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Overview

The North Norfolk coast is knotted together with flinty villages anchored by top-notch inns, and here is one of the very best: the Nye family's crisp seaside hostelry in the shellfishing haunt of Brancaster Staithe.

Escape to this fabulous spot for some seaside rest and recuperation along this gorgeous coastline. The White Horse is a superb coastal bolthole from which to explore the wild saltmarshes and endless sandy beaches that surround it. It is a classy place decked in nude pine, seaside stripes and boaty nicknacks, all sprinkled with the tang of salty sea air - a wilderness of saltmarshes stretches from the back door to the distant Scolt Head Island.

Whilst the front bar has a relaxed and rustic feel with a wood-burner and bar billiards, the sunset-soaked conservatory restaurant serves a sophisticated menu with impeccably sourced fish and game, and plenty of locally caught mussels and oysters. Catch the sunset from the sun deck behind the inn or down beside the marsh with a lobster supper cooked over coals in the garden kitchen, or relax on the landscaped terrace with potted marsh grass, fleece blankets and heaters for colder nights.

Rooms from

15 doubles: £120 (winter); £160 (summer)


Good to know

  • All major credit cards accepted
  • Disabled access
  • Alfresco dining
  • Parking available
  • Electric car charging
  • Dog stay: £10

Dog-friendly
Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the bar, and in annexe bedrooms for a £10 surcharge.

Water and waves
Stunning sea views and beach rambles make The White Horse the perfect seaside spot.

Outdoor adventures
Order a picnic, borrow binoculars and a birding guide from reception, and set off to explore the wonderful North Norfolk Coast Path.

Dine beside the saltmarsh

Summer marshside bar and garden kitchen serving food all day, from breakfast to seafood lunches and suppers.

Rooms

A curvilinear room annexe between the inn and the sea is knapped in brick and flint, topped with grass and sedum, and softened by flower-filled terraces, all blending beautifully with the multicoloured marshes behind.

There are eight spacious, sea-breezy modern rooms here, all stylishly spruced up in early 2021. One has disabled access and all have a handy guide to this month's tide tables, so that you don't get swept to sea while rambling down to Brancaster Beach, alongside nespresso machines and all the mod cons.

You'll find seven more rooms above the inn, some with inland views and others with panoramic balcony vistas. Spruced up bathrooms are roomy and luxurious with feature natural soaps and lotions from Bramley. The 'Room at the Top' comes highly recommended, a split-level space high in the eaves with French windows and a telescope for gazing out to sea.

Restaurant & bar

Depending on the season, local cockles, crab, lobster, oysters, mullet, mackerel and sea trout might all surface on head chef Fran Hartshorne's imaginative, seasonally changing menus.

If you're lucky and the tide is right, you may even spy Brancaster Staithe oyster and mussel-men, Ben and Cyril Southerland, hauling home their catch at the foot of the garden. The meat and game is mostly Norfolk-grown too, but dishes are enlivened by many an exotic twist: tempura soft shell crab, crab bhaji and Asian slaw; stone bass, saffron potatoes, sea beets, brown shrimps, lemon butter sauce; rose harissa and feta arancini, Romesco sauce and charred courgettes.

Good all-day bar menu; summer BBQ on the front terrace; and a cracking Marshside menu featuring delicious seafood cooked in the garden kitchen - potted smoked mackerel; dressed Cromer crab; crayfish and king prawn Caesar salad; and seafood platters to share. The bar offers tip-top local ales along with a well-rounded wine list, with 13 by the glass and half-bottles available too.

Things to do

Norfolk offers enormous scope for all kinds of walking. One of the most popular haunts of walkers is the region's remote Holkham Beach, just twenty minutes drive from the inn. Immortalised in the film Shakespeare in Love, it's just the place to enjoy wild beauty and stunning wide skies. If you enjoy longer routes, try the 93-mile Peddars Way and North Norfolk Coast Path. Following ancient tracks and Roman roads and consisting of two paths joined together to form one route, the Peddars Way and North Norfolk Coast Path offers a great blend of pastoral Norfolk hinterland and magnificent coastal scenery.

One of Norfolk's real showstoppers and the UK's finest Palladian stately homes and estates, don't miss the majestic Holkham Hall. Explore the house and gardens or get stuck into an amazing array of activities that the hall offers.

Getting here

Location

Nearest train station: King's Lynn
Taxi from station: 44min
Drive: Wells-next-the-Sea 17min; Hunstanton 18min; Holt 40min

Address

Main Road, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk PE31 8BY

Enquire to book

To make a booking enquiry, please use the form below or you can call our reservations team on 020 8161 0100. Our phone lines are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 11am - 3pm.

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