Felixstowe wears two hats: it's one of Europe's biggest container ports, and it's a genuinely lovely seaside town on the Suffolk coast. The beach side of things is what matters to holidaymakers, and it's stronger than most people expect. This stretch of the North Sea coast is the only one facing south, which makes Felixstowe's beaches the sunniest and mildest in the region — a small geographic quirk with a big payoff on a good day.
The town splits its sand at the pier. South Beach is the livelier, sandier half, and it has held a Blue Flag award every year since 2019, plus a Seaside Award for England's best coastline. Gentle entry into the water makes it a family favourite, though the tide comes in a long way — at high water the beach can narrow dramatically or vanish altogether. When that happens, the pier keeps everyone busy with arcades, mini bowling and a couple of places to eat, and a Ferris wheel runs along South Beach from February to October.
North Beach, past the pier, is pebblier and much quieter. Keep walking about a mile and a half along the Promenade and you'll reach Brackenbury Cliffs, a peaceful stretch with beach huts for rent. Felixstowe claims bragging rights as the birthplace of the English beach hut — a descendant of Victorian bathing machines — and plenty are still in use, some furnished and stocked with games. Renting one solves the eternal problem of where to change and stash your valuables.
Food-wise, this is classic British seaside done well. The Little Ice Cream Company, opposite the pier, churns out more than 100 flavours. Fish and chips come from spots like Fish Dish and Gulliver's Wife Cafe, which also does full English breakfasts. For a proper sit-down meal, The Grosvenor — Tripadvisor's top pub in town, refreshed in 2025 — is the place for a traditional Sunday roast.
One of the best activities isn't on the beach at all. The Harbour Ferry, a small pedestrian-and-bike boat, links Felixstowe with Shotley (30 minutes) and Harwich (15 minutes), a historic Essex town with beaches, antiques shops and old military forts. It only sails from around Easter or 1 April until the end of October, and boats are small, so book ahead.
Getting there is easy: trains from London Liverpool Street via Ipswich take about two hours, and Ipswich to Felixstowe is only half an hour. Driving can actually take longer. If you want to explore rural Suffolk beyond town, a rental car earns its keep.
Felixstowe suits anyone after a low-key English seaside break — families who want safe swimming and arcades, walkers who like a promenade with a view, and day-trippers pairing the beach with a ferry hop to Harwich. It's not glamorous, and that's the point: award-winning sand, a pint at a good pub, and sea breeze without the crowds of Cornwall.
