This is the fourth Naturetrek holiday we've taken in the UK but it was the best yet. There is a fabulous variety of habitats which gives a great range of birds and the tour leader was knowledgeable and very happy to share information. He made sure that nobody was left out and everyone saw whatever was around. The unique opportunity to see the dawn roost at Snettisham made up for the early morning start. The hotel was comfortable, room was spacious and food was excellent. This was a great value for money holiday and would highly recommend. Good communication before and after the tour and very quick to follow up on any questions. Very personal service with no long waits on hold (and if you do have to wait you get lovely birdsong instead of music).
K.D. London, Feb 23
Tour Itinerary and Reports
- Itinerary
- Tour report - March 2024
- Tour report - February 2024
- Tour report - November 2023
- Tour report - November 2023
- Tour report - March 2023
- Tour report - February 2023
- Tour report - November 2022
- Tour report - February 2022
- Tour report - January 2022
- Tour report - November 2019
- Tour report - November 2018
- Tour report - November 2017
- Tour report - November 2016
- Tour report - November 2015
- Tour report - November 2014
- Tour report - November 2013
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Norfolk in Winter
Tour Code: GBR04A winter birdwatching weekend exploring the wetlands of Norfolk, including a visit to the county's premier raptor spot.
£495 (land only)
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
- Itinerary
- Tour report - March 2024
- Tour report - February 2024
- Tour report - November 2023
- Tour report - November 2023
- Tour report - March 2023
- Tour report - November 2022
- Tour report - February 2023
- Tour report - January 2022
- Tour report - February 2022
- Tour report - November 2018
- Tour report - November 2019
- Tour report - November 2017
- Tour report - November 2016
- Tour report - November 2015
- Tour report - November 2014
- Tour report - November 2013
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Can I help you?
Quick Enquiry
Summary
Norfolk is widely acknowledged as England’s foremost ‘birding county’, and the winter months are a particularly exciting time to visit. At this season Norfolk’s extensive wetlands are teeming with large flocks of wintering geese, huge numbers of duck and hundreds of thousands of waders. On this short break we will explore the north Norfolk coast between Snettisham and Cley-next-the-Sea and go in search of the county's abundant and diverse birdlife. Norfolk also attracts some of the UK's more unusual winter visitors such as Rough-legged Buzzard, Snow Bunting, Shore Lark and Waxwing. We will also spend an evening at the region's premier raptor spot in search of Marsh and Hen Harriers, Merlin and both Short-eared and Barn Owls.
- A 3-day break to Norfolk, arguably the UK’s premier birding county!
- Pink-footed Geese, Brent Geese, Pintail & numerous other wintering wildfowl
- Scan for seaduck, divers & grebes
- Wintering raptors such as Hen & Marsh Harriers, Merlin & Short-eared Owl
- Look for rare wintering passerines including Shore Lark, Twite & Snow Bunting
- Chance of something unusual such as Waxwing or Rough-legged Buzzard
- Led by an expert Naturetrek naturalist
Grading
Easy day walks only.Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Accommodation:
We stay in a comfortable hotel in Hunstanton, Le Strange Arms. All rooms have private facilities.
Sea-view rooms are available for additional supplements.
- Food: Breakfast and evening meals included. Allow around ?10 per day for a pub lunch.
Reviews
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The guide met us at our cosy hotel on the Friday night where we all introduced ourselves and advised what we were hoping to see throughout the weekend. Toby listened and made suggestions before a delicious meal. The weekend continued with great food, an amazing number of birds and a superb guide. Nothing was too much trouble and Toby was keen that we all had a weekend that met or exceeded our expectations. Speaking with the others in our group, we all felt that the weekend had been amazing and that we had been truly lucky to have such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide.
T.A. Surrey -
A birdwatching long weekend in Norfolk. A couple of pre-dawn starts and some inclement weather, but some fantastic sightings. Excellent guide who worked hard to take us to the most promising locations, had a wealth of knowledge that he was very pleased to share and interacted well with the group. Good hotel with very good food. The weekend was well researched and well organised. Good value for money.
R.B. Tyne & Wear -
The birds seen were wonderful and Tom was an excellent guide with phenomenal knowledge. I learned a great deal over the weekend. Very nice accommodation and food.
J.F. London -
Simon was an excellent tour leader - patient, organised and very helpful. We really appreciated all the locations he knew about and took us to. Hotel was nice and very friendly. Very helpful Naturetrek staff in the office and on tour. We'll be choosing another Naturetrek holiday soon.
Mr & Mrs S. Surrey -
These short break holidays are excellent, particularly when, as in Norfolk, we had very pleasant sunlit conditions and good leadership. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
D.S. Worcestershire
Dates & Prices
2025
Tour Leader: John Williamson
Born in Norfolk, John has been birdwatching in the county for almost 40 years. He is currently the county liaison with the British Birds Rare Breeding Birds Panel, and has been involved in the production of the Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report for over 25 years. More recently John has worked in wildlife conservation for over 15 years filling various roles with RSPB, Natural England and Norfolk Wildlife Trust. John has also travelled quite extensively to over 20 countries, many of which were visited on birdwatching or wildlife trips. His experience gained working within Norfolk on breeding shorebird protection along the North Norfolk coast from Scot Head Island to Stiffkey Binks for Natural England (including several years working on the Holkham Estate NNR), on monitoring CAP agri-environment schemes and barn owl projects with RSPB, and operating wildlife watertrails on boats at Hickling Broad NNR and at Ranworth Broad nature reserves for Norfolk Wildlife Trust means he has acquired a broad knowledge of the fauna and flora of the county. John also has his own environmental consultancy and has been working on a long-term bird monitoring scheme (15 years to date) in operation on a lowland organic mixed farm in North-west Norfolk. His interests extend to all forms of natural history but John also has an extensive understanding of the past history of Norfolk and is particularly well-versed in the areas of Broadland, North and North-west Norfolk.
