Off to Suffolk for our holidays - best tips gratefully received!

[TyneView]

We've not been before, we are a professional couple, on our knees due to stupid working hours ( more due to the covid response). We just need to chill.

We have bikes, for what I call 'leisure cycling' 😂 - round to the pub and back...maybe a bit further.
We like food, beaches or countryside. We like pretty places, independent shops and cafes rather than a chain.

Thanks!

[CPDubs]

Suffolk is a big place, where will you be based?

[CPDubs]

I’d say a day at Thorpness, walking up to Aldeburgh and maybe hitting Snape Maltings too would be a nice day out. Lots of nice cafes and shops. Woodbridge is quite nice for a walk and a shop too.

[TyneView]

We are staying near Woodbridge - but happy to drive an hour or so...or more if it rains ...

[Bagelsandbrie]

Southwold
Framlingham
Beccles
Cycling at High Lodge in Thetford
Thornham Walks - nice cafe and farm shop
Stonham Barns for weird shops and a nice owl sanctuary
Visit Norwich for the day - castle and shops

[MarianneUnfaithful]

Walk on Dunwich Heath. Fish and Chips from Dunwich beach cafe.

Aldeburgh, lovely town, lovely walk along the whole seafront, lots of nice places to eat, independent shops.
Benjamin Britten’s house is interesting.

Sutton Hoo if you are interested

Southwold, and get the rowing boat ferry to Walberswick. The pub there is nice, good food.

Orford Ness: get the ferry and walk and explore. Good food in the village.

Snape Maltings: good for mooching, shopping, an exhibition, a walk round the reed beds / river bank

Industrial museum at Leiston, the first ‘long shop’ production line and family home of the feminist Fawcett family.

[TheDamnFoolThatShotHim]

Closest big town to you will be Ipswich, about 20 mins away. Not necessarily a pretty holiday destination but the waterfront area is nice.

Possibly a bit far from Woodbridge (about an hour) but Lavenham is lovely. Best preserved medieval village in the UK (or something like that) - very pretty, lots of history, independent shops and boutiques and some lovely tearooms etc.

If you're a Harry Potter fan, there's also De Vere House which you can look at from the road outside. It was used in the films as HP's birthplace.

[TyneView]

All sounds great, thank you. It was be good to have somewhere new to explore.

[AvaCallanach]

The church at Blythburgh on the way to Southwold is famous and worth a quick stop off en route.

[AMalTiempoBuenaCara]

Orford is gorgeous. You can book a tour of the castle if that's your thing.

Park at Iken cliffs and walk across the marshes to Snape (about a mile on boardwalk).

Thorpeness is interesting, there is a boating lake and a few cafes. You can walk to aldeburgh or the other way past sizewell.

Dunwich and Dunwich heath are also lovely. Minsmere is also nice if you like peace and bird watching.

You can hire canoes in Beccles and paddle along the waveney to Geldeston (visit the locks Inn) or you can hire canoes etc from the campsite in Geldeston and go towards the pub or beccles...Beccles also has a lido and other forms of boat hire.

Enjoy!

[lljkk]

I've spent quite a few hours cycling around Suffolk in last few months. Are you happy only on quiet lanes or is off-road (might be sandy but not technical) or slightly busy roads ok for short distances? How far would you cycle, or for how long?

Walberswick is your first cycling mecca to try. Just be careful where you park, lol. There are a million cycle paths to try ( bridleways) and tonnes of quiet lanes in East Suffolk. Check Tunstall Forest, too. OS subscription app is only like £3/month and shows bridleways.

[GlencoraP]

Lots to do in and around Woodbridge . Ramsholt Arms for lunch on the river ( used for lots of locations ) Unruly Pig for lunch or dinner, gastopub just outside Woodbridge. A listers in the town is meant to be good for cocktails . Take a stroll ali g the river and visit the Tide Mill.

Aldeburgh is lovely and Snape Maltings also Orford and Framlingham. A bit further is Constable country and Dedham Vale .

[GlencoraP]

Cycling is big in Suffolk , we are only the Suffolk Cycle route. Framlingham is also a good start for cycle routes

[oldwhyno]

The cycling and walking around the river Debden is beautiful. You can do a loop from Woodbridge via the ferry at Bawdsey/Felixstowe Ferry and there's a good pub there for lunch.

Definitely Sutton Hoo since you're right there.

Colchester is nice enough for a town visit. Frinton or Aldeburgh for a beach. Framlingham for a Castle. Go see the shipping at Felixstowe if that's your bag!

[TheFlis12345]

If you like seafood the Butley Orford Oysterage is lovely and less than half an hour from you.

[MrsSlocombesPussy]

There's also Pinneys at Orford which does lots of smoked seafood, and the Pump House bakery there too.
If you like nature, there's also Minsmere RSPB reserve. There's a small National Trust place at Dunwich Heath which is within walking distance of either Dunwich village or Minsmere.

[alloverthecarpetagain]

If you go to Aldeburgh make sure you walk to the sculpture on the beach, it's my favourite thing. It's by Maggi Hambling and commemorates Benjamin Britten.

[TyneView]

It is sounding like the idyl I'd hoped. Seafood is a favourite and will be such a treat.
Love the sound of the cycle, rides a ferry or boat and a pub. Time by the sea and the Benjamin Britten connection. My DP had already recognised this as Constable country.

Thanks for so many suggestions. Can't wait to relax!

[Chicchicchicchiclana]

You absolutely must go to Thorpeness! There's nowhere else like it.

[opinionminion]

TyneView
Have a well deserved break; sounds like you have lots to choose from !

[StCharlotte]

@MarianneUnfaithful

Walk on Dunwich Heath. Fish and Chips from Dunwich beach cafe.

Aldeburgh, lovely town, lovely walk along the whole seafront, lots of nice places to eat, independent shops.
Benjamin Britten’s house is interesting.

Sutton Hoo if you are interested

Southwold, and get the rowing boat ferry to Walberswick. The pub there is nice, good food.

Orford Ness: get the ferry and walk and explore. Good food in the village.

Snape Maltings: good for mooching, shopping, an exhibition, a walk round the reed beds / river bank

Industrial museum at Leiston, the first ‘long shop’ production line and family home of the feminist Fawcett family.

I second all this. We've just had a week in Suffolk with iffy weather and this was pretty much our itinerary. It was lovely

[Leftbutcameback]

We had a lovely week in Suffolk in min June. If the weather is good Southwold is nice (try the pier machines), Minsmere, the lovely old church at Iken (nice walk too), Dunwich (love the cute museum) and (very close to you) the Suffolk Punch Trust which is fab

[Leftbutcameback]

Also recommend this book - slow travel in Suffolk www.amazon.co.uk/Suffolk-Slow-Travel-characterful-Britains/dp/1784770744?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[RainingYetAgain]

Lavenham and Long Melford are gorgeous. The churches in both villages are fabulous wool churches . I like Sudbury, plenty of cycle routes including the old railway track to Long Melford which is also good walking. 3 hours free parking as well. Not sure when the Gainsborough museum reopens as it was being renovated, wonderful collection of his paintings, and new fish restaurant called the Fish Dish just opened.

[obeabdabother]

I'm going to ask.... what things do non-professional couples like to do in Suffolk?