Southwold with 2 year old or somewhere else?

[sellotape12]

Looking for a 3 nights stay somewhere with a sandy beach and quaint town for us and our two-year-old. Ideally under three hours from S. London. I was thinking Southwold because we passed through it before and it seemed perfect, but I’ve just found a (very old thread) on here really slagging it off. Is that fair?

Alternative could be Rye + camber but is there anywhere else I’m not thinking about? (Don’t really want amusements and candy floss or tack because he’s just not into that yet. North Norfolk is too far as is Dorset. Margate is not my bag.)

opinions welcome!

It's lovely, enjoy.

Southwold is lovely. So’s Aldeburgh.

Do it. It’s a nice place. Aldeburgh and Dunwich beaches are nearby too. You can also walk to Walberswick, which is pretty.

Are you planning to go in season or out of season?

My 2 year old ds loved Southwold when we went there on hols! In fact we all loved that holiday.

I live not too far from Rye and Camber so am a big fan of those places too but I would choose Southwold because there is more variety of things to do within a smaller area.

Do Southend and Clacton have sandy beaches? It's years since I have been to either of them so am not too sure. Anyway they might have too much of that Margate vibe for you.

Aldeburgh is pebbles

What about Broadstairs?

Oh yes, I forgot to say it will be May or June. Thanks for all the replies. (That other post from 2015 was scathing as people said there’s absolutely nothing to do with little kids if it rains. But we love nature and Suffolk so would rather wrap up well, and still do a walk)

Ooh yes forgot about Aldeburgg which would be great for a trip out. Ashamed to say, I never really thought about Broadstairs so I will have a look at that too 😌

We went to Southwold when mine were little and we liked to eat out with them in the evening, but couldn’t really find suitable places. I am not sure if that has changed (was about 8 years ago) and that may not be a consideration. It was a little bit snooty.

I’ve been to Southwold with children of that age, and think there is plenty to do for three days. If it rained, there is the pier and a couple of small museums. Granted there is no soft play or similar, but I don’t think that’s the kind of holiday you are going for! Really surprised by the poster who said there was limited places to eat in the evening. There are multiple pubs and a few small restaurants too. And going out of season should mean that there isn’t an enormous queue at the chip shop!

Maybe we were looking in the wrong place? Also, we tended to eat early and that seemed to be the issue as pub/restaurant places didn’t seem to be serving food around 5/6pm. We ended up in a cafe that was open late. And then went elsewhere on other evenings. As I said, it was a good few years ago.

Such interesting replies. We’ve booked it anyway and looking forward to it. We have a little AIRBNB so can always cook on any summer rainy nights in. Mostly we just plan to make the most of being in a new area.

We love southwold, have been going for years.

I'd agree with it not having the best selection of more casual evening restaurants, it tends towards the posh hotel vibe which we don't enjoy with the children. Fish and chips highly recommended though!

The pier is worth a visit with your little one, or a trip (walk or little ferry) across to walberswick is always fun.

Some gorgeous walks across the common. Enjoy!

Southwold is great, likewise Hastings. Broadstairs is lovely in a different way

@sellotape12 you've said you're booked now, for possible future trips you could look at

https://www.oliverstravels.com/blog/beaches-near-london/#

edit: sp

Southwold's beach is pebbles, not sand. But it's otherwise lovely and with a 2-year-old it doesn't particularly matter where you go. Find a playground and they'll be happy.

No it's not. Southwold has sand, Aldeburgh has pebbles.

OP you'll have a lovely time. I live further down the coast, there's beautiful countryside, good pubs, lots to do and it rarely rains.

Just to say if anyone was thinking of Aldeburgh, it does have a pebble beach, but all my children have loved playing with the stones! There's also a small boating pond for children to sail their boats across next to the ice cream shack. Thorpeness isn't far either and there's a shallow boating lake (maybe not ideal for a wiggly two year old) and I'm sure the beach there has sand. We're in Aldeburgh next week for our annual pilgrimage. Enjoy Southwold. The other good place I went with toddlers was Broadstairs

This is a timely thread - currently debating Southwold or Aldeburgh. We have stayed in Southwold before and it is lovely, but considering Aldeburgh for a change. Slightly prefer the holiday house option in Aldeburgh. Will we regret not going with the sandy beach at Southwold (obviously we would visit for the day)?

Go for Aldeburgh!

Some Aldeburgh sand this morning!

We had lovely holidays in Southwold with DD when she was small. It’s so compact that you can have a lovely day just popping to the pier, bit of shopping, lunch, an hour or so at the beach, ice cream, home, playground after dinner. We didn’t really eat out much in the evening with DD at that age - much easier to pick up some pizzas and nice deli items and eat in the with a glass of wine. There are nice lunch places and lots of chichi delis for (expensive but lovely) food and a couple of decent chip shops. Nice walks too down to the river and ferry to Walberswick. It was perfect for us with a little one! We usually stayed near the big playground on field stile road as well which is lovely for kids in the early evening.

Southwold is lovely. Broadstairs is also fab!!!!

We went to Southwold several times when the kids were little, it is lovely, although I prefer Walberswick and would probably stay there if I could find the right accommodation. You can always go to Southwold from there if you want some shops.

Pressed send too soon there - the playground is off Field Stile Road on Tibby’s Green. For eating out, we really like Cafe 51 on the High Street along from the post office - lovely brunch and lunch and they open for some weekend evenings in the summer too. The Adnams cafe by Tibby’s Green is always nice (and very child friendly), but can get busy at weekend and summer lunchtimes.

Yes Southwold is nice, although Aldeburgh is too, I think the sandy beach will be more fun. There’s also the pier, some of my earliest memories were going on them, they were quite magical to me at that age, our son loved it aged around 3/4. Possibly a bit less exposed feeling than some of the other places along that stretch too.