Suffolk’s green, bucolic landscape, its beautiful and historic villages of greens bordered by half-timbered houses, thatched cottages and charming pubs, and its wide shingle beaches is the kind of England many international visitors are here to see. Suffolk has impressive churches, elegant country houses, a mild climate, and a relatively unspoiled feeling — considering how conveniently it is located for London. With that in mind, our Gurus have included some proper English country house hotels, cosy B&Bs and ye olde inns for their list of the best places to stay in Suffolk, along with charming seaside hotels, hotels with stand-out spas, picks for Newmarket’s racegoers, luxury hotels and some foodie favourites.
Ipswich is the largest centre, and architecturally interesting, with many fascinating layers of maritime history, but if you’re after real historic charm you’ll probably find more likely candidates for the best places to stay in Suffolk in Lavenham, or Bury St Edmunds. Both have an impressive amount of medieval architecture. For the quintessential family seaside holiday try Southwold or Aldeburgh, which hosts an impressive annual arts festival too.
Suffolk has its own Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but it’s also just below the Norfolk Broads, and there’s a wonderful cross over of waterfowl and other birds into Suffolk’s North Sea marshland and wetlands, so the best places to stay in Suffolk are excellent recommendations for bird watchers, as well as walkers and hikers. The Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is close to Aldeburgh and Southwold, and these are good places to pick up one of the region’s famous walking trails. Dedham Vale, much-loved and painted by Constable, is an area of real rural charm, and offers another quintessential English landscape. Suffolk is also a rich landscape for archaeological interest — this is where Sutton Hoo was discovered, along with several significant burial grounds and treasure hoards.