Lonely Planet have revealed East Anglia in their top 10 Best in Travel must-visit destinations for 2025, saying that the region is a ‘sampling platter of old England’ with ‘timeless escapes’ and ‘participating in the 21st century feels entirely optional’ but ‘this isn’t the pre-packaged Ye Olde English Village experience – history is a living thing’.
Lonely Planet’s definition of East Anglia is Essex, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, but it’s no surprise that Suffolk takes the limelight!
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Here’s Lonely Planet’s top 10 reason why they love Suffolk…
Wool Towns
They’re not made of wool, obviously, but they were made from the wealth created by the medieval wool trade that flourished in the heart of Suffolk. Step back in time and visit some of the best-preserved historic towns and prettiest villages in the UK, with timber-framed, higgledy-piggledy houses, and grand churches.
Lavenham is often called ‘England’s Best-Preserved Medieval Village’, containing no less than 340 listed buildings. Look out for The Crooked House and The Little Hall.
Kersey is a Suffolk Wool Town so beautiful that it’s been named among the top 10 villages in Britain. Cavendish is picture-perfect with iconic ‘Suffolk Pink’ cottages.
Suffolk Wool Towns don’t come much prettier than Clare (pictured), which boasts a wool church, priory, castle and country park. Sudbury has charming views with walks along the River Stour in the footsteps of Thomas Gainsborough, whose former Sudbury home is now a museum. Hadleigh is also by a river and Long Melford has two Tudor mansions.
Places to stay: The Great House, The Swan.
RSPB Minsmere
Some of the UK’s rarest wildlife call RSPB Minsmere nature reserve home, with a wide array of natural habitats including reedbeds, shallow lagoons, wet grassland, heathland and vegetated shingle. Look out for an array of birds, including Avocets, Bearded Tits and Bitterns.
If you’re lucky, you might even spot an otter or water vole around the reedbed pools and in the heathlands, Nightjars churr, Adders slither and Silver-studded Blue Butterflies flutter. Oh, and then there’s the wild ponies grazing.
Being on the migratory motorway from the frozen north, Minsmere attracts a lot of Autumn and Winter birdlife.
Where to stay: The Westleton Crown, The Brudenell, The White Lion, Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel, Potton Hall.
Waveney River
In the southern Broads National Park, this meandering river is the dividing line between Suffolk and Norfolk. Hire a boat from Hippersons at Beccles and head upstream, peaking into back gardens and waving at bathers in the Lido, before you reach Geldeston and The Locks pub. If you’re lucky, a band might be playing live or there might be a Beer Festival going on.
There are places on the river to hire canoes and kayaks, another great way to explore.
Where the Waveney meets the sea, you’ll find Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve, 1000 acres of wetlands and lowland fen and home to some of the largest populations of wading birds in the region.
Where to stay: Hippersons Houseboats and luxury pods.
Seafood and shellfish
Synonymous with the Suffolk coast, you’ll find eateries, pubs and restaurants that serve delicious fish and shellfish straight from the North Sea. There’s a bylaw that states you have to consume fish and chips at least once while you’re here – hopefully deep fried in beef fat and served with lashings of vinegar and salt. Go on, you’re on holiday! (By the by, the fish isn’t actually fried… it’s steamed in its batter casing so is very healthy).
To get a sense of the fishing industry, head to Aldeburgh beach where you can buy straight from the fishermen, who haul their boats up and down the shingle, or go to Blackshore Harbour at Southwold where there are black painted shacks selling fresh fish and shellfish.
Also recommended is a visit to Pinney’s of Orford – just head to the quay for superb smoked fish and oysters.
Where to stay: Orford Crown & Castle, Southwold Swan.
Southwold
Set in aspic to celebrate the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 Coronation, Southwold is an absolute gem of a traditional seaside town. Okay, we jest, a bit, but its charm lies in the fact it is a throwback to a slower time. The High Street has brilliant independent shops and cafes, explore the Victorian Pier with its quirky amusements, and don’t miss the lighthouse… well, you can’t miss it! Tours are available. You can also tour the famous Adnams Brewery and Distillery.
It would be rude to visit and not have a pint in an Adnams pub. We recommend The Lord Nelson, The Crown, The Sole Bay Inn, The Red Lion, The Harbour Inn… actually, forget it, they’re all great.
For something different, eat at The Old Hall with lovely views over the Blyth Estuary and visit the nearby Southwold Maize Maze.
Where to stay: The Swan Inn, Southwold.
Aldeburgh
Set between the River Alde and the North Sea, Aldeburgh doesn’t have a sandy beach but makes up for it in its charm. The High Street has a wide range of independent and national stores, pubs and restaurants, plus quirky antique and book shops. Get an ice cream and bimble along, perusing the shop windows, or, better still, get fish and chips and take a walk along the seafront before finding a seat to take in the view.
Where to stay: The Brudenell, The White Lion, Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel, Potton Hall.
Dedham Vale
Set in a National Landscape, this is Constable Country, where the illustrious English Romantic painter took his inspiration.
Your focal point will be the hamlet of Flatford, where Constable captured the scenic views of the River Stour and Dedham Vale. Explore the cottage, exhibition, tea-room, shop and boat shed and be amazed that you are staring at the same scene he painted in The Hay Wain and others. Inspirational!
Where to stay: Talbooth House & Spa, Milsoms, The Angel Inn,
Beaches
Suffolk’s coast is dominated by magnificent estuaries, but there’s still space for some lovely sandy beaches. The best-known, with all the accompanying hoopla of Victorian pier, amusements and the like, are Lowestoft (pictured), Southwold and Felixstowe.
Walberswick is possibly the most picturesque, backed by marram-topped dunes and Dunwich River where you’ll see families crabbing from the two bridges, but giving it a run for its money is Thorpeness, a recreation of a Merrie England village with half-timbered houses, the iconic House in the Clouds and a lovely shallow mere from which you can hire a rowing boat and head out to the Peter Pan-inspired villages.
Near Lowestoft are Pakefield and Kessingland beaches and the most tucked away one is Covehithe.
Where to stay: Walberswick Anchor, The Fludyers, Saxmundham Bell, The Westleton Crown, The Brudenell, The White Lion, Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel, Potton Hall.
Aldeburgh Festival at Snape
Focused on the Concert Hall at Snape Maltings but with events taking place along the Suffolk coast, the Aldeburgh Festival every June is an arts festival devoted mainly to classical music.
The brainchild was founded in 1948 by composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, the singer Peter Pears, who lived in Aldeburgh. Today, the festival attracts leading artists from around the world.
Snape Maltings is a destination in itself, with independent shops, art galleries, restaurants and cafés.
Where to stay: The Westleton Crown, The Brudenell, The White Lion, Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel, Potton Hall.
Sutton Hoo
The biggest and most exciting Anglo Saxon site in the UK, Sutton Hoo was revealed in 1939 when amateur archaeologist Basil Brown discovered the burial ship and treasure of King Raedwald on a site overlooking the river Deben near Woodbridge.
Now immortalised in movie The Dig starring Ralph Fiennes as Basil, Sutton Hoo is a joy to visit – discover how the Anglo Saxons lived, climb the viewing tower to get a sense of the scale of the site and enjoy refreshments in the café.
Where to stay: The Crown at Woodbridge.
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