Cycle Breaks

The Norfolk & Norwich Explorer is an eleven-day circular tour from Oxborough taking in Breckland heaths, the Royal Sandringham Estate, the stripey cliffs of Hunstanton and Lord Nelson's childhood sailing grounds around Brancaster and Burnham Market. Riders pass the Holkham and Blickling Estates, the pilgrimage site of Walsingham and Binham Priory, with two days of circular route choices around Holt covering the North Norfolk coast, steam railways and stately homes.

The route then explores the Norfolk Broads by bike, boat and narrow-gauge railway around Aylsham, before reaching the medieval city of Norwich, with its 900-year-old cathedral and Norman castle. The final two days return via Wymondham Abbey, Mattishall and the Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse Museum to Oxborough.

Highlights:

• Royal Sandringham Estate and Hunstanton's stripey cliffs
• Holkham and Blickling stately homes and estates
• North Norfolk coast, with circular route choices around Holt and Aylsham
• Walsingham pilgrimage site and Binham Priory
• Norfolk Broads by bike, boat and narrow-gauge railway
• Norwich Cathedral, Norman castle and Wymondham Abbey

Surface and terrain:
Quiet country lanes, small roads and some traffic-free paths (including the Peddars Way and Marriott's Way), with gentle, low-lying terrain throughout. Choice of routes and, on some days, optional train or boat legs.

Suitable for:
Riders wanting a long, relaxed exploration of Norfolk's coast, countryside and heritage, with flexibility to tailor days to their interests. Tour graded 3 (Moderate).

Love gardens? Then let this tour put you in a gentle Suffolk spin. Pedal along rural lanes bright with wildflowers, past great greens dotted with campion pinks and little thatched cottages with towering hollyhocks to the famous gardens of Bressingham on the Norfolk border. Take a trip to ‘Foggy Bottom’ or ride on a steam train to see the Bloom family’s glorious gardens from a different angle. American airmen took to the wartime skies nearby and just a pedal push further, the River Dove follows a peaceful path through historic Hoxne and past the fine flint church and motte and bailey castle at Eye. You’ll find floral delights all along the way and cider orchards too near half-timbered Debenham, before you head back across Ronald Blythe’s idyllic ‘Akenfield’ country.

A real touring opportunity to discover Suffolk’s green and pleasant lands even along the haunting heritage coast. In Debenham, village verges vie with overhanging houses and antique shops; a white post mill sits proudly on Saxtead Green; Framlingham Castle looks out across smart college lawns; at Southwold, once ravaged by fire, green swathes now space out the houses by Gun Hill; Orford castle perches on the greenest mound and at Sutton Hoo mysterious bumps mark bygone burials close to acres of turf fields. Lavenham and the great greens of Long Melford are certainly jewels in Suffolk’s crown, but the greatest emerald perhaps has to be Constable Country with its immortalised water meadows and Stour Valley slopes.

This eight-day tour builds on Cycle Breaks' castles-and-coast route with two foot-ferry crossings, adding extra time around Orford, Felixstowe and the Shotley Peninsula. From Needham Market, day two rides via Debenham and Saxtead Green's post mill to Framlingham Castle, then day three passes Shawsgate Vineyard to Dunwich, crossing Dunwich Heath and the Minsmere RSPB reserve to Aldeburgh, where day four is a rest day.

Day five visits Snape, Orford Castle, Shingle Street and Sutton Hoo en route to Woodbridge. Day six crosses the Deben by foot ferry at Felixstowe Ferry, then the Orwell to the Shotley Peninsula, visiting Constable's East Bergholt on the way to Dedham. The tour finishes via the wool towns of Hadleigh, Kersey and Lavenham, returning to Needham Market.

Highlights:

• Two historic foot-ferry crossings, over the Deben and Orwell
• Framlingham and Orford Castles
• Dunwich Heath and the Minsmere RSPB reserve
• Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon burial site and Shingle Street
• Constable's East Bergholt and the Shotley Peninsula
• Wool towns of Hadleigh, Kersey and Lavenham

Surface and terrain:
Quiet country lanes with two foot-ferry crossings and coastal heathland sections. No significant climbs. Recommended, minimum and maximum mileage options offered each day.

