Thinking of spending a non-biking week in Suffolk (near Southwold) with the family (kids under 12). What's it like? Any good? Boring? We like Cornwall and thought of going to Suffolk on the grounds that we've never been there before…..

we camped ehind the sand dunes at southwold when the kids were a lot younger.
it was fantastic, it is a very nice town, and the area is nice too.

Depends on how good you are at playing the banjo i suppose…. 😉

Itcs really nice. Ideal for a holiday . Nice beaches, lots to see and do around that area. Usually good weather. If you fancy taking your bike, tunstall forest has loads of old moto trails that were excellent. I think they may have even mtb-ised some of them.

I've got a bit of a squint and a limp. Does that mean I'll be considered a bit "tasty"? Can't see the wife taking too kindly to me getting my @rse pinched by the locals every five minutes……

+1 for Tunstall. I think TROG deserve the credit for that.

Southwold is the home of Adnams brewery of course.

Adnams, you say? Sounds promising. Thanks also for your comments Ton and Kevin1911. Any other good points about the area?

Sorry, Adnam's, not Adnams.

Doh.

Suffolk cider

Crabbing for the kids, ace smokeries, great ale and chippy (IIRC). A load of Sloanes and film types have cottages there if that tells you anything. Nice place but take bikes if you can.

+1 for Tunstall. I think TROG deserve the credit for that.

Thanks, we try our best! And allthepies – that's Norfolk not Suffolk!

Binners, jump on http://www.trogmtb.com for more info on Tunstall, there's some decent riding if a little flat.

I like living in Suffolk. Quite sleepy here. Southwold is like stepping back in time a little. Lovely place. Tunstall and Rendlesham have some nice places to ride and not far away.
Hope you enjoy your stay.

Other good stuff:

Pleasurewood hills

Kessingland safari park

Lots of really nice pubs with great beer gardens.

Crabbing great fun

Be prepared for people talking a bit funny though..

Used to live just down the road but managed to escape with a local lass who's now my wife.

The in-laws live about 15 mins inland from Southwold in a village/town called Halesworth. I love going back up there

My faves bits are –

Cream Teas at the garden centre/tea shop just out side Dunwich.
Beers in the Anchor at Walberswick, great selection.
Adnams beer in The Lighthouse in Southwold.
Fish & Chips in the Chippy on the way out of Southwold.
Days wandering round Norwich half cut from a lazy lunch in The Belgium Monk.
Getting lost round Tunstall forest and breaking my BlurLT at the otherside of the forest to where i had parked the car (that bit was a low point)
Snape Maltings.
The locals are so friendly.
Dinner at the Fox & Goose in Fressingfield (make sure you book)

Theres loads more but its a great place to visit whether you have kids or its just you and the missus 😉

Thanks for all those helpful comments. Crabbing with the kids, fish and chips and good pubs will suit me fine. Time for a visit! What beaches are worth a visit?

I used to go to Suffolk on holidays as a kid and I always liked Dunwich beach as you could find human bones there from the medieval churchyard above which had been overtaken by coastal erosion. Found a whole femur once but wasn't allowed to take it home. 🙁

Covehithe beach is nice too – or was in the 70s anyway – backed onto a saline lagoon that is separated from the sea by the beach.

Very nice, went for the first time last summer and didnt expect much. Lots of stereotypical english villages with superb ye olde worlde pubs. Not cheap mind.

covehithe beach is a desolate scene of unchecked coastal erosion now worth a (careful) look though
southwold and walberswick for beach time
dunwich and aldeburgh for walks (and fish n chips)
good pub at the far end of aldeburgh high st – the name eludes me
the nelson in southwold and the bell at walberswick
wacky amusements on the pier
and if its family riding you're after there's miles of traffic-free tracks
only downside is the whole place gets booked up months in advance by hoorays

Used to live in Woodbridge, further south just near Ipswich. Fantastic little town to wander about. Tide Mill well worth a visit. It's a bit less hooray than Southwold too and The King's Head sells Adnam's too.

I went to boarding school in Holbrook nr Ipswich

Not been back in the county since leaving there in 1997…

tis an odd place.

thebikechain – my nephew and niece go there. Can't remember the name but next to Alton Water?

+1 for the Fox and Goose.

If you go to Southwold or Aldeurgh on a sunny weekend, mind out for the ****ts in massive 4x4s who come up from the smoke and think they own the place. If you are into birding, there are some quiet reserves to visit. Later in the summer you can see skylarks really close up if you walk along the scrub just behind the beaches at places like Dunwich. I have lived here most of my life and am constantly blown away by the quality of the light (at certain times). You'll know it when you see it.

