Suffolk Sands Holiday Park

Nearby Felixstowe has the moniker of the ‘Garden Resort of the East Coast’ because of the beds and borders along its promenade and in its town centre; the gardens on the seafront are listed on English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of National Importance. Suffolk in general is stuffed with heritage and ornate gardens: the rose garden with Tudor features at Otley Hall and the Rotunda at Italianate Ickworth are just a couple of several in the county to see. For more Felixstowe frolics, there’s a leisure centre on the seafront and the Spa Pavilion Theatre on the promenade – once the hallowed haunt of the likes of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix before being rebuilt – and an award-winning links course at Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club. The Sunday market in the town is bigger than neighbouring Ipswich – obviously you should make sure to go to both to properly compare. For strolls, the Suffolk Coast Path starts from Felixstowe and carries on to Lowestoft on a 50-mile route. Not far along the coast is Southwold, one of the many seaside villages around this area and part of the Suffolk Heritage Coast with its beaches, birdwatching and old buildings: Southwold has an award-winning pier, a working lighthouse, sea and ferry trips and the famous (and tiny) Electric Picture Palace cinema. History abounds around this corner of Britain too: the ancient burial mounds at the National Trust’s Sutton Hoo are a must, or there’s the twelfth century Orford Castle built by Henry Two and just along the coast from Suffolk Sands, with Framingham and Hedingham Castle a short distance inland. Languard Fort, the scene of the last opposed invasion of England in 1667, is one of the most famous historical attractions in Suffolk and is also the spot for browsing through Roman ruins and other artefacts at Felixstowe Museum. Other highlights near Suffolk Sands are patting pets and collecting eggs at the Easton Farm Park, slithering along to the giant play centre Snakes and Ladders at Ipswich, twitching at RSPB Minsmere and squawking along with the parrots and clowns at Lowestoft’s Pleasurewood Hills Family Theme Park.