Cornwall? Forget it. ‘God’s own country’ – Yorkshire? Try again. The Highlands? Doesn’t cut the mustard.
No, the best region right now in the UK is, according to Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2025 book – East Anglia. What’s more, it’s the eighth-best region globally.
Why? Because it’s ‘enigmatic’ and offers a ‘true taste of England’.
But what does that mean in reality? Somewhere mysterious with bland pub food?
I’m on a mission to find out with my partner and seven-year-old daughter and a little help from BMW, which has lent me a rather electrifying car for the weekend to go hidden-gem hunting in one of East Anglia’s most famously enticing counties – Norfolk.
As someone who grew up reading Arthur Ransome’s The Big Six, about a group of sailboating children sleuths who roam the riverways of the Norfolk Broads, I always imagined that wind power would be the ultimate way to discover the area.
But I can vouch for the brand-new Mini Cooper C also being a riveting mode of transport to uncover the delights of Britain’s premier district.
To begin with, the fetching car has a superbly lucid circular OLED display, which sits in the centre of the cabin, and a nifty heads-up screen, which folds out from the top of the dashboard at the touch of a button.
Ted Thornhill discovers Norfolk in East Anglia – the region Lonely Planet says is the best in Britain for 2025 – in a new Mini Cooper C. Ted is pictured above with the car at his digs for the adventure – Cley Windmill in the ‘chocolate-box’ village of Cley-next-the-Sea
LEFT: Ted behind the wheel of the new Mini Cooper in Norfolk. RIGHT: The car has multiple experience modes, with ‘go-kart’ (pictured) proving to be ‘the most fun’
They clearly set forth sat nav intel that makes finding Norfolk’s nooks and crannies a cinch.
The first location I punch in to the navigation system as we idle outside our South London abode, ahead of our Mini adventure, is one that I hope will demonstrate just why East Anglia is being so firmly lauded – a seaside windmill hotel on the Norfolk Coast National Landscape area of outstanding natural beauty.
We endure tiresome queues on the northbound M11 – but it seems not just good things, but magical things come to those who wait.
A true taste of England? A stay at Cley Windmill in the chocolate-box village of Cley-next-the-Sea is like being in a living Constable painting.
The former flour mill, built іn the early 19th century, stands five storeys high on the edge of the village, next to the River Glaven and positioned sentry-like over a mini wilderness, a fascinating marshy interface between the land and North Sea that’s laced with ponds and home to dozens of bird species, including marsh harriers, barn owls, curlew, pied avocet and pink-footed geese.
The windmill has 10 rooms, including one mid-way up the tower, the ‘Stone Room’, that singer James Blunt used to stay in when his family owned the property. Above this is the Wheel Room, which guests must sign a waiver to stay in because access is via a very steep ladder.
We’re staying in the River Room on the ground floor, which has direct access to a lawn and a walkway that cuts into a forest of reeds.
Aside from a temperamental ensuite shower that dribbles water, it’s lovely accommodation. And the windmill as a whole, with its charming staff, rustic beamed interiors and excellent breakfasts, makes for a wonderful base for exploring the surrounds.
Ted comments that his stay at Cley Windmill (above) is ‘like being in a living Constable painting’
Above is the ground-floor River Room, which Ted and his clan stay in
This is the Wheel Room at the top of the windmill tower – guests must sign a waiver to stay here because access is via a steep ladder
By foot from our HQ we make our way to the North Sea, where we spot a seal patrolling the shoreline, and local pub the Three Swallows, where we enjoy fish and chips and eavesdrop on locals discussing astronomy, a topic that’s dear to the hearts of the local parish council, which has banned street lighting for the benefit of the local wildlife and star-gazers.
Norfolk, it turns out, is the eighth darkest county in England and there is an area nearby with official ‘dark sky’ status – the Wiveton Downs Dark Sky Discovery Site.
The lack of light certainly helps to create an enigmatic atmosphere Lonely Planet alludes to.
Attractions further afield are best reached, I discover, by driving the Mini in ‘go-kart’ mode, one of eight ‘experiences’ available at the flick of a toggle switch.
Each one has its own signature lighting and soundscape (see boxout for more), but ‘go-kart’ mode is the most fun, with a ‘woo-hoo!’ sounding upon activation and an analogue sports-car tachometer and speedometer mimicked on the OLED display.
What’s more, gear changes on the automatic gearbox (there’s no manual option for the Mini Cooper C at the moment) come at higher rev points and the steering stiffens.
One port of call in the car is quaint Wells-next-the-Sea, around 15 minutes away.
From the harbourside car park there we walk for a kilometre out to stunning Holkham Beach, lined with executive-looking beach huts and boasting a vast stretch of sand, before enjoying a smashing seafood platter at Wells Crab House.
At ‘quaint’ Wells-next-the-Sea (above), Ted and his family enjoy a ‘smashing’ seafood platter at Wells Crab House
‘Stunning’ Holkham Beach and its ‘executive-looking’ beach huts
Also on the timetable is the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, on the edge of town.
Running four miles along the course of the old Great Eastern line from Wells-next-the-Sea to Walsingham, it’s billed as the longest 10.25-inch narrow-gauge steam railway in the world.
What a treat this is.
We have the option of returning straightaway, but instead catch a later train back and explore Walsingham for a couple of hours – a picturesque little spot and most definitely mysterious.
The village is renowned for beautifully preserved timber-framed buildings and for being one of the most important places of pilgrimage in medieval England, for it was here in 1061 that the lady of the manor, Richeldis de Faverches, is said to have had a series of visions from the Virgin Mary, who showed her the Nazareth house where the angel Gabriel foretold of the birth of Jesus. Mary asked Richeldis to construct a replica of the holy house in Walsingham.
The Wells and Walsingham Light Railway proves to be a ‘treat’
The Wells and Walsingham Light Railway runs for four miles from Wells-next-the-Sea to the medieval village of Walsingham (above)
Notable pilgrims to Walsingham in the years that followed include Henry III and Henry VIII, who came twice.
There is a pretty abbey with landscaped gardens to visit, with the excellent farm shop and Black Lion Hotel also pilgrimage-worthy, the latter a far brighter refuelling option than the Bull Inn, where my fears for the ‘taste of England’ being bland pub food become reality.
Our lacklustre ploughman’s, jacket spud and cheese sandwich here are but a tiny blemish on an otherwise brilliant weekend that leads me to agree with Lonely Planet’s summation of East Anglia as a very special region indeed.
Woo-hoo!
TRAVEL FACTS
Ted was loaned a Mini Cooper C by BMW, which also covered his stay at Cley Windmill. All extra activities and meals were paid for by Ted.
The Mini Cooper features multiple ‘experience modes’, accessed via the flick of a toggle bar, or through the OLED display ‘at the heart of the interior’. ‘Core’, ‘go-kart’, ‘green’, ‘vivid’, ‘timeless’, ‘balance’, ‘personal’ and ‘trail’ all have their own signature lighting, soundscape and design. Plus, ‘some of them can even enhance that Mini feeling’, says manufacturer BMW – ‘from Go-Kart Mode’s sportier handling to the extraordinary interior environments of Vivid Mode’.
For more information on the new Mini and its experience modes visit www.mini.co.uk/en_GB/home/experience-modes-hub.
For more on Cley Windmill – www.instagram.com/cleywindmill and cleywindmill.co.uk.