If you head north a little, there are some great beaches (look on your OS map for access to a beach near Horsey Pump) here it is miles of sand, hardly any people and if you are lucky there are often seals on or very close to the sand. Yes it is Norfolk, but it is well worth a visit. (The beach is dead tricky to get to and the car park os just a clearing in the reeds but so worth a visit.)

Despite the lack of hills Suffolk is a great place if you want a quiet break.

i liked suffolk

cycle touring suffolk stylee:

we happened across this: http://www.aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk/

🙂

North of Ipswich is time warp central. Very pleasant olde worlde.

Do it.

Southwold has a nice beach but the further down the coast you go everywhere has pebble beaches. Don't miss Southwold's "Under the pier show".

Aldeburgh's very pretty but busy.

Dunwich is eroding so quickly it might not still be there by the time you visit.

Framlingham and Orford both have castles, and just off Orford is a former military testing site that's worth a visit.

Dunwich, Tunstall and Rendlesham Forests have plenty of biking but most of the 'fun' stuff requires local knowledge (TROG), but family trails are easy to find.

There is a ridiculously large amount of beautiful country lanes, I could (and do given half a chance) drive or ride around them all day 🙂

Southwold has a nice beach but the further down the coast you go everywhere has pebble beaches

Not at low water!

Southwold is quite well to do. Mate of mine has a couple of terraced holiday cottages there. He paid £250k each for them, but they are tiny and needed a total refurb. Finished articles fetch towards £400k. Stupid money for a two up two down!

IMHO the property market is way over valued there, but as Southwold is about the only "chavless" seaside town on the East coast, you can kinda see why. Well Aldeburgh is pretty damn good too, but is lacking enough eateries and pubs.

There are no pound shops in Southwold, just boutique style places, great restaurants and pubs. Of course, Southwold is the home of Adnams, but prices are steep there (like 30% more than where I live, buying the same beer).

The pier is worth a visit with it's alternative "tongue in cheek" slot arcade. Or you can enjoy a decent coffee in nice surroundings. Not a pair of Kappa jogging bottoms in sight! 😆

Alternatively, if you are an inverted snob, there's Walton on the Naze further south in Essex. It has it's pound shops, boarded up pubs, boarded up shops, boarded up hotels, dilapidated pier with a huge ugly steel shed covering a tacky funfair. Just make sure you don't twist an ankle on the rotten planks on your walk out to the lifeboat. There's a couple of pubs where you can rub shoulders with some of the scuzziest people in Britain. This is assuming you can park – the council have put double yellow lines just about everywhere. If you really like the chav atmosphere, there are beach huts for sale, but only if you have £25000 for a rotting wooden shed. Don't forget the council will want £400/year council tax too.

Conversely, Walton has a lovely sandy beach at low water, an interesting tower, a nice pool and a good Thai restaurant. Away from the town centre there are some very nice bits, but the heart of the town has been destroyed by bad planning.

For two towns so close to each other, there really couldn't be more of a difference. They are separated by several river estuaries, The Deben, The Stour and the Orwell. There are a good few decent pubs, marinas, villages, but they aren't easily accessible by land unless you like losts of driving. Ipswich Haven Marina at the head of the Orwell has a nice atmosphere with lots of bars and restaurants.

If you travel down from Walton, to Frinton, to Clacton it doesn't get any better. St Osyths however is something else – THE most run down horrible shanty town which I'd bet is probably the worst seaside resort in the whole of the UK! Don't go there!

Don't visit Essex coastal resorts, stay in Suffolk, but to be honest, you would get better value and much more to do if you opted for the North Norfolk coast.

Sheringham is a good base – a pretty seaside town that is always thronging with holidaymakers and it has a good beach. There are even better beaches at places like Wells-Next-The-Sea/Holkam where you can walk for miles, or just hang out in the dunes. One of the best beaches in the country IMO.

Downham Market is good if you like posh villages in a similar vein to Southwold, but expect the vista to be spoilt by a sea of 4×4 cock mobiles as a load of ppl with more money than sense pursue their rural idyl!

There are seal trips from Blakeney Key, various impressive country houses to visit, a bird sactuary, Thursford steam collection, the salt marshes at Cley, North Norfolk railway, Aylesham narrow guage railway taking you to Wroxham. You can buy a ticket that combines a boat trip on the broads. Many good eateries and pubs.

There's lots more to do in Norfolk IMO, but i'm sure others will disagree.

If you stray in Norfolk don't go to Dereham… the armpit of the western world!