Holt’s biggest
Holt Country Park
Park or garden
40 ha (98 acres)5.6 km of path
1 h 15 minto walk all 5.6 km of path
55 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Holt · parks, paths & countryside
Holt has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Holt add up to 8.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Norfolk Coast National Landscape reaches the edge of Holt. Footpaths add up to 29 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 2.4 for every square kilometre. Holt grades A for the outdoors: #3 of 51 in Norfolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
8.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
84%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
29 km
2.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
40%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Norfolk Coast National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Holt?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam8.5 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 94% of UK towns.Protected countryside40% of the land within 5 km is Norfolk Coast National Landscape.
Holt’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by protected countryside on the doorstep.
Outdoors grade
Holt grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Holt, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 86% of UK towns#3 of 51 in Norfolk · 8th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space8.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
95out of
100
100
A park within a walk84%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
55out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape40%of the land within 5 km
88out of
100
100
Footpaths2.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
44out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland: 2.3% sea, under the 5% that counts
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Holt is 8th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,800 to 4,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Holt2.4
Towns its size2.5
Norfolk towns1.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Holt8.5
Towns its size1.8
Norfolk towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Holt84%
Towns its size83%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Holt stands out most for park space per resident: only 2 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hextable Kent | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 5.1 | 9% |
| 2 | Darley Dale Derbyshire | A+ | 3.8 | 100% | 3.4 | 51% |
| 3 | Pitstone Buckinghamshire | A | 1.6 | 100% | 4.2 | 40% |
| 4 | Cranbrook Kent | A | 5.8 | 82% | 2.9 | 65% |
| 5 | Tenby Dyfed | A | 2.1 | 88% | 2.5 | 21% |
| 6 | Chickerell Dorset | A | 1.5 | 88% | 3 | 27% |
| 7 | Bisley Surrey | A | 8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 8 | Holt Norfolk | A | 8.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 40% |
| 9 | Old Sarum Wiltshire | A | 4.6 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 10 | Bowerhill Wiltshire | A− | 7.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 11 | Prestbury Gloucestershire | A− | 1.6 | 80% | 5.3 | 51% |
| 12 | Welwyn Hertfordshire | A− | 2.6 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 13 | Carbis Bay Cornwall | B+ | 0.5 | 88% | 2.8 | 20% |
| 14 | Cheddleton Staffordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 88% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 15 | Chirk Clwyd | B+ | 1.8 | 100% | 2.3 | 15% |
| 16 | Queenborough Kent | B | 1.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 17 | Tangmere West Sussex | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 18 | Stoke Poges Buckinghamshire | B | 7.7 | 76% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 19 | Pirbright Surrey | B | 2 | 84% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Grange-over-Sands Cumbria | B | 1.5 | 46% | 2.6 | 40% |
| 21 | Calverley West Yorkshire | B | 1.5 | 92% | 6 | 0% |
| 22 | Saltford Somerset | B | 1.6 | 75% | 3.6 | 24% |
| 23 | Little Paxton Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.8 | 87% | 3 | 0% |
| 24 | Tumble Dyfed | B− | 19.5 | 93% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 25 | Stoney Stanton Leicestershire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 26 | Martock Somerset | B− | 2.9 | 85% | 3 | 0% |
| 27 | South Cerney Gloucestershire | B− | 2.5 | 77% | 2.4 | 7% |
| 28 | Lower Stondon Bedfordshire | B− | 2.7 | 73% | 2.2 | 5% |
| 29 | Ystradgynlais Powys | C+ | 2.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 30 | Send Surrey | C+ | 2.6 | 28% | 3.3 | 5% |
| 31 | Chipping Ongar Essex | C+ | 2.5 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 32 | Bar Hill Cambridgeshire | C+ | 1.4 | 93% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Heacham Norfolk | C+ | 1.5 | 53% | 1.1 | 29% |
| 34 | Shirland and Stonebroom Derbyshire | C | 3.7 | 43% | 3 | 0% |
| 35 | Kirkburton West Yorkshire | C | 1.4 | 86% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 36 | South Darenth and Sutton at Hone Kent | C | 1.8 | 43% | 2.7 | 10% |
| 37 | Silver End Essex | C | 2 | 88% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Brayton North Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Langley Park County Durham | C | 0.8 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 40 | Tenbury Wells Worcestershire | C | 2.3 | 51% | 2.1 | 3% |
