Aldeburgh is totally devoid of deckchairs, candy floss, amusement arcades and flashing lights. The beach is long and shingly with sandy areas at low tide, and it is still very much a fishing town with a large marina ending in a massive Martello Tower.
The seaside town is crammed with fabulous restaurants, great pubs, boutique shops, quaint architecture, a vibrant arts scene and some great local fishing boats; which will sell you a freshly caught lobster or sea bass from their beach huts. Lots of exploring is on offer too, with museums, castles, interesting arts & crafts shops and beautiful artwork such as Maggi Hamblings famous shell sculpture on the pebble beach.
It takes under ten minutes from our cottages to reach the prettiest seaside town in England. Our holiday cottages near Aldeburgh feature Cissy’s Cottage, Laundry Cottage, Queenies Cottage & Wren Cottage.
Below we’ve summarised five of the top things to do when visiting Aldeburgh:
Shop, shop, shop! Aldeburgh is a great place to get involved in all types of shopping. From well know high street stores such as Jack Wills, to lovely independent shops such as Tilley and Grace and Burnett & Co. There are also several Art Galleries in the town including one from Caroline Wiseman based in the iconic South Lookout. With clothes, crafts, gifts, food, home and garden shops, there’s always going to be something for everyone on the high street.
The Famous Fish & Chips Not only are there some fantastic restaurants, such as The Lighthouse and The Regatta, but Aldeburgh is also known as the place to go to get the best fish and chips, boasting three delicious shops: The Aldeburgh Fish & Chip Shop, The Golden Galleon, and The Upper Deck. Each Fish & Chip Shop is slightly different with their own quirky character, but all which have mastered the same great taste with their fresh fish and locally grown potatoes.
The Martello Tower The Aldeburgh Martello Tower; owned and run by the Landmark Trust, is the largest and most northerly of the Martello Towers built to keep Napoleon out. The Martello Towers were round structures about forty feet high with thick walls and wide roofs. A total of eighteen towers were built along the Suffolk coastline. Constructed in the shape of a quatrefoil for four heavy guns, nearly a million bricks were used in its construction. The tower, located between the River Alde and the sea, is just a few hundred yards from Aldeburgh.
Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival IN SEPTEMBER If you are planning on staying in one of our holiday cottages in Aldeburgh towards the end of September, you should definitely check out the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. This was started in 2006, and celebrates the delicious abundance of local produce which helps the people reconnect with the countryside and the food it provides.
Sailing in Thorpness Visit Thorpeness, the quirky village two miles from Aldeburgh. It was a small fishing hamlet before it was adapted by a Scottish barrister, Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, in 1910, to be his own private fantasy holiday village. Perhaps one of the most picturesque resorts of them all, with pretty clapboard houses overlooking the sea. Thorpeness has a sheltered beach and is in its own time capsule! Hire a boat and row among the reeds and little islands on the 3ft-deep mere, a child-friendly, Swallows and Amazons-style boating lake. Choose from row boats, kayaks, canoes, punts, dinghies and sailing boats.
