Wheatacre White Lion

To the coast? It’s half an hour’s drive from the pub to Lowestoft, Britain’s most easterly town and home to a lengthy beach, a lengthy pier and beach huts that you will want to possess right this instant thank you very much. At Southwold (half an hour along the coast from Lowestoft, or reach it straight from the site in the same distance), there’s another pier and sandy beach, a nine-hole golf course and more colourful beach huts, as well as tours and tastings at Adnams Brewery – gin included. Or stay inland to access the Broads National Park and the River Waveney waterways from local town Beccles, such as the coastal lagoon of Oulton Broad: have an afternoon here to spy otters and wading birds around RSPB Minsmere, have a guided tour or take one of the nature trails. The reserve also runs regular family days and events at its Wild Zone and Wild Wood Adventure area. (If that’s whetted the kids’ appetites for Suffolk theme parks, Pleasurewood is 10 minutes’ drive outside Lowestoft, or 25 minutes from the site.) Norwich is the most convenient starting point if you’re day tripping by public transport: Great Yarmouth is 45 minutes away by train, Ipswich just under an hour and a half, and London just under two hours.