Towns and Villages to explore....

Halesworth our local market town - just 3 miles by bike (4 by car) - is well worth a visit.  With the country's largest Millennium Green (with National Cycle Route 1 running through it), the River Blyth, The Cut arts centre, plenty of excellent cafes and restaurants and a mass of independent shops along The Thoroughfare (as well as a Co-op Supermarket at the far end of town), you will be beguiled.  Check out Black Dog Deli!

Southwold and Walberswick, two great seaside towns facing each other across the Blyth Estuary, are some 10 miles east of us and are favourite places to visit. Walberswick is delightfully old fashioned, very popular with crabbers during the summer season and has great tea shops and gift/craft shops by The Green. Good pubs too!  Check out Walberswick Ferry (every Santa should travel this way...!)

Southwold is larger and has a fun pier with great mechanical toys and exhibits including a big water feature clock, lots of great shops and a quay where you can buy fresh fish off the boats. Adnams Brewery is in Southwold and has a terrific shop and restaurant/cafe and there's no shortage of good pubs. There are masses of independent shops, good second-hand bookshops, plenty of places to eat and drink and a fantastic lighthouse to visit (where you can climb the seemingly endless spiral staircase).  

The Saints - we’re right on the southern edge of “The Saints”, where you can famously get lost! Worth exploring by bike or car – remember to take a map! Have a look here for some background.

Covehithe is our closest beach, about 7 miles due east. You can see up close how the sea is eroding the coastline, park by the “Church within a Church” and walk to the end of the road, which now disappears into the sea. There’s some great walking (and swimming) from here – we’ve got guidebooks and maps in the barn for you to borrow.

Dunwich Village and Dunwich Heath are always worth a visit. The Heath is a large expanse of heathland overlooking the sea, very close to RSPB Minsmere. It has a good tea-room too.  There are great walks around the village and cliff tops, taking you past Greyfriars Abbey, thousands of snowdrops amongst the trees in early spring, the lovely museum telling of the disappearance into the sea of the heart of this formerly bustling port and, of course, the popular Ship Inn.  

Don’t miss a trip to Orford Ness. It’s a strange, wild place; fantastic for photography and home to a wide range of wildlife, incredible abandoned military buildings and ephemera as well as miles of pebbles and beach. On your way to the pier, check out Pinney’s of Orford for fresh seafood too. You can have a good day out in Orford, visiting the pubs, antique shops and castle.

Thorpeness is fun for the House in the Clouds as well as boating on the Meare or exploring this wonderfully old-fashioned seaside town.

Just down the coast from Thorpeness, look at Maggi Hambling’s Scallop on Aldeburgh Beach, and take in the Britten tour. If you have time, Aldeburgh cinema is well worth looking in on and carries the NT Live and Met Opera programmes.