Trail transport
Our line starts on the low cliff near Corton, on the Suffolk side of the Hopton boundary, roughly 4 km north of Lowestoft and 8.5 km south of Great Yarmouth. There is no station at the start itself.
Our line starts on the low cliff near Corton, on the Suffolk side of the Hopton boundary, roughly 4 km north of Lowestoft and 8.5 km south of Great Yarmouth. There is no station at the start itself. Rail to Great Yarmouth (GYM) from Norwich (NRW), or to Lowestoft (LWT), then the First Eastern Counties Coastal Clipper 1/1A, which runs the coast road Martham to Hemsby to Caister to Great Yarmouth to Gorleston to Hopton to Lowestoft, up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and up to hourly on Sundays and public holidays. A taxi from either town is a short run and Compass Taxis names both Corton and Hopton in its area. Flying in, Norwich Airport (NWI) is much the nearest, with the Konect 35 bus calling at Norwich rail station seven days a week and an authorised taxi firm with a desk in the terminal. The National Trail's own advice names Norwich International and London Stansted as the arrival airports and says Greater Anglia trains from London Liverpool Street and King's Cross reach Norwich or King's Lynn hourly. Worth knowing before you book anything: most people walk this coast the other way, west to east from Hunstanton, which is the National Trail's own direction and the direction the bag carrier prices.
Our line ends on the marsh bank near Clenchwarton, west of the Great Ouse, where there is nothing at all. King's Lynn at chainage 164 is the practical finish: KLN is step-free, has a ticket office seven days a week and puts you on the Fen line to Cambridge and London King's Cross. Getting from the west bank back into King's Lynn is the last real decision of the walk. Lynx service 54 runs King's Lynn to The Walpoles via South Lynn, Clenchwarton and Tilney All Saints and calls at Clenchwarton and at Clenchwarton Road in West Lynn, but the operator's page shows only a handful of journeys and does not state which days it runs. The West Lynn foot ferry crosses to the town quay in a couple of minutes and is the obvious answer, but it is a single small boat: it was out of service from January 2025 until 11 August 2025 for landing repairs. Do not build the last afternoon around it without checking that week. The fallback is the road walk round via the Free Bridge, which is a long, dull hour or more on the wrong side of an A road.
The two ends sit on different railways that only meet a long way inland, so there is no quick coast-to-coast return: King's Lynn is on the Fen line towards Cambridge, Great Yarmouth on the Wherry line out of Norwich. That makes leaving a car at one end and returning to it by public transport the slowest part of the whole trip, and it is the main reason people use the buses rather than drive. The bus answer is better than the rail one but only for part of the coast. Lynx Coastliner 36 covers King's Lynn to Hunstanton to Wells, Sanders Coasthopper CH1 covers Wells to Cromer, and Coasthopper CH2 continues Cromer to Mundesley, giving one continuous bus corridor shadowing the path from Hunstanton to Mundesley. East of Mundesley that corridor stops. Between Mundesley and Great Yarmouth the buses run inland through North Walsham, Stalham and Martham rather than along the coast, so the eastern third is the awkward third for anyone shuttling to a car. Three car-parking arrangements make leaving a vehicle genuinely workable, one per council: North Norfolk District Council for Cromer, Sheringham and Wells, the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk for Hunstanton and King's Lynn, and Great Yarmouth Borough Council for the start. All three need arranging before you set off, and two of them post the ticket to you.
West of Mundesley this is one of the easier long trails in England to get off. The Coastliner 36 and Coasthopper chain calls at almost every village on the path, including Holme next the Sea, Thornham, Titchwell, Brancaster, Burnham Deepdale, Burnham Overy Staithe, Holkham, Stiffkey, Morston, Blakeney, Cley, Salthouse, Kelling, Weybourne and the Runtons, so a bad day rarely means more than an hour's wait. From the middle of the walk the Bittern Line is a direct escape to Norwich, with stations at Sheringham, West Runton, Cromer and Roughton Road all within a few hundred metres of the path. The weak stretch is Mundesley to Great Yarmouth, about 35 km of it, where the coast has no through bus: Sanders 34/34A links Mundesley, Bacton, Walcott, Happisburgh and Sea Palling but runs inland to North Walsham and Stalham, and Sanders 6/6A/X6 connects that hinterland to Great Yarmouth. Plan that section knowing an exit means going inland first, and carry a taxi number. There is one exception west of Mundesley and it is the serious one. From about chainage 146, south of Snettisham, to about chainage 160 at North Lynn, the path runs the sea bank with no public road or footpath joining it, and the Coastliner 36 is on the A149 well inland. A walker who reports trying to cut inland at Wolferton found Private signs on Steer Road. That is roughly 14 km on which a turned ankle is a real problem, so start it early and with water, and do not count the bus as cover once you are on the bank.
The regional gateway. Hourly Greater Anglia services from London Liverpool Street reach Norwich in a little under two hours, then the Wherry line runs out to Great Yarmouth for the start and the Bittern line north to Cromer and Sheringham for the middle of the walk. Step-free to all platforms, 70 parking spaces of which 5 are accessible. No left luggage listed.
Year-round.The nearest station to the start end, about 8.5 km up the line from chainage 0. Walk out through Gorleston or take First Coastal Clipper 1/1A south along the coast road to Hopton and Corton. Taxi rank at the station. Step-free to all platforms. Only 28 parking spaces and none accessible, so this is not the car park to leave a vehicle in.
Trains year-round; Coastal Clipper 1/1A up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and up to hourly on Sundays and public holidays.The southern alternative and only about 4 km from the start point near Corton. Coastal Clipper 1/1A runs north from the bus station through Corton and Hopton towards Gorleston and Great Yarmouth. Step-free to all platforms, taxi rank, 97 parking spaces with 7 accessible.
Year-round.On the trail itself at roughly chainage 63.5, so no onward transfer is needed. Direct Bittern line trains to Norwich make this the best mid-walk escape or start point for a shorter trip. Step-free to all platforms. Only 9 parking spaces.
Year-round.On the trail at roughly chainage 69.9, end of the Bittern line from Norwich, and the interchange with Sanders Coasthopper CH1 west towards Wells. Step-free to all platforms. Only 5 parking spaces, none accessible, so arrive by train or bus rather than by car.
Year-round.On the trail at roughly chainage 164 and the practical end of the walk. Mainline south to Cambridge and London King's Cross, and the Lynx Coastliner 36 north to Hunstanton, which is the only public transport link to the trail's western coast because Hunstanton has no railway. Step-free to all platforms, ticket office seven days a week, accessible and Changing Places toilets, 134 spaces of which 9 accessible.
Year-round.By far the nearest airport, named by the National Trail alongside London Stansted. The Canary Konect 35 bus stops at Norwich city centre and the rail station on the way in and runs up to hourly seven days a week; the Airport Park and Ride PR1 runs up to every 14 minutes into the city centre seven days a week including bank holidays. A2B Taxis are the authorised operator with a booking office in the terminal, and the airport puts the rail station at about 20 minutes by taxi.
Bus links seven days a week year-round; the flight schedule itself is seasonal, with more summer charter routes.