| 41 | Deanshanger Northamptonshire | C | 1.5 | 93% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 42 | Oaklands Hertfordshire | C | 2 | 7% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Wynyard County Durham | C | 10.7 | 64% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Beck Row Suffolk | C | 5.3 | 76% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Great Glen Leicestershire | C | 1.4 | 91% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 46 | Whiston South Yorkshire | C− | 1 | 75% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Lydd Kent | C− | 1.7 | 66% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Brookmans Park Hertfordshire | C− | 2.5 | 43% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Kingston Bagpuize Oxfordshire | C− | 0.8 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 50 | Swanland East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 75% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 51 | Glyn-neath West Glamorgan | D | 1.3 | 57% | 1.1 | 22% |
| 52 | Crowle Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 91% | 1 | 0% |
| 53 | Doddinghurst Essex | D | 1.6 | 60% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 54 | Middleton Cheney Northamptonshire | D | 0.9 | 70% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Sutton Bridge Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 79% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | North Ferriby East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 33% | 1 | 0% |
| 57 | Gnosall Staffordshire | D | 1.2 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Cricklade Wiltshire | D | 0.3 | 9% | 3 | 0% |
| 59 | Willingham Cambridgeshire | D | 1.4 | 73% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Little Eriswell Suffolk | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Holt’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Holt
The biggest is Holt Country Park, 40 ha (98 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
King George's Field
Playing field
0.4 ha (1 acres)
Centralin the middle of Holt
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
8 in 10 Holt residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (84%)Further (16%)
Holt84%
Towns its size83%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 803 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Holt
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Norfolk Coast
At the edge north-west446 km²since 196840% of the land within 5 km
Official site40% of the land within 5 km of Holt is National Park or National Landscape, more than 88% of UK towns. The Broads National Park covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Holt
29 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Holt and the kilometre around it, 2.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Local
Holt to Mannington Walk7.4 km
Close to home, the Holt to Mannington Walk has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Holt: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 62 | 50 | 50 | 46 | 47 | 61 | 58 | 70 | 64 | 81 | 77 | 66 |
April is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 81 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Holt →
Things to do
5 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Holt is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Holkham Naturist Beach13 mi from Holt’s edge
DirectionsWest Sands22 mi from Holt’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
BristonMelton ConstableSheringhamWest Runton and Beeston RegisCromerFoulshamHolt
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holt | A | 8.5 | 84% | 40% |
| Briston 4.1 mi | D | 2.7 | 69% | 0% |
| Melton Constable 4.2 mi | D | 1.6 | 76% | 0% |
| Sheringham 5.2 mi | A+ | 11.6 | 74% | 32% |
| West Runton and Beeston Regis 5.8 mi | A+ | 25.0 | 100% | 34% |
| Cromer 8.6 mi | B+ | 1.4 | 74% | 36% |
| Foulsham 9.4 mi | D− | 1.4 | 29% | 0% |
West Runton and Beeston Regis, 5.8 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. West Runton and Beeston Regis has at least twice Holt’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Holt
What is the biggest park in Holt?
Holt Country Park, 40 ha (98 acres), with 5.6 km of path. King George's Field (0.4 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Holt near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 16 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Norfolk Coast National Landscape, at the edge of the town.
What are the best walks near Holt?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Holt to Mannington Walk. Holt Country Park alone has 5.6 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Holt?
Holkham Naturist Beach, 13 mi from the edge of the town, then West Sands (22 mi). Holt itself is inland.
How many people in Holt live near a park?
84% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Holt?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Holt good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 44% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 95% (8.5 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Holt’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Holt’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.