The best farm stays in Rendlesham Forest

Stretching across 440 square kilometres, roughly between Felixstowe and Lowestoft, the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB revolves around a series of superbly scenic east-coast estuaries fringed by shingle beaches, ancient woods and low-lying cliffs. Uncover the famed Algo-Saxon burial mounds at Sutton Hoo, spot wading birds at Orford Ness, catch a ferry around the magical deltas and head out cycling or hiking along the AONB’s miles of trails. Some of the county’s most beautifully positioned campsites are sprinkled around here.

Sweeping west from the coast and inland from Ipswich, Suffolk’s interior unveils timeless villages, ancient mansions, vibrant market towns and wool-era churches. Explore historical Lavenham, architecture-rich Bury St Edmunds, pretty Long Melford and Thomas Gainsborough’s birthplace Sudbury, before setting up camp anywhere from a back-to-basics woodland site to riverside park with kayaks for hire.

This 90-square-kilometre wonderland, north of Colchester on the Essex-Suffolk border, is famous for inspiring the work of Romantic English painter John Constable, with its rippling farms, delightful villages, serene woodlands and open meadows. Savour its artistic beauty over a stay in a converted shepherd’s hut, on a farmland campsite or in a glamping bell tent by the river, all with canoeing, paddle-boarding, fishing, cycling and hiking right on the doorstep.

Immediately north of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB, England’s east coast morphs into the vast wetlands of the ethereal Norfolk Broads National Park, known for its rare birds and wandering waterways, which demand in-depth exploration by boat, kayak or footpath.