Suitable for:
Riders wanting a longer, moderately paced tour combining coast, castles and history, comfortable with ferry-linked routing. Tour graded 3 (Moderate).

The castle at Framlingham looks even more imposing at a distance thanks to its reflection in the enormous Mere. Small Suffolk rivers once saw fleeces washed and prepared for the all-important wool trade . At the coast, wealth ports came and went with stormy tides... This tour maps Suffolk’s man-made and natural waterscapes, from castle meres to creeks, quaysides and shingle spits, Edwardian seaside resorts, Martello towers and tiny ferry boats, ship burials, boatyards and bygone Stour Valley trade routes captured on canvass by Constable himself.

If you don’t want to miss a Suffolk trick, this tour brings you an unbeatable combination of castles, cliffs, coastline both wild and cultured, Constable Country and the mellow moods of medieval treasure villages. The landscapes may be enormously varied, yet the cycling remains reassuringly leisurely. If you feel that your perfect tour might also need a spot of Southwold , that oh-so-English, smart and stylish seaside gem, then never fear – we’ve got that covered too in our slightly longer tour, Castles, Cliffs & Constable (Tour 9A).

If you like rivers and boats with a great helping of history and local flavour then this is the Suffolk escape route for you. Enjoy castles and culture washed down with a glass of crisp local wine or refreshing real ale, then snake down from reedy creeks to the coast perhaps as you head to listen to tinkling masts on the Deben at Woodbridge or muse over the mysterious ship burial site at Sutton Hoo.

This tour offers plenty of flexibility and scope for real relaxation and is ideal if you wish to try out a cycling holiday for the first time. The choice of gentle circular rides allows you to cover distances you feel happy with at the same time as exploring picturesque villages and countryside made famous by Constable’s brushstrokes.

Enjoy some of the quietest areas of north Suffolk and its Norfolk borderlands en route to the unspoilt Suffolk heritage coast, rich in history, wildlife and natural beauty. Head up to the Waveney Valley to take in the gardens of the famous Bloom family at Bressingham. There are stops near Norfolk’s Diss with its ancient meare and Suffolk’s gentle Halesworth, before the crumbling cliffs beckon at Covehithe and lead down via the nostalgic seaside resort of Southwold; ancient Dunwich and the old fishing town of  Aldeburgh; Orford with its royal castle and mysterious Shingle Street to Woodbridge and tales of Sutton Hoo's treasure-rich ship burial by the River Deben.

Castles & Coastline is a five-day loop from Needham Market exploring the Suffolk coast's dramatic castles, riverside and seaside towns, heaths and marshes. Day two rides through Debenham to the restored Saxtead post mill and on to Framlingham, with its 12th-century castle. Day three passes Shawsgate Vineyard before reaching the coast at Dunwich, then continues via the holiday village of Thorpeness to Aldeburgh.

Day four heads inland via the Maltings at Snape, climbs Orford Castle, reaches remote Shingle Street and visits the Anglo-Saxon burial site at Sutton Hoo, finishing in Woodbridge. The final day explores Woodbridge's Tide Mill before a rural ride back to Needham Market, with an optional stop at Helmingham Hall Gardens.

Highlights:

• Framlingham's 12th-century castle and Orford Castle
• Shawsgate Vineyard walk and tasting
• The lost city of Dunwich and its heathland coast
• Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon ship burial site
• Thorpeness holiday village and Woodbridge's Tide Mill
• Riverside and seaside towns throughout, including Aldeburgh

Surface and terrain:
Quiet country lanes throughout, with river crossings and coastal heathland sections. No significant climbs. Recommended, minimum and maximum mileage options offered each day.

Suitable for:
Riders wanting a relaxed, scenic multi-day break combining castles, coast and countryside. Tour graded 2 (Easy).