Best North Norfolk sites?

Well Christine if you are thinking of the Blakeney/Holme area and not necessarily for the birds then a trip to see the seals is great [pick a good day though], although I have never been to Snettisham beach, I have been to the village though, there are spectacles there of thousands of birds but not at your time of the year, others no doubt can update you on that

Wherever you descend I hope you have a good holiday and fair winds:-)

Thanks John - it had crossed my mind to perhaps go and look at the seals whilst I was there, as well as getting a bit of bird watching in - decisions, decisions!

The seals are a must Christine, they are inquisitive and bob up out of the water and we saw over 100 on the sandbanks, we did Cley Marshes on the same day

I probably wouldn't suggest that you go to Blackney Point on the day that you have a guide with you (although there will also be birds to see I don't think that it will maximise the opportunities to make the most of the guiding services that you have paid for!). It's worth doing the boat trip at another time if you can fit it in though.

Snettisham is another good suggestion, but again you may be able to visit without a guide. Late July is not too early because, although there won't be as many waders as there are during the winter, waders start to return during July and by the end of the month the roost will contain reasonable numbers (including summer plumaged and moulting adults). Getting the most from the wader spectacular is dependant on the tides, but it sounds like your visit may coincide with some of the best - if you are prepared to get out early enough! The times of the better tides can be found here (the times given are when you need to be at the car park before walking fairly quickly to the viewpoint or hides). If you can visit on Friday July 26th RSPB staff will be there to help point out the birds - if not, and the guide will meet you early enough, you could use the opportunity for a 'master class' in wader identification (as well as having any other wildlife pointed out).

Reserves like Cley and Titchwell would probably give you the best variety of birds to see, regardless of the conditions on the day (as well as having hides just in case it is raining!), and if you have a good guide they should know which parts of the reserve will be most productive when conditions on the day and during the previous week are taken into account. Alternatively you might like to try one of the less well known sites where you can have a quieter day with less people around and see an area that you have perhaps not visited previously, eg. places like Thornham, Blakney Marshes, or Slathouse (these sites might not provide as good a list as elsewhere but a good local guide will be able to give you a good day wherever you go). Salthouse, just east of Cley might be a good one - and if the weather does turn out to be poor you can always jump in the car and go to Cley instead!

It mainly depends on what you want to get from the guide: Do you want them to find you as big a list of species as possible? Do you want them to talk you through the identification of species/groups that you find difficult (eg. waders, ducks in eclipse plumage) - and if so which species/groups? Do you want to be shown the best areas to watch at sites that you might not know very well? What you want to get from the guiding services might affect the best choice of site (and if there is something you are keen to get from the day the guide will probably be able to make suggestions!).

Edit: I've noticed that you said you can choose two places (perhaps spending the morning at one before moving to another), so ideally you want two sites close to each other. There are plenty of good combinations that would be possible, and you could include a site that you don't know + one of the 'better' ones that you have visited before. Combinations could include Snettisham+Holme (perhaps with a quick stop at Hunstanton Cliffs for Fulmars and any seabirds that might be offshore), Holme+Titchwell, Holme+Thornham, Titchwell+Thornham, Salthouse+Cley, Cley+Blackney, etc.  Get the guide to help you out with the choice of sites once you have decided what you want to get from the day - they should have a good idea of what they think they can find, and where.