Cycling around Halesworth

Situated in NE Suffolk and surrounded by quiet country lanes and beautiful countryside, Halesworth is the ideal location for exploring this part of Suffolk by bike. The small bustling town famous for its traffic free shopping street - The Thoroughfare, is full of independent shops and there are many cafes, pubs and restaurants serving refreshments. Only 10 miles from the Suffolk coast and the seaside town of Southwold, this is the ideal starting point for bike rides to the coast as well as setting out in all directions to discover the true flavour of rural Suffolk.

To the North the small towns of Beccles, Bungay and Lowestoft can easily be reached where The Suffolk and Norfolk Broads and Waveney Valley can be explored. One way cycle rides can be considered to any station on the Ipswich to Lowestoft rail line as you can catch the train back to Halesworth.

Access to the town could not be easier, National Cycle Network Route 1 on its 1,760 mile route from Dover to the Shetland Isles passes through the town along the Thoroughfare. By train Halesworth station is served served by the London Liverpool Street line via Ipswich to Lowestoft, or by car the - the A12 Ipswich to Lowestoft passes nearby.

The Halesworth Wheel - a cycle ride of around 21miles or less!

A beautiful ride in its own right of around 21 miles, mainly on quiet country lanes, the Halesworth Wheel is an ideal introduction to the immediate countryside surrounding the town. Do the whole ride or make use of the 8 spokes radiating in and out from the centre of town to enable you do a part of the ride.

You are never far away from a spoke and a short ride back to the town. Once back in Halesworth, spend some time exploring the delightful market town where you will discover many excellent cafes, pubs and restaurants offering refreshments after your ride.

The table below shows all the spokes, the distance to/from town to the Wheel and the distance on the Wheel to the next spoke. Additional loops can be added - see ride description and map. Any spoke can be used to start the ride, but the shortest, safest and most picturesque one, especially if you are starting the ride from the town centre, would be to cycle through Town Park and follow the off-road all weather cycle/walking path across Millennium Green. The notes below follow this spoke before describing the whole route.

Spoke Name Distance to/from
Halesworth
Distance to
next spoke
1 Town Park/Millennium Green 1.0 mile traffic free 1.5 miles
2 Cookley Corner 1.6 miles on B1117 3.9 miles
3 Linstead Parva Church 3.4 miles on B1123 3.0 miles
4 Wissett 2.0 miles on Wissett Rd 1.2 miles
5 Below Spexhall Church 1.8 miles 1.6 miles
6 Deadman's Grave 3.6 miles on NCN 1 2.4 miles
7 Sotherton 3.2 miles on B1124 2.0 miles
8 Queen's Head Blyford 2.8 miles on B1123 2.5 miles