🦭 Hike to Atlantic Grey Seals – Britain's Wildlife Safari

I’m leading this hike for London Social Hiking and sharing it here so my KoZa Trails crew know when I’m out on the trails in the UK. 😊

👉 Please note: all sign-ups and payments need to be done through London Social Hiking’s Meetup page here: https://www.meetup.com/londonsocialhiking/events/312586739/?eventOrigin=group_events_list

RSVPs on KoZa Trails are just to show interest and don’t secure a spot.
Shout if you’ve got any questions — it would be lovely to see some familiar faces! 🌿🥾
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We’re off to Norfolk! The seals in Norfolk are truly one of Britain's most special sights. Without any doubt, they're an incredible WOW factor and one that you must see!

On this day hike, we'll walk along the top of the sand dunes and enjoy stunning panoramic views across the North Sea. On our way, we'll pass the much-loved grey seal colony at Horsey Beach, which draws thousands of visitors each year, particularly between November and March, when the seals come ashore to breed. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of seals and their pups stretching for as far as the eye can see!

The whole walk is in the Broads National Park – one of fifteen national parks in the UK. You'll discover its iconic windmills, navigable waterways and broads (man-made, shallow lakes). With over 125 miles of lock-free waterways, the Norfolk Broads have more miles of waterway than Venice or Amsterdam, and are an extremely popular boating holiday destination! Locals like to call the Broads “the Venice of the East”.
💪 This walk is suitable for all abilities – it is almost entirely flat and done at a very gentle pace to allow us enjoy the nature and take plenty of pictures.

HIKE HIGHLIGHTS
Watch seals and their young from a close distance at Horsey Gap, home to one of the biggest colonies of grey seals in Britain.
Take a gentle stroll over the vast open expanse of the golden sand dunes of Winterton Beach – a Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The area is a veritable haven for birds and all kinds of wildlife and is widely regarded as having the best sand dunes in Norfolk.
See the spectacular Horsey Windpump – the youngest and largest windpump in the Norfolk Broads. It was built in 1912 to pump water out from the surrounding land so that it could be used for farming.
Discover Horsey Mere, often regarded as one of the most beautiful of the northern broads and famous for its internationally important wildlife.
Walk the newly opened stretch of the England Coast Path – a new National Trail around all of England's coast, which once completed will be the longest coastal walking route in the world (4,500 kilometres in length!).

DISTANCE & DIFFICULTY
Distance: 6 miles (10km).
Ascent: 50m.
Difficulty: Easy.

ITINERARY
07:45 Meet outside ibis London City – Shoreditch Hotel, 5 Commercial St, E1 6BF (near Aldgate East Station)
08:00 Sharp departure
11:15 Horsey Windpump to Hemsby hike via Winterton-on-Sea for a lunch stop
16:30 Departure
19:30 London, next to Bow Road Underground Station

TRANSPORT
As on most of our trips, we'll travel in a comfortable 16-seater minibus.

Explore Britain’s most stunning trails in a small group of up to 15, travelling together by private minibus to beautiful, remote locations not easily reached by public transport.