Suffolk recommendations

[Stevie77]

Hello Mumsnet folks,

I’ve an ongoing list of things to do and places to visit but would appreciate loads more as well as places to eat (particularly local and fresh fish and seafood)!

We’re staying not far from Needham Market, have a car so can and will travel and will have our bikes with us. 2 kids, 10 and 6 years old.

Walks, bike rides, beach days, body/paddle boarding places, cool places to visit etc. Less indoors stuff although could be useful in case the weather is awful.

Thanks
(Also posted in UK travel)

Walberswick. You can get a little boat across the water from Southwold. There is the most amazing little fish and chip/seafood shack where the boat goes from. The salmon and chips was always my favourite!

Lovely little tearoom once you are in Walberswick, playground. Pub.

Go crab fishing.

It’s so nice.

Framlingham castle is also nice for kids.

Jimmys Farm? Near Ipswich.

There are some lovely walks around snape maltings too and again, little places to eat.

Walberswick, Southwold, Aldeburgh, Dunwich and Sizewell all lovely places

Thornham Walks
High Lodge
Pensthorpe
Tyrells Wood near Pulham Market
Definitely Southwold

Not the crabbing. Poor sods are constantly pulled about.

Africa Alive (wild life park)

Bury St Edmunds is a pretty town.

Balham Rare Breeds fram is only about 5 minutes from Needham Market. My children loved it when they were little.
Hollow Trees Farm shop is about half an hour away and had a lovely animal trail and play area last time I was there.
Jimmy’s Farm is massively expanded and has lots to do.
Easton Farm Park is lovely for a day out.

Southwold beach and Lowestoft beach are both nice.

Definitely Walberswick, you can catch the ferry then walk to Southwold. Although we were there a few weeks ago and Southwold was heaving.

However the coast is quite a drive from Needham Market.

Thorpeness is interesting in a bonkers sort of way. You can hire boats and go for a row on the Mere there.

Dunwich Heath, Sothwold, Aldeburgh are pretty.

You can get a ferry across the river from Walbeswick, takes about 30 seconds, but is fun for kids.

There’s normally a maize maze near Southwold which mine love.

Felixstowe is the nearest bit of beach, straight down the A14. We went last night for chips and a walk along the prom in the cool towards Old Felixstowe. It’s got arcades in the opposite direction, plus a large playground if you keep walking.

Castle wise there’s Framlingham and Orford (both EH). Both lovely places to visit.

Bury St Edmunds is nice, there’s the Abbey gardens with play area, some ruins and it’s a picturesque town.

We went through Framlingham a few weeks ago and I think the Castle is closed atm. It might have reopened for school holidays but I would check before you go OP.

Aldeburgh, Southwold and Walberswick are great little seaside resorts, but I imagine they'd be absolutely heaving! Aldeburgh has a fantastic ice-cream parlour too

Bury St Edmunds is really nice - the Abbey Gardens are gorgeous and have a children's play area and cafe, plus there's ice-cream there too. If you have NT membership you could drive an extra 10 minutes and go to Ickworth - there's walks/bike rides available, plus they have a deer reserve and there's sheep etc. too. There's also Nowton Park on the outskirts of town which has plenty of space, plus a play area and cafe.

If you like zoos, try Colchester. It's pretty big and has a decent selection of animals and exhibits, plus it's not too expensive. There's also Africa Alive though it's a bit further away from where you're staying.

Lavenham is a very pretty village nearby - the Swan does an amazing afternoon tea (I imagine you'll need to book, though) and there are loads of cycle routes around there. If your kids are into Harry Potter then some of the scenes from Godrics Hollow are based around there.

Have fun! It grew up in Suffolk and it's a very pretty part of the world :)

Woodbridge is nice though small. Pin Mill, just south of Ipswich is pretty, the pub there is good and there are walks around the peninsula. And of course there's Sutton Hoo.

Oh, and Flatford Mill (NT) is nice, I believe you can swim in the river there but I've not tried it myself. It's apparently very busy at the moment too.

I'd just say when going to the beach at Southwold and Felixstowe, be careful - the drop off is quite steep and your kids will need to be strong swimmers. We were ad Old Felixstowe yesterday and it was lovely - not that busy, everyone social distancing including in the water. Sea temperature excellent.

My kids used to love Sutton Hoo. I love Woodbridge but there's not a lot for kids to do there.
If you go to Dedham you can hire a boat and row to Flatford. Its lovely but it was heaving last weekend, the car park was full and the traffic horrendous. Weekdays might be better.

I did Africa Alive yesterday. Quite a lot closed. It’s a bit rubbish compared to lots of zoos!

I live in coastal suffolk. All the popular beaches are packed atm as is Dedham, Flatford etc. Dunwich Heath is lovely, also Shingle Street and Bawdsey, though be careful of the tides. There are quiet parts in Felixstowe. Rendlesham and Tunstall forests are fab for cycling. Woodbridge is a nice town and you can walk along the river. You can hire canoes at Iken near Snape. There are loads of quiet walks, cycle rides Etc.

Oh wow, this is brilliant - thanks everyone, some amazing recommendations here and am off to explore. We know we’re a bit away from the coast, but that’s not an issue for us. On one of the days we plan to drive up to Holkham Hall so distance isn’t not an issue

Felixstowe is a bit underrated in my opinion, and consequently maybe not quite as busy as places like Southwold. I was there on Friday, and although reasonably busy, I was able to keep myself 2m away from anyone else on the beach.

Also, there's a transport museum up near Lowestoft, I went a few years ago, but don't know current opening hours etc.

Transport museum reopened today apparently!

www.eatransportmuseum.co.uk/

If you don’t mind driving then High Lodge (Thetford) is a lovely day out, it’s £12.50 all day for the car. I live in South Norfolk (on the border literally with Suffolk) so I go to places in Norfolk and Suffolk. We went to Southwold later this afternoon and it was busy but plenty of space on the beach, the same with Aldeburgh so if you do go there try going later in the afternoon.