Suffolk &
Constable Country

Day 1 – Audley End House & Gardens

Board our private executive coach at your preferred pick up points – stop at a convenient property en route such as Audley End House and Gardens near Saffron Walden to discover the sumptuous splendour enjoyed by royalty and the aristocracy in one of England’s grandest stately homes – continue to the 4* Stoke by Nayland Hotel on the outskirts of Leavenheath.

Day 2 – Gainsborough’s House, Lavenham & Melford Hall

Gainsborough’s House at Sudbury, the birthplace of the famous painter, dates back to the 16th century and boasts an outstanding collection of more of his work than any other gallery – Lavenham is one of England’s finest medieval villages with a 15th century church and the Guildhall, an early 16th century timber framed building that dominates the Market Place – continue to the National Trust’s Melford Hall, one of East Anglia’s most celebrated Elizabethan houses where little has changed externally since 1578.

Day 3 – Constable Country, Dedham, Bridge Cottage & Christchurch Mansion

This morning is spent with our Blue Badge guide exploring Constable Country located on the Suffolk and Essex border – East Bergholt is the site of John Constable’s Studio and St Mary’s Church, built in the 15th and 16th centuries and renowned for the absence of a tower or spire to house the bells – at Dedham our tour takes in sights such as Constable’s School and Dedham Parish Church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin in 1492 – Bridge Cottage at Flatford is located upstream from Flatford Mill and houses an exhibition on John Constable, several of whose paintings famously feature the mill – with historic room settings, outstanding paintings and furniture and the modern Wolsey Art Gallery, the Tudor building of Christchurch Mansion is one of East Anglia’s most important visitor attractions.

Day 4 – Sutton Hoo, Aldeburgh & Benjamin Britten’s The Red House

This morning we visit the National Trust’s Sutton Hoo, an Anglo Saxon royal burial site where the priceless Sutton Hoo treasure was discovered in a huge ship grave in 1939 – a guided tour of the picturesque 16th century fishing village of Aldeburgh includes a visit to The Red House, where Benjamin Britten lived and worked for the last two decades of his life, and the interiors of the House including his studio and library are presented as they were in the mid- 1960s.

Day 5 – Ickworth House

Stop at a convenient property en route home such as Ickworth House, located in 70 acres of stunning gardens and 1,800 acres of idyllic ‘Capability’ Brown parkland, home to a fine collection of Old Master paintings, silver and Regency furniture and dominated by its huge central Rotunda dating from 1795 – return to our original departure points with comfort stops en route.

Four nights on half board basis at the 4* Stoke by Nayland Hotel on the outskirts of Leavenheath. Located in a countryside setting and 10 miles from the centre of Colchester, facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, bar, swimming pool and sauna and all rooms are en suite.

Single room supplement £99

Insurance

Entrance fees to places of interest (NT properties free to NT members)

Audio headphones

Gratuities

Reviews for Suffolk & Constable Country

We had an excellent holiday in Suffolk which our Chair and two past Chairs considered was the best Society's Holiday we have ever had! Well done again Tailored Travel!

JP, Olney July 2024

Another hugely enjoyable holiday for our Arts Society. Tailored Travel certainly did us proud with a most interesting and varied itinerary and a brilliant choice of guide and driver.

Brenda & David C May 2024

Many thanks for organising our visit to Suffolk - everything had been planned perfectly - even the weather!! On behalf of the group I would like to express our gratitude - the hotel was wonderful, the staff there were incredibly obliging. Our guide was brilliant - she became a good friend as well. Driver James was also excellent. The sites visited were interesting and varied with local guides being extremely informative too. Many thanks again.

Val M May 2024

Just back from a really successful trip to Suffolk. Thank you so much for organising a fantastic itinerary, hotel, driver and guide. Everything went so well and the feedback from everyone was very positive. Not one hitch along the way. A big thanks from us all.

Sheila S July 2022

I felt I must write to thank you for organising such a superb trip. All of those, without exception, appreciated your organisation. The hotel staff could not have been more cooperative, the driver, Gary often had meals with us and he was a good source of information and of course the guide, Ian was a fountain of knowledge which was delivered with humour. All in all, it was a fantastic break and I look forward to communicating with you again next year for another trip, perhaps to somewhere like North Wales! 

Beverley W May 2022

We found the whole tour to Suffolk thoroughly enjoyable. The hotel was perfect: ideally located, comfortable, attractive and clean decor, helpful staff and excellent food (we dined in on both evenings). We enjoyed the itinerary and found the owners of the houses who showed us round their properties to be welcoming and informative. Our coach driver was pleasant and skilful. Everything met our expectations. On the basis of this experience we shall certainly book with your company again and look forward to doing so.

