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Following the same route as Tour
C4, the walk is at a leisurely pace, dividing the Southwold
to Aldeburgh, Aldeburgh to Orford and Orford to Felixstowe
Ferry stretches each into 2 days. Travelling between
6 - 9 miles a day, this walk ensures a relaxing holiday
along the most peaceful of coastal paths.
Day One
Arrive at your hotel in Southwold
(by car or train and taxi) in time for lunch and spend
the afternoon strolling through the rows of pantiled
cottages and broad greens of the town. Or you can follow
the beach path up to Covehithe where the melancholic
ruins of an enormous church face out to the sea and
a roadway ends abrubtly on the cliff top.
(Options from 0 to 9 miles)
Day Two
Walking down to Southwold Harbour,
you cross the River Blyth (by small ferry in summer)
and head through reedbeds to Dunwich, the onetime capital
of East Anglia, now lost under the waves. Across the
heather clad Dunwich Heath you reach the RSPB reserve
at Minsmere and then hugging the coast you come to Sizewell.
Taxi transfer back to Southwold
for the night.
(9 miles)
Day Three
A taxi returns you to Sizewell,
where your walk ended on day 2. Setting off southwards,
along the cliffs is Thorpeness, a complete holiday village
built in 1910, bordering a manmade pleasure lake. Following
the beach path you reach the elegant resort of Aldeburgh
for the night.
(6 miles)
Day Four
Following the River Alde inland
you take the gentle route to Snape, home of the Aldeburgh
Festival. From the path you can fully appreciate the
beautiful setting of Snape Maltings. At Snape you can
relax in the pub or tea-rooms, explore the galleries
and antique shops or take a boat trip on the upper reaches
of the Alde. Taxi transfer back to Aldeburgh
for the night.
(6 miles)
Day Five
After the taxi returns you to
Snape, you have a choice of routes. The first takes
you inland through Tunstall Forest. The longer alternative
follows the River Alde as it flows along the coast,
just separated from the sea by the narrow shingle spit
of Orford Ness. Both routes lead to the now sleepy Elizabethan
port of Orford,
with its impressive castle and quaint quayside, where
you spend the night.
(Options from 7.5 to 11 miles)
Day Six
From Orford you can either walk
inland or, subject to availability, take the Butley
Ferry, the smallest licensed ferry in Europe. The paths
meet and continue along the peaceful banks of the River
Ore to Shingle Street, a quiet and beautiful spot where
the river finally reaches the sea. Taxi transfer back
to Orford
for the night.
(7.5 - 11.5 miles)
Day Seven
Walking along the sea wall passing
Martello Towers and World War II gun emplacements you
reach the crumbling cliffs at Bawdsey, before taking
the ferry across the River Deben to the little fishing
village of Felixstowe Ferry for your taxi transfer back
to Southwold or Woodbridge Railway Station.
(5.5 miles).
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