A taste of Provence’s vineyards here at home - Norfolk’s lavender fields make top 10 list of holiday ‘fake spots’
CAPTION; Photos of the Lavender Harvest at Heacham by Norfolk Lavender. Pic shows Fields of Lavender being harvested.PHOTO; Matthew UsherCOPY; Amy GrayFOR; EDP NEWSCOPYRIGHT; EDP pics © 2008TEL; (01603) 772434 - Credit: Matthew Usher
With vibrant purple stretching as far as the eye can see, the county's lavender fields are certainly a sight to behold.
Norfolk Lavender, Heacham. Picture: Ian Burt - Credit: Ian Burt
And once immersed in the smells, sights and sounds of the many fields dotted around west Norfolk, it would be easy to feel miles away from home.
Now, a new survey has labelled the fields as one of the country's top, and the region's only, so-called holiday 'fake spots' – places bearing an uncanny resemblance to overseas destinations.
The study, by mobile phone network Three, says the lavender fields have echoes of the sun-drenched vineyards of Provence, in southern France – making it a perfect spot for visitors to take 'selfies' to convince social media friends they were on foreign shores, they say.
While Robert Grant, manager at Norfolk Lavender, said he had never felt as though he was working in France, he added that the fields were a beautiful place to visit.
Les Baux-de-Provence with vineyards. Picture: Supplied - Credit: Supplied
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'The owner has worked really hard to change the area here and invested a lot into it over the last few years,' he said. 'We are now planting another 36 acres of lavender across the road so perhaps in another couple of years it really will feel like the vineyards.'
Based in Heacham, Norfolk Lavender now boasts about 100 acres of the plant at various sites in the west of the county.
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The top 10, which included sites from all over Britain, also compared Portmerion, in Wales, to the stunning Amalfi coast in Italy, and the Brighton Pavilion to the Taj Mahal.
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The top 10
Camel Valley Vineyard, Cornwall - Loire Valley, France
St Michaels Mount, Cornwall - Mont St Michel, France
Norfolk Lavender Fields - Provence Vineyards, France
Chinatown, Liverpool - Shanghai, China
Portmerion, Wales - Amalfi Coast, Italy
Brighton Pavillion - Taj Mahal, India
Wasdale Valley, Lake District - Yosemite, America
Cheddar Gorge, Somerset - Mount Sunday, New Zealand
Achmelvich Beach, Scotland - Porto Pomos, Cyprus
Pistyll Rhaeadr Waterfall, Wales - Gylmur Iceland
