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Suffolk Pinks & Seaside Greens

Tour: 4J
Circular Cycling Holiday
Hotel To Hotel Cycling Holiday

A colourful tour indeed, featuring refined seaside favourite, Southwold, together with a good helping of Suffolk’s timeless villages and relaxing smooth scenery. Enjoy some great cycling along lanes littered with pink thatched cottages to a truly impressive 12th century castle, superb wildlife and birdwatching sites and some of Suffolk’s most renowned heritage coastline. What’s more, this tempting tour leads you via vineyard and real country watering holes to the home of Adnams famous Southwold brewery - truly a refreshing break all round! Read More

Destination

England

Start Day

Any Day

Board Basis

Bed & Breakfast

Prices from

£481.00

Duration

4 Days, 3 Nights

Availability

Feb - Nov

Tour Grade

Grade 3 (Moderate)

Read Overview
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Overview

The refined seaside favourite, Southwold, together with a good helping of Suffolk’s timeless villages and relaxing smooth scenery make this colourful tour of essential Suffolk a real must.

Tour Code:
4J
Activity:
Cycling
Type:
Circular Cycling Holiday, Hotel To Hotel Cycling Holiday
Country:
England
Area:
Suffolk
Duration:
4 Days, 3 Nights
Board Basis:
Bed & Breakfast
Availability:
Feb - Nov

Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive & explore

Arrive at Needham Market, discover the interesting shops or pleasant lake and river walk before spending your first night in or near this small market town.

Day 2 Colourful stuff

Colourful stuff
Head through the lanes to historic Debenham’s lines of pastel cottages and half-timbered houses, before reaching Saxtead Green where a beautifully restored 18th century post mill sits proudly alongside the huge village green.
A fine redbrick Victorian college is in view from the 12th century curtain wall of the castle at nearby Framlingham. The ancient mere here is a refreshing site, so too the vineyard just up the road!  More scatterings of pink cottages feature on the way to Peasenhall where history lines the street before reaching the wide greens of Westleton, the characterful village close to the heathy coast of Dunwich and home for the next two nights.

Choose to pedal along to the renowned RSPB reserve at Minsmere in the evening or early morning if you wish, leave it for a short detour on your final day.

Mileage: Rec 38 Min 36 Max 44

Day 3 Southwold circular

Head inland to start the day with an optional visit to Halesworth, an up-and-coming ‘arty’ favourite and a delightful market town with plenty of history on offer. Then it’s time to clock up another post mill at Holton en route to Southwold, home of refined greens, white lighthouse, tasteful pier and oh-so-Suffolk brewery delights. Sip a well deserved pint, drinking in the nostalgic atmosphere, or lean up your bike against a canon on Gun Hill perhaps, look out to sea and share more sobering thoughts about the Battle of Sole Bay. Retail therapy, great restaurants, places to wander and ponder – Southwold has it all.
Across the creek and on through the fishing village of Walberswick there are church ruins to discover even before you reach Dunwich and its haunting monastery fragments clinging to the clifftops. The heritage coastline here is unspoilt with wide swathes of heathland sweeping back down to your accommodation destination, Westleton.

Mileage: Rec 34 Min 27 Max 34

Day 4 Heading homeward past curlews and concert halls

Early birds might like to catch a quick detour to the extensive wetlands of Minsmere before steering inland for the day’s colourful return to Needham Market.

There are abbey ruins to visit near Leiston and a stop by the famous concert hall complex at Snape Maltings is a must. Enjoy the views across the marshy creeklands of the River Alde, refresh with a pint or spot of retail therapy, then let the villages unfurl as you wheel across the Suffolk countryside passing historic churches and whizzing through the occasional watersplash en route to Needham Market.

Mileage: Rec 38 Min 38 Max 40

Dates & Prices

Download Prices

For tour start days/dates, seasons and all prices, please click on the PRICES button above

PRICE INCLUDES

Ensuite accommodation as described with full English breakfast (prices based on two adults sharing)

Hire of hybrid bicycle and ancillary equipment (single pannier and handlebar bag or map holder, pump, basic tools, spare inner tube & puncture repair equipment, helmet if required)

Luggage transfer between hotels

Local assistance on call (we will attend for puncture repair in Suffolk)

Detailed itinerary with meticulously planned and researched routes following quiet country lanes with a choice of routes available each day (usually recommended, long and short)

Route notes, descriptions and use of good OS mapping (maps available on arrival). We pride ourselves on our detailed level of documentation which includes plenty of top tips for places to visit or for relaxing and sampling the local fare along the way. We send electronic versions of these documents by email approximately two weeks before your stay so you can plan ahead and look forward to your gentle cycling adventure

We have now switched the default navigation system to GPS – in our opinion this is now the most convenient method as it eliminates the need for frequent stops to check the map

  • We provide you with access to a premium GPS smartphone navigation app (IOS or Android) and send you links so that you can download all of the route options before you leave home. We will provide a handlebar bracket for your phone if required; it is also recommended that you bring a spare battery/powerbank to make sure that your phone lasts the day
  • We can also provide GPS tracks in whatever format if you prefer to load them into your own GPS Unit
  • Finally, we can provide a limited number of GPS units with the routes preloaded – this is on a first come first served basis – please let us know as soon as you can if you would like to use one
  • We also provide OS 1:50,000 mapping on arrival as additional support to allow for any impromptu route changes
  • Traditional map-based navigation (using marked OS maps) is still available as an alternative at extra cost upon request (at least two weeks in advance)
Please note that the price EXCLUDES

Costs of getting to and from the start point

Accommodation Options

A selected 4 star historic inn at Rickinghall close to Diss; a 3 star hotel in Westleton or close by.

We are pleased to discuss details on request.

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