Official Visitor Website

Explore the Waveney Valley

The Waveney Valley in Suffolk is the location of the beautiful Suffolk Broads, a series of interconnected rivers and lakes that forms part of the Broads National Park. It’s these waterways, and the iconic mills, landmarks, towns and villages they intersect, that make the Waveney Valley one of the most popular places to visit.

Early morning in the Waveney Valley (c) Hugh-Chevallier

Oulton Broad in Lowestoft is the largest lake in the Suffolk Broads, and the southern gateway to the Broads National Park. Surrounded by wildlife reserves and connected to the Suffolk Broads by the River Waveney, it’s a great place to rent a boat and start your journey through this peaceful, watery world.

North of Oulton Broad is Somerleyton, a pretty village crowned by a Victorian hall and gardens. Here you’ll find glassy waterways crisscrossing ochre-coloured marshland, plus the occasional 18th-century windmill.

Somerleyton

Somerleyton Hall (c)

The Waveney Valley extends several miles inland, incorporating the towns of Beccles and Bungay, which both sit on the river’s edge and close to The Suffolk Coast. In Beccles, you can enjoy a slice of market town life, watch boats sail past on the River Waveney, or rent your own boat for the day and head off on an adventure. Bungay has castle ruins and antique shops to explore, and a meandering stretch of the River Waveney that’s perfect for paddleboarding and canoeing.

View of the Broads

The Broads in Beccles

In the south of the Waveney Valley, you’ll find the Saints, a remote cluster of villages and medieval churches whose isolation makes them rare and beautiful in our busy world.