Family Fun

We are a family-friendly hotel and we are pleased to welcome you and your children to Aldeburgh. There is a great deal to do on this stretch of the Suffolk coast, for toddlers through to teenagers, and a good deal of it is within half an hour of the front door. These are the things to do in and around Aldeburgh that we recommend to families, what they cost, when they are open and how far they are.

Prices and opening times change, so it is worth checking each website before you set off.

Family days out near Aldeburgh at a glance

The closest family attraction to Aldeburgh is Thorpeness Meare, a shallow boating lake three miles north, open daily from late March. The cheapest is the beach itself, which costs nothing. The best wet weather day out is the Long Shop Museum at Leiston, fifteen minutes away. The biggest is Pleasurewood Hills near Lowestoft, about an hour.

Free, and on the doorstep

Aldeburgh beach is shingle rather than sand, which means no sandcastles but its brilliant for stone skimming. The model yacht pond on the front is still in use. Crag Path runs the length of the seafront and is level enough for a pushchair or a scooter. Fish and chips eaten on the wall is the cheapest good meal in Suffolk.

North Warren, the RSPB reserve half a mile from the High Street, has three circular walks, the shortest is two miles, through marsh and heath. It is free and open all year, and part of the shore path is surfaced.

For crabbing you will need to drive, because Aldeburgh has no quay or harbour wall. Orford Quay, half an hour away, is where most families go. Southwold harbour and Walberswick are the other two. Take a line, a plastic bucket rather than a metal one, and bacon or fish for bait, fill the bucket with seawater and seaweed, and put everything back where you found it. Pick the crabs up with your hands rather than scooping them into a net, which can hurt them. Low tide and calm water are best, and keep an eye on how fast the sea comes back.

On the water

Boating on Thorpeness Meare. Forty acres of shallow water three miles up the coast, nowhere more than three feet deep, with over a hundred rowing boats, punts, kayaks, canoes and dinghies for hire. The islands are named after things in Peter Pan. Open daily from late March, 8.30am to 5pm, last hire 4.30pm. Hire prices are not published online, so ring 07730 355548.

Canoeing on the Alde estuary. Iken Canoe hire canoes and kayaks from Iken Cliff for exploring the creeks between Snape and Aldeburgh. Weekends only in April, May, June and September, every day in July and August. No children under seven on the river, and under-18s need an adult in the party. Book on 07979 517186.

Coastal Voyager, Southwold. A rigid inflatable with twelve seats and seatbelts, and the fastest thing your children will do all week. The 30 minute Coastal Voyage is £38 for adults, £29 for 14 to 17s and £23 for children. Gentler options too, including a 90 minute cruise up the River Blyth and a three hour trip out to the seals and the wind farm.

Playgrounds, golf and bikes

Guildenacre, Helmingham Estate. New this year and the best thing to open near us in a long time. Four acres of woodland adventure playground with rope bridges and ziplines, built for anyone from an adventurous three year old to a pre-teen. Book ahead and it is £11.50 for children of five and over, £6 for three and four year olds and £8 for adults, with under-twos free. A little more on the day.

Jiggers miniature golf. Nine holes beside the Meare, run by Thorpeness Golf Club and open to everyone. Clubs, balls and a souvenir scorecard included, and no need to book. Usually open from Easter through the drier months.

Bike hire. There is nothing in Aldeburgh that suits a family, but Southwold Cycle Hire, in a hut by the beach, has bikes for every age and size with helmets, locks and a pump included, and child seats and tag-alongs on request. The Suffolk Coastal Cycle Route runs 88 miles from Felixstowe to Lowestoft and passes through both towns.

Castles and history

Orford Castle. Henry II's castle, built between 1165 and 1173, with one of the most complete keeps in England and 91 steps to the top for the view over Orford Ness. A picnic area and a garden to explore, and pushchairs are fine at ground level. English Heritage charge £11 for adults and £5.50 for children on the day, or £27.50 for two adults and up to three children. Book online in advance and the price drops by 15 per cent. The quay is five minutes' walk away, which is where the crabbing happens.

Framlingham Castle. A twelfth century fortress with a complete wall walk around thirteen towers, and the castle Ed Sheeran grew up beneath, which is what Castle on the Hill is about. Interactive displays and games for children, and audio tours included. Some sections of the wall walk are closed for maintenance at present. Prices vary by date, so book ahead for the 15 per cent discount.

Sutton Hoo. The Anglo-Saxon royal ship burial at Woodbridge, with a seventeen metre tower looking out over the mounds, the High Hall exhibition, Edith Pretty's house and woodland walks. National Trust members go free; otherwise £18 for adults, £9 for children and £45 for a family.

