Sudbury

Market day in Sudbury still draws crowds to the ancient centre, where wool merchants once traded beneath timber-framed buildings that lean into narrow streets. The old railway station tells another story - Victorian engineering that once connected this Suffolk market town to London's commerce, now serving walkers who follow the old line through water meadows.

Friars Meadow makes for a proper picnic spot beside the River Stour, especially when the afternoon light catches the Georgian facades along the quayside. The Victorian Baths stand as testament to civic pride from another era, their red-brick solidity a sharp contrast to the medieval muddle of the town centre. Follow the river path and you'll reach the Old Railway Bridge - cracking views upstream if you don't mind a bit of a scramble.

Stanstead Great Wood offers decent walking when the town gets too busy. The ancient woodland stretches for miles, with marked trails that loop back through Great Waldingfield and Boxted - each village wearing its heritage proudly on roadside signs that local artists have crafted with real care.

Sudbury sits at the heart of Constable Country, though it's more working town than chocolate-box pretty. The A134 brings traffic noise, but step off the main drag and you're into Suffolk proper - rolling farmland dotted with churches and crossed by footpaths that have been walked for centuries.

The nearby holiday parks make sense if you want a base for exploring the Stour Valley without London prices. Direct trains run to London Liverpool Street in 90 minutes, making this corner of Suffolk surprisingly accessible. Apple Mount Retreat and the glamping sites around Polstead put you right in the countryside, while places like Gosfield Lake Resort offer fishing and water sports when walking the ancient byways loses its appeal.