Plan your 2024 Suffolk holiday

With fabulous coast and countryside, wonderful food and drink, brilliant visitor attractions, ‘Downton Abbeys’ and castles, festivals and events, now’s the best time to plan your 2024 holiday to make sure you get the accommodation of your dreams and to give yourself something to look forward to! And here’s our list of some of the reasons to visit Suffolk in 2024…

JANUARY

This is the best time to enjoy migrating birdlife, not least at >RSPB Minsmere or other stretches on the Dunwich Coast and Heath AONB.

FEBRUARY

Head out on a super snowdrop walk at >Kentwell Hall, Long Melford.

March

Nothing puts a smile on the face like the sight of delightful daffodils and Suffolk is carpeted with them. Try >Ickworth, >Melford Hall, >Sutton Hoo and Nowton Park.

April

The days are longer and there’s family fun to be had at places such as >Thorington Outdoor Theatre and >Jimmy’s Farm

May

You know that warmer weather is coming when the stunt parties of swifts start swooping through village streets, hurtling around buildings, and screaming, ‘We’re back! Summer’s coming!’ This is a great time to explore the quirky mock medieval village of Thorpeness – take a rowing boat out on the mere and gaze at the House in the Clouds. Or how about heading to Orford where you can learn about the tale of the captured merman.

June

The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was founded in 1948 by composer Benjamin Britten and singer Peter Pears. Devoted mainly to classical music, it takes place each June at >Snape Maltings There’s also First Light at Lowestoft.

July

Book tickets for Latitude in July. It’s not your run-of-the-mill festival. Set in Henham Park near Southwold, this one has comedians, literature, music, dance, theatre, poetry, wellness… and painted sheep. There’s also Primadonna at the >Food Museum, Stowmarket and the July Festival at Newmarket.

August

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside, and now’s the time to do it! There’s traditional seaside fun to be had at Felixstowe and Lowestoft, or be lured by the genteel charms of Aldeburgh, Walberswick or Southwold with its Victorian pier.

September

A celebration of Suffolk’s thriving food and drink scene, the Aldeburgh Food Festival takes place in the beautiful setting of >Snape Maltings, next to the River Alde, each September.

October

Autumn’s here, there’s the crunch of leaves underfoot, a nip in the air and the woods and forests are a beautiful orange hew. This is the time to explore the Brecks, see rutting deer and wild horses, and explore unique heathland. Head to Bury St Edmunds for spooky >Ghost Tours

November

Travel to Bury St Edmunds in late November for St Edmunds Day, the annual celebration of the eponymous King of East Anglia who was martyred by the Vikings for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. Bury is Suffolk’s foodie town so take time to explore the restaurants and stay for a farmers’ market.

December

It’s panto time, oh yes it is! Make a short break of it when you see the show at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, at the New Wolsey and Regent in Ipswich, or Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.