The Red House, Aldeburgh. Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears' home on the edge of town, kept as it was in the 1960s, with a composition studio, five acres of garden with sculpture in it, and a piano visitors are allowed to play. Open Thursday to Sunday, 10.30am to 4.30pm, last entry 3.30pm. £11 for adults and free for under-18s.

Woods, birds and trails

RSPB Minsmere. Reedbed, heath and woodland with avocets, bitterns and marsh harriers, and a Wild Zone play area with climbing, sand martin tunnels, den building and pond dipping. Family activities run through the school holidays and there are hot and cold meals at the visitor centre. Adults £10, children £5 with the first child free, and free to RSPB members. Some paths remain closed after this summer's wildfire, so check in at the Visitor Hub when you arrive.

Rendlesham Forest. The main recreational area of the Sandling Forests, with the UFO Trail telling the story of the December 1980 sighting, a new accessible Discovery Trail with space-themed play, a Room on the Broom trail and cycle routes. Open dawn to dusk every day except Christmas Day. Parking is card or app only, from £3.15 for an hour to £7.80 all day.

Suffolk Treasure Trails. Self-guided trails you download and print, usually a couple of miles long, taking in murder mysteries, spy missions and treasure hunts. There is one in Aldeburgh, and others along the coast at Southwold and Lowestoft, plus a Suffolk Coast trail covering Walberswick, Dunwich and Thorpeness. £10.99 each.

Farms and bigger days out

Easton Farm Park. The closest of the farms at about half an hour, and the one that suits younger children best. Animals, a woodland trail and a bouncy pillow, with events through the school holidays. A flat £12.95 for everyone aged two and over, with under-twos free. Open daily, though hours shift through the year, and closed from Christmas Eve to mid-February.

Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park. Rare breed pigs, cows, sheep and chickens alongside a nature trail, playground, butchery, shop and cafe near Ipswich. Open seven days a week, closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Book online and it is £25 for adults and £20 for children, with under-twos free, a little cheaper than at the gate.

Africa Alive, Kessingland. Rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, lions and a great many African birds, with guided tours and a Discovery Centre, about an hour up the coast. Adults from £18, children aged three to fifteen from £14, and infants £2, with higher prices in school holidays. Booking online saves up to 20 per cent.

Pleasurewood Hills. A proper theme park in 59 acres of woodland near Lowestoft, with big rides, gentler ones and sea lion and parrot shows. One ticket price whatever your age, from £16.41 online against £29 at the gate, and free for children under 90cm. It is seasonal and does not open every day, so check the calendar before you travel.

Half term and Christmas

October half term is the best of the school holidays here, because the beach is empty and the pumpkin farms are open. Woodbridge Pumpkin Patch at Martlesham is the closest at about 35 minutes, with a maize maze, tractor rides and a pumpkin house, and under-16s go free. Old Hall at Southwold and Wrentham Pumpkins are both free to enter and you pay for what you pick. Guildenacre opens every day of half term. The Red House runs a Spooky Sounds event at the end of October.

At Christmas, Snape Maltings has a Christmas shopping day in November and a Christmas market in December, and the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway at Brockford, about 45 minutes away, runs Santa Specials through the first three weeks of December. Suffolk's only standard gauge heritage railway, and tickets go quickly.

Eating out with children

Start with us. The Seafood and Grill looks straight out at the water, so there is always something happening out of the window, and the menu follows what the boats and the market bring in. There is a children’s menu, and we are happy to feed them early, before the restaurant fills up and while everyone is still cheerful. The lounge and the terrace take dogs and serve the full menu, so nobody gets left behind.

If your children are the adventurous sort, walk four hundred metres along the front to our sister hotel, the White Lion, where Sea Spice serves the best Indian food on this coast. It is the last thing most visitors expect to find in Aldeburgh, and a proper curry is often the meal a teenager remembers from a holiday. The White Lion Brasserie is along the same corridor if the rest of you would rather have crab.

After that, fish and chips is the obvious one, and there are two of the best known chip shops in the country on the High Street. If you would rather sit down, the Upper Deck Diner above the Golden Galleon has the considerable advantage of being indoors and therefore gull-free, which anyone who has eaten chips on an Aldeburgh wall will appreciate.

For the rest of the day, Alde Cafe does a proper breakfast, Two Magpies is good for bread and pastries, Harris and James on the High Street do gelato, and the Aldeburgh Market serves lunch beside its own fish counter. The four Adnams pubs all take children at the table.

