Norfolk Links vs Suffolk Heathland:
Which Should You Play First?

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Most first-time visitors to this region ask us the same question: Norfolk or Suffolk? The honest answer is that they're different games, played on different ground, and the right starting point depends entirely on what kind of golf you're chasing.

Norfolk: the links coast

Norfolk's north coast is true links golf — Royal West Norfolk at Brancaster, Hunstanton, Royal Cromer and Sheringham, all within thirty miles of one another. Firm, fast turf running directly to the sea, exposed to the wind off the North Sea on every hole, with the kind of elemental, ground-game golf that links purists travel the world for.

If you want the postcard version of English coastal golf — cliffs, dunes, salt marsh, a tidal causeway at Brancaster that quite literally dictates your tee time — start in Norfolk.

Suffolk: the heathland classics

Move south into Suffolk and the character changes completely. Aldeburgh and Thorpeness, two James Braid courses just two miles apart, sit on fast-draining sandy heathland — gorse, heather, pine, a more inland feel despite being minutes from the coast. Woodbridge adds another heathland test in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Felixstowe Ferry offers Suffolk's only true links, at the mouth of the River Deben.

Suffolk rewards a more strategic, positional game than Norfolk's wind-driven links golf. If you've played plenty of seaside links before and want something with a different rhythm, Suffolk is the answer.

So which first?

There's no wrong order, but here's our honest guidance: if this is your only visit to the region, lead with Norfolk. The links golf is the more immediately recognisable, more dramatic introduction, and Royal West Norfolk in particular is the kind of course that defines a trip.

If you're a returning visitor, or you already know UK links golf well from trips elsewhere, start in Suffolk — the heathland courses are the genuine discovery for most travelling golfers, and they reward a second visit far more than a first one.

For the complete experience, our Two Counties itinerary — seven nights, six rounds — moves north to south through both, Norfolk's links into Suffolk's heathland, which is how most of our guests end up experiencing the region regardless of where they started.