Suffolk holiday beaches to visit

When temperatures soar and the skies are blue, there’s no better place to be than beside the sea – pack up a picnic, dig out the buckets and spades and head to the beach for some good old-fashioned fun on the sand and in the shallows.

At cooler times wrap up well and enjoy a bracing walk, where you can watch the fishermen who still depend on the sea for their living, or comb the water’s edge for washed-up treasures such as the fascinating amber commonly associated with the Suffolk coast.

Here’s our pick of beaches you simply must not miss while you’re on holiday in Suffolk.

Southwold

Visitors return year after year to the seaside town of Southwold, famous for its iconic beach huts, lighthouse and historic pier. Select shops, renowned restaurants, the Adnams brewery and a mix of Georgian, Regency and Victorian architecture… all add to Southwold’s picture-postcard appeal.

But it’s the beautiful golden beach – a regular Blue Flag winner for its cleanliness and facilities – which is the biggest draw.

A holiday hotspot all year round, Southwold is busy but in no way spoilt. The epitome of the perfect seaside resort, it’s an idyllic location for having a relaxing holiday.

Walberswick
Rural life is never far away from Suffolk’s heritage coast. Across the River Blyth from Southwold is affluent Walberswick, popular with ramblers and nature lovers as well as crabbing enthusiasts – every summer the village is home to the annual British Open Crabbing Championship!

Once a thriving port, Walberswick is now a bustling tourist attraction and an attractive location for a selection of self-catering accommodation.

Over a thousand acres of heath and marshland around Walberswick are protected as an Area of Outstanding National Beauty. The beach is an unspoilt mix of shingle and sand backed by dunes, perfect for paddling and picnics.

Aldeburgh
Traditional with a twist… that’s Aldeburgh, once one of the East Coast’s leading ports and today a thriving seaside resort with fashionable shops, cosy holiday cottages and a world-famous music festival that shares its name.

Aldeburgh has something for everyone, and its seashore is a favourite with visitors of all ages – it’s a long stretch of predominantly shingle shelving quite steeply to the sea, with some sandy areas exposed at low tide. Here you can buy your dinner from the fishermen who sell their catch each morning, or go beachcombing for the precious amber which is found on this unspoilt part of the coastline.

Walk along the beach towards Thorpeness and you’ll see the newest addition to the Aldeburgh skyline, the Scallop – a Maggi Hambling sculpture which is dedicated to Benjamin Britten, founder of the Aldeburgh Festival held at nearby Snape in June each year.

Thorpeness
Originally a small fishing hamlet and, according to folklore, a route for smugglers into East Anglia, the Thorpeness of today was created by Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie who, in 1910, developed it into a private coastal resort complete with country club, golf course and holiday homes.

Ogilvie’s vision for his quirky model village included mock Jacobean and Tudor architecture and extended to cladding in wood the necessary but not aesthetically-pleasing water tower known today as ‘The House in the Clouds’. More traditional in look, the nearby windmill is equally photogenic.

The beach at Thorpeness consists of steeply shelving shingle, with some sand at low tide. Dunes and low cliffs start to the north of Thorpeness, while the southern end forms the Haven Nature Reserve.

Felixstowe
Felixstowe first became a fashionable holiday resort in the 1880s and has retained many of its Victorian and Edwardian houses, hotels and attractions. The unspoilt town sits above a beautiful seafront which is over four miles long and has a wide promenade that stretches almost the entire length of the sand and shingle beach.

The sea here is excellent for swimming in: Felixstowe’s South Beach boasts a prestigious European Blue Flag award and the water at both its South and North Beaches is Marine Conservation Society Recommended.

North of the town is the fishing village of Old Felixstowe and, at the mouth of the River Deben, the quaint little outpost of Felixstowe Ferry with its gallery, golf course, cottages, boatyard and inns. Here you can explore coastal paths, buy fresh fish and catch the small ferry boat across the estuary to Bawdsey.

 

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