t fancy cooking crab yourself, head along to Wells Crab House Cafe, where you can eat in and enjoy a crab sandwich with a cider. Wells Deli also does fantastic sandwiches and pizzas, which we often ate as a picnic in the nearby park – another gem, complete with a skate park for our six-year-old on a scooter.

There was something for all of us at Wells-next-the-sea; a place we enjoyed just hanging out as a family under those wonderful, big skies…