We speny a sunnt week in Suffolk at the end of August. It was our first time visiting this part of the UK, having been to Norfolk a couple of times, but never Suffolk. With it being so close to London, I don’t know why we haven’t visited sooner.

With two young children in tow, it felt like a great spot to holiday for all of the family. It’s often difficult navigating holidays with children, trying to find a happy balance between activities for them but also for you. Holidays pre-children may have included lots of relaxation, cocktails, late nights and lie ins. Fast forward a few years and holidays look very different. We go to bed early as we’re inevitably up early, much the same as every other day. We also need to consider naps and food for the kids, but it’s important for us that we also still feel like we get a holiday.

So for us that means having a great base. Somewhere we can come back to in the evening and enjoy together, after putting the kids down. We stayed at Farmstead Lodges in Easton, but they deserve a post all of their own (it was that good).

It also means thinking about places that have great beaches, nice foodie spots, maybe some shops to potter whilst the children are having an afternoon nap, but always (always) somewhere with a playground and ice-cream stall. Something for all of us!

Top 5 things to do in Suffolk for all the family:

1. Walberswick & Southwold

2. Jimmy’s Farm

3. Orford Castle & Pump Street Bakery

4. Aldeburgh & Thorpeness

5. Woodbridge

Walberswick & Southwold

One of our favourite days was spent in Walberswick and Southwold. Lots of people recommended a visit to Southwold, but actually, if you’ve never been before, we recommend visiting Walberswick too.

Located next to each other, you can park at Walberswick, visit the wonderful beach there (much quieter than Southwold) and get a ‘ferry’ over the river to Southwold. When I say ferry, I mean a small motorised or rowing boat. You’re able to take pushchairs and bikes onboard and it only costs £2 for adults. Directly across the water is Sole Bay Fish Company, where you can eat some of the best fresh fish and seafood that Suffolk has to offer.

Also at Walberswick is a sweet little playground on the village green, a shop, cafe and toilets. As well as a couple of pubs and a great spot to go crabbing.

We found Southwold to be typical of most British seaside towns - a lovely historic centre, a long beach, lots of ice-cream kiosks and a tacky pier. Don’t get me wrong, we loved the pier and spent a good hour on the 2p machines. But being the height of summer, everywhere was extremely busy and we didn’t make it to the beach. Which is why I’m glad we did Walberswick first and not the other way around.

That said, we had a lovely time pottering around the town, visiting Sole Bay Inn with the largest selection of Adnams beers, and admiring the lighthouse.

Also near Southwold, is Southwold Maize Maze, which was a fun afternoon with the kids. We picked a rainy day to go and luckily the weather picked up as we were there. There are 2 mazes, one for younger children and another much larger for older kids and adults. There’s also a gokarting ring in the middle of the corn field, a large adventure playground, sandpits, trampolines and a very good cafe - offering some of the best lunch options we found in the area, including delicious salads, quiche, tarts and sandwiches.

Jimmy’s Farm

The best day out of our week had to be spent at Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s owned by Jimmy Doherty (friends with Jamie Oliver) and is a fun day for everyone. With a wide variety of farm animals, it also includes reindeer, zebra, camels and monkeys to name but a few. The park is big with different areas including a lovely woodland walk, a large area for pigs where we saw lots of sweet piglets, and an elevated walk through the monkey enclosure.

It also boasts multiple play areas for children of all ages, including trampolines. Plus a number of cafes and restaurants. There’s even a dedicated area for guinea pigs and rabbits, complete with minature houses, shops and circus tent for the furry friends to enjoy.

They’ve really thought of everything and are developing more of the land to house more animals next year!

Orford Castle & Pump Street Bakery

This was our final stop on our week long stay, and one that we didn’t find out about until the night before. You may have seen Pump Street Bakery chocolate sold in shops near you - they’re very popular in London - but I didn’t realise that their bakery is in Suffolk. Its iconic pink building in the centre of the village is hard not to spot, as is the smell of baked goods coming from inside!

Here you can grab your morning coffee and pastry and make your way down the hill to Orford Castle. Painted yellow, the castle has been newly refurbished and you can have a guided tour from the basement, right up through the castle to the roof. With breathtaking views over Suffolk and out to sea, the castle has so many rooms and secret passageways. Our eldest loved it.

Orford itself is small but there’s also a nice church, a pub serving delicious seafood dishes and quaint butcher which we stumbled upon down a little footpath. A great way to spend a morning if you’re nearby.

Aldeburgh & Thorpeness

Another popular recommendation was Aldeburgh and Thorpeness. Located next to each other, it’s easy to visit both, however we spent most of our day with the kids in Aldeburgh, and didn’t make it to Thorpeness.

Adleburgh is a very pretty town with lots of shops, restaurants and pubs. It’s also home to a 2 Magpies Bakery which is worth a stop if you’re looking for coffee and baked treats. There’s lots of seafood sheds along the beach, which we regret not having for lunch. The best looked like Marriott Fisheries, serving up lobster and chips and some great looking fish tacos. We opted for a restaurant lunch as we were a little fished out by this point, but we regret it massively!

The beach itself is pebbled, as are most in Suffolk, and it stretches for miles, so you can do plenty of walking. There’s also a small boating lake on the front, where many children were racing model sailing boats and kindly let our eldest get involved.

Woodbridge

Our final stop as we headed back to London, was the town of Woodbridge. Whilst we only spent a couple of hours over lunch here, we could’ve made a day of it. The town itself boasts many great places to eat (highly recommend New Street Market) and shop (Pocket Kids showcases some of the best in Scandi toys). There’s also the Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum which we didn’t get chance to visit, but also The Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company who are building a replica of The Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon ship that was discovered nearby. We were able to watch them work and their knowledges was fantastic. If you’ve watched the Netflix film The Dig with Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, you’ll want to stop by here.

Another couple of spots to note are Framlingham Castle and Snape Maltings. Framlingham Castle is worth a visit if you’re into history and is a great place to take kids. At weekends there are reinactments and games, plus you can walk around the walls of the castle which our eldest found really fun. Framlingham is famous for the Ed Sheeran song ‘Castle on the Hill’ and there’s a great ice-cream shop and many a good pub in the town.

Snape Maltings is a newer development showcasing music, cinema, homewares and local designers. There’s lots of classes for kids and a great outdoor area for them to explore freely. There’s also boat trips along the river which we would’ve done if we’d had more time. But otherwise, it’s a nice stop for a coffee or wine and a browse of some truly beautiful homewares.

You can see more of our trip over on my Instagram.

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