Find Your Adventure: Cycling in Suffolk

If mountain biking is more your thing, Suffolk is awash with beautiful forests where you can spend hours exploring (and no doubt getting lost). With UFO trails, kids’ playgrounds and lovely picnic spots, Rendlesham Forest has much more than just the places you can explore on two wheels. If you’re more inclined to head to the coast, Tunstall Forest offers a 10-mile trail which is fit for seasoned cyclists and novices alike. Explore Suffolk's Coast for a some well-planned cycle routes.

Or head to Breckland in the west of Suffolk for outdoor sports, in particular active off-road cycling routes and paths through pine forests and luscious landscapes. Whilst you're here, spot rare wildlife including birds, hare and deer in the depths of Thetford Forest at High Lodge. There's also Go Ape, if you dare to part with your two-wheels.

Enjoy the culture, restaurant and waterfront bars of Ipswich by night and calming, country bike rides by day, exploring the peripheries of the town. You'll be pleasantly surprised. A few hidden gems await, namely the Shotley Peninsula's historic villages and coastal hamlets. Or take the Ipswich to Felixstowe cycle route through the open countryside - simply stunning! If you're up for a challenge, sign-up to the Ipswich Cycling Weekend in the summer; a spectacular collection of 55km, 100km and 100mile challenges from Ipswich exploring the Suffolk coast and countryside.

The whole family can enjoy cycling at Maglia Rosso near Bury St Edmunds; the cycle centre is home to a purpose built 1-mile Cyclo Cross course and is the starting point for a range of routes ranging from 15 - 100 miles.

 

Visit the historic town and embark upon the Towers and Spiers route which takes in some of the remarkable parish churches that surround Bury St Edmunds. Or step back in time and cycle ‘The Miller’s Trail’, which promises to really “take you back in time” - a route available only to cyclists, across a rich and traditional agricultural course; passing turning sails and waterwheels of historic mills.

Starting from the Rowley Mile Racecourse in Newmarket, the Suffolk Spring Classic Sportive offers three distances namely, the Epic: an 84-mile test, a 64-mile and short 30-mile, and while it’s assumed that the route is predominantly flat given the geography of the area, there are enough subtle climbs to ensure that this is a great test in the build up to a summer of cycling activity. The route visits three counties and winds from one idyllic village to the next. But sign up fast as the event takes place on the 30th March!

With coast, heath and woodland to explore, The Suffolk Coast is home to a huge array of cycling routes to suit all abilities. Explore the wild beach at Dunwich before cycling on to Westleton and Minsmere to spot some of the UK's rarest wildlife. Or visit the world-famous concert hall at Snape Maltings before setting off on two wheels to wander around St Botolph's Church, then continuing on to Orford.

When exploring The Suffolk Coast by bike, you will more than likely come across a river or stream. Thanks to the Foot Ferries in Walberswick, Butley, Bawdsey and Harwich though, your cycle ride needn't come to an end! Every year, the ferries enable hundreds of walkers and cyclists to explore the region, and it's estimated that by taking the four ferries, you save over 75 miles of travel on the roads!

What strange and interesting things do you know about Suffolk? Let us know via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.