Villas in East of England

Burnham Market and Cromer suit the North Norfolk coast, Surlingham suits the Broads, and Bury St Edmunds suits a Suffolk town break. Bury has more of our cottages than anywhere else in the region. The land is flat and the skies are big, so come for beaches, birds and boats rather than hills. Allow around three hours by car from London to the Norfolk coast.

Where

Villas: 42
From, per week: £561
Cheapest month: November
Nearest airports: By road from London, allow around an hour and a half to Cambridge or Bury St Edmunds and around three hours to the North Norfolk coast, via the M11 and A11. Greater Anglia trains from London Liverpool Street reach Norwich in about two hours, and Cambridge has fast trains from King's Cross and Liverpool Street. Norwich and Stansted are the nearest airports.

Where to stay in East of England

Bury St Edmunds, Thetford and Eye (west and mid Suffolk)

Bury St Edmunds has more of our cottages than anywhere else in this region. The ruined abbey stands in public gardens beside St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and the Greene King brewery is in the town centre. Ickworth, a National Trust house built around a rotunda, is just south. Thetford Forest, around 20 minutes north, has cycle trails and treetop rope courses at High Lodge. Eye is a small town near Diss, which has direct trains to London Liverpool Street.

Best for: A market town base with abbey ruins, forest trails and easy roads

Not for you if: You want the sea on the doorstep: the Suffolk coast is about an hour east of Bury.

The North Norfolk coast (Burnham Market, Walsingham, Cromer)

Holkham beach, a wide stretch of sand backed by pinewoods, is about ten minutes from Burnham Market, a village of shops and delis around a long green. Little Walsingham has drawn pilgrims since the Middle Ages, and a narrow-gauge railway runs from there to Wells-next-the-Sea. Boats from Morston go out to the seals at Blakeney Point. Cromer, further east, has a pier with a summer show and is known for its crabs.

Best for: Long sandy beaches, seal trips and coast path walking

Not for you if: You want somewhere cheap and empty in August: Burnham Market and Wells are among the busiest and dearest places in Norfolk.

The Broads and Great Yarmouth (Surlingham)

Surlingham is a village on the River Yare, about 15 minutes from Norwich, with marshes and a small RSPB reserve on its doorstep. Day boats can be hired at Wroxham and other Broads villages. Norwich has a Norman castle, a cathedral and a large open-air market. Great Yarmouth is a traditional resort with a long sandy beach and the Pleasure Beach, and in winter grey seals pup on the beach at Horsey, about 30 minutes north.

Best for: Boating, birdwatching and a seaside resort within reach

Not for you if: You want a quiet beach: Great Yarmouth's seafront is arcades and amusements in summer.

Mid and west Norfolk (Dereham, Downham Market)

Dereham is a market town in the middle of Norfolk, and the Mid-Norfolk Railway runs heritage trains from there towards Wymondham. Norwich is about 30 minutes east. Downham Market sits on the edge of the Fens, with direct trains to Cambridge and London King's Cross. Sandringham, the royal estate, is about half an hour north, and the wetland reserve at Welney is known for its wild swans in winter.

Best for: Quiet countryside, good value and direct trains from Downham Market

Not for you if: You want to walk to the coast: both towns are inland, around 45 minutes or more from the sea.

Cambridge and Saffron Walden

Cambridge is best seen on foot or from a punt along the Backs, behind King's and Trinity colleges. The Fitzwilliam Museum is free. The Imperial War Museum at Duxford, with its hangars of aircraft, is about 15 minutes south. Saffron Walden is a market town of timber-framed houses, with Audley End House, run by English Heritage, and a miniature railway on its edge. Fast trains from London reach Cambridge in under an hour.

Best for: Colleges, museums and an easy run from London

Not for you if: You want countryside quiet: Cambridge is a busy city and its centre is hard to drive in.

The Suffolk coast (Leiston)

Leiston is a small town a couple of miles inland from Sizewell and Thorpeness, where you can hire rowing boats on the Meare. Aldeburgh, about ten minutes south, has a shingle beach, fishermen's huts selling the day's catch and Maggi Hambling's Scallop sculpture. RSPB Minsmere, one of the country's best-known bird reserves, is just to the north. The nearest station is Saxmundham, on the line from Ipswich.

Best for: Birdwatching, shingle beaches and Aldeburgh's fish and chips

Not for you if: You want a wide choice of cottages: we have very few on this stretch of coast.

When to go to East of England

July and August are the busiest months on the North Norfolk coast and the Broads, and the narrow coast road through Burnham and Wells gets slow. May, June and September have quieter beaches and long days for walking. Autumn and winter suit birdwatchers: pink-footed geese arrive from Iceland in huge numbers, and grey seals pup at Horsey and Blakeney Point from November. The east is one of the drier parts of England, but the wind off the North Sea can be cold in any season.