From bushcraft workshops to luxury spas, a wide variety of holidays and activities are on offer in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Art and photography
Where better to attend a residential art course than the heart of Constable country, right on the Essex/Suffolk border. Dedham Hall (tel: 01206-323 027; www.dedhamhall.co.uk) is a delightful country house hotel set in peaceful gardens with a spacious art studio. Paint in the countryside that so inspired John Constable. Courses can range from a few days to a full week.
In a beautiful atmospheric setting at Pin Mill on the Shotley Peninsula on the Suffolk coast, Anthony Cullen (tel: 01473-780 130; www.photographicday.com) runs one- and two-day photography courses for individuals or small groups, teaching basic techniques or more advanced skills.
Learn art techniques and have fun on a weekend art course with Nicola Slattery (tel: 01986-788 853; www.nicolaslattery.com), who has been running short art courses for over 20 years. Themes are likely to be printmaking, art from imagination and painting with acrylics. All levels are catered for and materials are provided along with buffet lunches. Courses take place in a pretty spot in southern Norfolk and for accommodation there are excellent farmhouses, B&Bs and old country inns nearby.
Cycling
Cycle Breaks (tel: 01449-721 555; www.cyclebreaks.com/cycling-in-england) has been organising self-guided cycling tours since 1991. Cyclists just follow their maps and have their luggage taken ahead to their accommodation – usually comfortable and characterful B&Bs. There are themed itineraries and plenty of good recommendations for coffee stops, pubs and eating out.
Cycling through the Norfolk countryside.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Family holidays
South of Lowestoft, Pontins Pakefield (tel: 0871-222 0201; www.pontins.com) offers fun-packed family breaks (and ones for adults only) throughout the year. Expect simple modern accommodation and endless activities including quad bikes, pitch and putt, arts and crafts, bike hire, trampolining, line dancing, snooker and bingo.
Music
Ace Cultural Tours (tel: 01223-841 055; www.aceculturaltours.co.uk) organises four-day breaks to Aldeburgh, centred around the famous Aldeburgh Festival in June. Tours include concerts, lectures and local sightseeing.
Nature conservation
Stay in luxury tents amongst the trees at Secret Meadows Luxury Camping, (tel: 01394-382 992; www.secretmeadows.co.uk) near Woodbridge. By staying at this 115-acre (47-hectare) wildlife site, you are supporting the nature conservation charity that owns the site.
A guided tour of Flatford Mill.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Outdoor activities
Outdoor activities on offer at Iken Barns (tel: 01728-688 899; www.ikenbarns.com) include cycling or paddling on a kayak to Snape or Aldeburgh. Also on offer are pony camps, bring-your-own-horse holidays, lessons in the indoor school or hacking in the local forest. Weekend retreat breaks also available. It is advisable to book well in advance.
Not to be confused with one of the same name in Thetford Forest, the High Lodge activity centre west of Dunwich (just off the A12) offers activity breaks with clay pigeon and air rifle shooting, archery, fishing, golf on the nine-hole course and the new activity footgolf, with accommodation in lake-view lodges (tel: 01986-784 347; www.highlodge.co.uk).
Pampering
Escape from the stresses of everyday life by booking into one of the region’s Beauty Spas. A number of hotels in the region, particularly in Suffolk, offer treatments: The Lifehouse Spa and Hotel in Thorpe-le-Soken (tel: 01255-860 050; www.lifehouse.co.uk), Ufford Park Hotel at Woodbridge (tel: 01394-386 871; www.uffordpark.co.uk) and Hintlesham Hall Hotel near Ipswich (tel: 01473-652 334; www.hintleshamhall.co.uk). In Norfolk, the Beauty Spa at The Hoste, Burnham Market (for more information, click here) is a peaceful retreat in a chic hotel and the Congham Hall Hotel & Spa (tel: 01485-600 250; www.conghamhallhotel.co.uk) near King’s Lynn is set in gorgeous grounds.
Walking
British and Irish Walking Holidays (tel: 01242-254 353; www.britishandirishwalks.com) offers easy guided walks through Constable Country, a beautiful region of water-meadows, villages and churches, as immortalised by Britain’s great landscape painter, John Constable. Walks include Dedham, the Stour River to Flatford Mill, East Bergholt, where Constable was born, and the villages of Stoke-by-Nayland and Nayland. B&B accommodation is at Dedham and Nayland.