When it rains

Honestly, Aldeburgh is thin on indoor things. We would rather tell you that than send you round three galleries with a bored seven year old. There are two genuinely good wet weather answers, and both involve a short drive.

The Long Shop Museum, Leiston. Fifteen minutes away and the best of them. A Victorian engineering works with steam engines under cover, a living van children can climb into, sand moulding from a real Garrett pattern, brass rubbings, recorded voices of the people who worked there, and an Explorer's Passport trail with a prize at the end. Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 3pm, Mondays in school holidays. Adults £8, children aged five to sixteen £3, under-fives free.

Clip 'n Climb, Ipswich. Fifty-five minutes, and worth it if the forecast is bad for a whole day. Soft play is £5.99 per child with no time limit, for ages seven and under. The climbing walls take older children and teenagers, booked online, and there are toddler climbing sessions. Closed Mondays in term time.

Closer to home, in Aldeburgh itself:

Aldeburgh Museum in the Moot Hall is one room upstairs, so half an hour rather than an afternoon, but it is cheap and children like it. Dressing up as a mini mayor, trails and games, and school holiday activities. Open 1pm to 4pm daily from late March to the start of November, weekends in winter. Adults £4.50, children aged five to fifteen £1, under-fives free, family of two and two £10, and the ticket is valid for a year.

Aldeburgh Cinema screens new releases and classics daily and is a good place to be when the weather closes in. Worth checking online to see what is on and whether there is an afternoon showing that suits your children.

The Red House has family gallery trails, discovery cubes, colouring sheets, an activity booklet and activity bags, plus a sensory bag for autistic visitors and children with additional needs. Little Curators, a free music and activity session for under-fives, runs on Wednesday mornings. Open Thursday to Sunday between April and October. 

The Aldeburgh Bookshop will absorb a reading child for longer than you expect, and Aldeburgh Library on Victoria Road is warm, dry and free, open mornings most days and until 6pm on Wednesdays.

Further out, Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich is a Tudor house with hands-on and sensory exhibits and it is free to go in. Tenpin at Martlesham, 45 minutes, has twenty lanes with bumpers and lighter balls for children, plus pool and arcade games. And Leiston Leisure Centre has a main pool and a teaching pool fifteen minutes away, though you will need to ring for family swim times.

One warning. Southwold Pier and the Under the Pier Show are indoors, but they sit on a pier and close in high winds, which is often exactly when you want them. Ring before you drive over.

Frequently asked questions

What is there to do in Aldeburgh with young children? The beach, the model yacht pond and fish and chips eaten on the wall cost nothing and fill a morning. Thorpeness Meare, three miles north, has boats on water nowhere deeper than three feet. Easton Farm Park, half an hour away, suits under-eights best.

Is Aldeburgh beach safe for children? It is shingle and it shelves steeply into deep water, so it is better for paddling and stone-skimming than swimming. There are no amusements and no pier. Aldeburgh Lifeboat Station publishes a daily forecast and tide page for the beach, which is worth checking before you go in.

What is there to do near Aldeburgh when it rains? The Long Shop Museum at Leiston, fifteen minutes away, is the best answer: hands-on, indoors and £3 a child. In town, Aldeburgh Museum and the cinema both work. Further out, Clip 'n Climb at Ipswich covers ages three to thirteen and Christchurch Mansion is free.

Where can you go crabbing near Aldeburgh? Not in Aldeburgh itself, which has a shingle beach and no quay. Orford Quay, half an hour away, is where most families go, and Southwold harbour and Walberswick both work. Take a line, bacon for bait and a plastic bucket rather than a metal one.

Are there free things to do with children near Aldeburgh? Yes. The beach, Crag Path and the model yacht pond are free. So are the walks at North Warren, half a mile from the High Street, and Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich. Rendlesham Forest costs only the parking, from £3.15 an hour.

How far is Aldeburgh from Pleasurewood Hills? About an hour by car, going north up the A12 towards Lowestoft. Africa Alive at Kessingland is roughly the same distance and on the same road, so families often do one or the other rather than both in a single stay.

Can we bring the dog on a family day out? Dogs are welcome at Rendlesham Forest all year and at North Warren under close control. On Aldeburgh beach there is one restricted stretch through the middle of the town from 1 May to 30 September, but the beach either side of it is open all year, as is Crag Path. Minsmere allows dogs in the visitor hub only.

Staying with us? Our Superior rooms and a number of our Deluxe rooms take up to two children, cots are available for babies and toddlers, and some of our Superior and Deluxe rooms interconnect for up to eight guests. There is a children's menu, and we are happy to feed them early.