We returned from our tour of Suffolk this afternoon and I just wanted to write and thank you for organising a very successful tour itinerary and for listening to our wishes and slightly adjusting lunch times, so that we could eat at preferred venues. This worked very well for us all. Our tour manager was just as professional as last time and he was absolutely wonderful in the handling of a real emergency when one of our group had severe breathing difficulties whilst on our river cruise. The coach driver Gary was really pleasant, a safe driver and he knew his routes. The hotel exceeded expectations, food, drink, staff, room layout and especially the location. And it was only a three star. A 12 out of 10 as far as I am concerned and definitely a tour/hotel to be recommended to any other interested groups. Well done Rebecca.

We had a splendid holiday – the weather was glorious, and the organisation was first class. Our driver John was superb and made us all feel very safe. Your detailed planning and timings were absolutely invaluable. Our guide Claire was very knowledgeable and thorough. Our party were delighted with the Stoke by Nayland Hotel, enjoying the service, food and facilities. We enjoyed the variety of visits we made, and the highlight for me was seeing a Thames barge in full sail coming up the river! Thank you all so much!

I have been intending to write to you since our return from Suffolk to thank you and Rebecca for organising such an excellent tour for our Society. I have had so many messages from the people who went on the tour to say how much they enjoyed it. The hotel was excellent in every way. In fact my husband and I are going back in a few weeks’ time to spend some more time there without being responsible for a group! Our guide, Claire, was excellent too. She was entertaining and informative, looked after us all, and related to the group extremely well. Many thanks again.

We had a splendid holiday – the weather was glorious, and the organisation was first class. Our driver John was superb and made us all feel very safe. Your detailed planning and timings were absolutely invaluable. Our guide Claire was very knowledgeable and thorough. Our party were delighted with the Stoke by Nayland Hotel, enjoying the service, food and facilities. We enjoyed the variety of visits we made, and the highlight for me was seeing a Thames barge in full sail coming up the river! Thank you all so much!

I just wanted to say what a fantastic trip we had last week to Suffolk. Everyone really enjoyed it. The variety and pace were just right. The Blue Badge Guide and the Coach driver were superb putting themselves out to accommodate all sorts of requests. Once again many, many thanks from everyone for an excellent trip.

Just to let you know we had a lovely trip to Suffolk and were blessed with some sunshine which was an added bonus. The hotel and meals were excellent - lots of positive comments. The programme seemed to please people with the variety and timings. It was a shame the theatre in Bury St Edmund's wasn't available as we could have done with something else to fill that time but the cathedral was well worth the time given to it and those who could get up to the neighbouring St Mary's church thought it well worth visiting. Christchurch in Ipswich was a revelation and I think people would have liked more time there. We all loved the Constable tour and Flatford in the sunshine was a treat. The visit to Gainsborough's house was made even more special by the fact we could have a preview peep at the Maggie Hamblin picture being auctioned, currently on the cover of the NADFAS Review. The Blue Badge guide was good and knew her brief, full of information about Suffolk and she was excellent in directing the driver. She ensured we saw several little villages and churches en route to places that were an added bonus. Many thanks to you and Tailored Travel for all that you did in organising the trip.

We had a very enjoyable visit to Suffolk which was a great success. The Hotel was excellent and the staff quickly dealt with the one person who was unhappy with her room. The hotel menus were good and the food delicious; a good choice of hotel. Given she was dealing with a NADFAS group, our Blue Badge guide was, perhaps, nervous about the level she should pitch her delivery. However, she settled down and fulfilled all that was required of her. Gainsborough House, Melford Hall, Framlingham Castle were all very good visits. Snape Maltings gave the chance for a bit of shopping and Audley End, despite atrocious weather, was a fitting finish to our tour. We look forward to organising next year's trip and we will be in touch with you further just as soon as a decision is taken. Thank you for all your help.

The visit went very well and I have taken all of the glory for organising the visits so efficiently! Not true of course, you and your fellow members of staff have made a brilliant job in planning the visit. The driver Tony Fairbairn, was excellent: time-keeping immaculate, prepared to discuss route options, very helpful with baggage. The guide Claire's performance was also excellent. She was informative, worked well with the driver to keep to schedules and her delivery was amusing and appropriately theatrical at times. She shared the gratuities with the driver. The hotel was very good. Thank you and your fellow Staff for all the work that was put organising into the visit and we would certainly use your company again.