Tour Leader: Brian Small
Brian was a teacher for 12 years and lives in Suffolk with his wife. He has guided tours since 2000, leading over 100 tours to 30 countries, including Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Georgia and New Mexico. He has a special affinity with the birds and butterflies of Switzerland (walking on the glaciers with his dad from the age of 7) and Cape May on the New Jersey coast.
He is also a talented bird artist - examples of his work can be seen in the acclaimed Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), and the Helm Field Guide Birds of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean - and his current projects include work on two major new guides: the Birds of Southern Brazil and the Birds of Greater Southern Africa.
In his spare time at home, he concentrates on working his local patch at Southwold, Walberswick and the Blyth estuary on the Suffolk coast, searching especially for migrants and gulls.
2026
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Among our programme is a significant range of short breaks, designed specially for those wishing to enjoy some of Europe’s top natural history highlights at the best time of year. All of these holidays have the bonus of being short-haul and supported by like-minded wildlife enthusiasts.
Naturetrek Short Break Wildlife Tours
Short breaks are becoming increasingly popular and in response to the high demand for this type of holiday we are continuing to increase our programme both within the UK and abroad. Most of our short breaks are within Europe, for convenience of travel.
For some of our mini-breaks there is an option to travel by plane or train, and we offer a choice of duration and type of break, from a weekend’s birdwatching in the Somerset Levels to a 6-day whale watching tour in the Azores.
A selection of our UK short breaks:
- A winter bird watching break in Norfolk
- An autumn holiday to enjoy the Red Deer rut in Ardnamurchan, Scotland
- A wildlife weekend in the New Forest
A selection of our overseas short breaks:
- In Spain we look for the world’s rarest cat, the Iberian Lynx
- Wolves on the plains in rural northern Spain
- An exploration of La Brenne’s exceptionally rich butterfly-life in northern France
Our specialist recommends...
"We offer two superb short breaks to the lovely island of Madeira in search of whales, dolphins and seabirds. It’s hard to beat our Just Brown Bears trip for families, while if you fancy something off the beaten track, try Estonia in Early Spring for some excellent spring birdwatching."
Paul Stanbury - Operations Manager
Birding Tours Led by Expert Naturalists
The majority of our wildlife tours focus primarily on birds, allowing us to offer a huge choice of bird holidays. On most of our birdwatching tours we aim to see a wide variety of species, while taking time to enjoy other wildlife as well as cultural highlights and architecture.
Naturetrek Birdwatching Tours
We have one of the largest selections of professionally organised, small group birdwatching holidays around the world and all of our birdwatching tours are accompanied by at least one professional ornithologist leader with detailed knowledge of the area.
The majority of our bird tours have a relaxed, flexible approach which allows more time for photography, detailed wildlife exploration, leisure time and the region’s people, culture, history and architecture, while allowing the group to see a wide range of bird species.
Here is a small selection of our many bird holidays:
- Southern Morocco – an exploration of the birdlife in Morocco’s southern deserts, oases and mountains
- The Camargue in Spring – a short break to enjoy the spring birds of the Rhône Delta and Camargue wetland
- Wallcreepers & Cranes in Northern Spain – a 2-centre holiday focusing on Lammergeier, Wallcreepers, raptors, Cranes, bustards, sandgrouse and more!
- Madeira & Desertas Islands – A Seabird Extravaganza! – a short break focusing on special breeding seabirds, including a night on the remote Destertas Islands
- Peru – Macaws & Machu Picchu – searches for boobies, macaws and Inca Terns
- Spain & Morocco: Birding on Two Continents! – watch the spectacular spring bird migration from both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar
Our Bargain Birdwatching Selection
Our Bargain Bird Tours are intensive birdwatching holidays suitable for the serious birder. They are led by expert English-speaking local guides (and not accompanied from the UK by a tour leader). You can expect a higher-paced tour and to spend long hours in the field.
Our specialist recommends...
Byron Palacios - Tour Leader
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Flight-free Wildlife Holidays
At Naturetrek we make full use of the Eurostar rail service through the channel tunnel, and of the ferry routes between England’s south coast and France and Spain, to offer a range of ‘flightless’ wildlife holidays in Belgium, Holland, France and Spain. In addition, we also offer the widest selection of wildlife holidays within the UK, none of which require a flight to participate in. Therefore, if you prefer not to fly, for whatever reason, we have a range of varied and exciting wildlife holidays for you to choose from, and we are committed to regularly adding more.
It is also the case that many of our other holidays within Europe are also accessible by rail. Generally, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we’d be pleased to offer advice to anybody who wishes to join any of our tours within Europe by a means other than flying!
Our specialist recommends...
Kerrie Porteous - Operations Manager
Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
EnquireTour Reports
- Tour report - March 2024
- Tour report - February 2024
- Tour report - November 2023
- Tour report - November 2023
- Tour report - March 2023
- Tour report - February 2023
- Tour report - November 2022
- Tour report - February 2022
- Tour report - January 2022
- Tour report - November 2019
- Tour report - November 2018
- Tour report - November 2017
- Tour report - November 2016
- Tour report - November 2015
- Tour report - November 2014
- Tour report - November 2013
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Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
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