Carlton Meres Country Park - Beaches
A day at the beach is one of the great joys of summertime in Suffolk. Indeed nothing compares to packing a delicious picnic (brimming with crusty Suffolk pork pies, locally smoked fish and fresh local juices), digging out the bucket and spade and heading off with the family for a day of sun-drenched relaxation.
It's no exaggeration to say that Suffolk's Heritage Coast boasts some truly outstanding beaches - from upmarket resort destinations like Southwold, where you can swim to your heart's content and amuse yourselves on the old-fashioned style pier, to off-the-beaten-track rural beaches for paddles in the sea and long walks against a backdrop of stunning scenery.
The award-winning, sandy beaches of the The Sunrise Coast (encompassing Lowestoft, Southwold and the Southern Broads) are ideal if you want to take the children out for a day's swimming and messing about in the sand and there's no shortage of cafes, kiosks, tea rooms and restaurants to be found for refreshments and good local food.
Around four miles north of Southwold is the somewhat isolated but nevertheless quite formidable and unique - beach at Covehithe. Found on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea between Lowestoft and Southwold, it contrasts starkly with the hustle-bustle of these places but it's definitely somewhere to include in your itinerary, if only to observe the extent of coastal erosion.
Across the River Blyth from Southwold, you'll find the affluent coastal village of Walberswick - another charming destination which is popular with ramblers and nature lovers due to its wide variety of flora and fauna.
There's the diversity of the rest of the coastline: the National Trust's Dunwich Coastal Centre and Beach offers a remote and picturesque stretch for those in pursuit of mind-cleansing peace and tranqulity; the fairy tale ambience of Thorpeness harks back to a golden age of seaside holidays, as does the famous shingle-covered beach at Aldeburgh, which is the ultimate destination for a cultured seaside outing.
You might also find yourself inquisitive to see what the small, traditional fishing hamlet of Sizewell has to offer. Again predominantly comprising shingle, its beach is lengthy and open with the added attraction of sand dunes as a backdrop. Or take yourself to the isolated village of Shingle Street - located between Bawdsey and Orford - where lovers of wild, desolate beaches will surely be in their element.
And if you do feel like cooling off in salty sea water you need only walk along the beach towards the seaside resort town, where sand and shingle slopes gently to the sea. Be warned that Felixstowe's pier area gets extremely busy in summertime but the sea is excellent for swimming in: Felixstowe's South beach boasts a prestigious European Blue Flag award and the water at both its South and North beaches is ‘Marine Conservation Society Recommended.'
