Aldeburgh, Suffolk – Popular with our holiday cottage guests

I am so glad that my Suffolk holiday cottages are right in the rural heart of our gorgeous county. There is so much to offer holiday-makers, whether on a fully blown staycation or just a short-break; Suffolk really is the perfect place to choose your holiday cottage and plan a well-earned break. My aim is to ensure that we not only provide luxury self-catering holiday cottages but that we make your break full of great memories. We are not just in the holiday cottage business, we are in the ‘escape from the norm’ business.

Suffolk Holiday Guide

We’ve developed our own tourism website for our guests but as it’s online then anyone taking a holiday or break in Suffolk is welcome to use it. ‘Where Do We?…’ is you online guide to everything Suffolk, where we bring you as much info as we can on all the places to eat, drink, shop, visit, walk, cycle etc in Suffolk. I am also going to write a series of blogs highlighting some of the great towns, villages and attractions that Suffolk has to offer and this post is all about the beautiful seaside town of Aldeburgh, which is a massive hit with so many of our guests.

Its name comes from the river Alde, which meanders all the way from Laxfield (another favourite with our holiday cottage guests) out to the sea at Aldeburgh itself. There’s a great pub in Laxfield called The Low House, which you can read all about on ‘Where Do We?…’ too.

The river starts very small, eventually turning tidal and getting much bigger as it hits Snape. It then merges with the River Ore at Orford (surprisingly) which is where it used to join the sea but the mouth shifted 5 miles to the south because shingle gathered over the centuries!

The more coastal parts make up part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths area of outstanding natural beauty, and it’s also a ‘Site of special scientific interest’, a designated ‘Special area of conservation’ and a ‘Special Protection Area’.

Aldeburgh in Suffolk

Part of the stunning heritage coast, Aldeburgh has a wonderful array of beach walks, shopping, eating and drinking and sailing, as well as just general ambling around sight-seeing. It has such a great vibe about it too. It’s a lovely blend of fresh sea air, with amiable informality.

The jewel in its culinary crown has to be the famous Aldeburgh Fish & Chip Shop! It may sound a little heathen but people not only come from miles around for their wares, but they queue. And queue. And queue. And, you get the picture! I have seen at least 50 or so people in the queue myself and that’s nothing according to folklore! There are many other wonderful tea and coffee shops, seafood restaurants and pubs.

Holiday Shopping in Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh for the visitors is essentially a great High Street with many boutique type clothes shops and at the time of writing features some well-known retailers such as Jack Wills, Crew, Musto, Gun Hill, Fat Face, Joules etc. as well as an abundance of up market independents.

The pubs are pretty much all Adnams pubs with one or two exceptions, which in my book means they are good! Adnams is the beer of choice in the area, being brewed in nearby Southwold (a whole blog in itself) and the pubs tend to be, in my opinion, earthy, seaside, proper pubs.

There are some great restaurants too, many serving fresh seafood as it is obviously readily available here. There are some lovely craft/gallery style shops here too so there’s definitely something for everyone.

Adjacent to the High Street is the sea wall, with a smattering of seafood stalls and access all the way along to the beach. If you keep heading North then the shops peter out and it’s more dog-walking territory.

Aldeburgh is firm fave with holiday-makers and visitors to Suffolk and certainly a real hit with our holiday cottage guests.