Suffolk Coast Path - Lowestoft to Southwold Beach Route

Start: Lowestoft Railway Station (NR32 2EG) Grid ref. TM 548 928

Tide : Tide times for Southwold can be found on the Tideschart Website, as can the Lowestoft tide times. Check these before attempting this walk.

(S) From Lowestoft Railway Station, walk South along A12, across the bridge. Turn left at the end of the bridge to reach the promenade at East Point Pavillion.

(1) Walk along the promenade southwards following the Suffolk Coast Path waymarkers. At Pakefield you need to go down onto the beach. Keep walking along the beach for 18 Km - providing to Southwold. As you reach Suzie's Café, you can either carry on to visit Gun hill as shown on the map or turn right now to reach the end of East Street and follow it and then High Street to Southwold town centre. (E)

Due to constant coastal profile changes it should be mentioned that inland access can be found at Kessingland, Covehithe and Southwold itself.

Start: Lowestoft Railway Station (NR32 2EG) Grid ref. TM 548 928

Transport: A regular bus service connects Southwold and Lowestoft.

Waymarkers : Suffolk Coast Path waymarkers

Refrehsments :
The Sailors Home, Kessingland: Seafront pub with a resident parrot

Terrain: Summertime is the preferable time to undertake the walk due to more clement weather and less likelihood of storms affecting the beach profiles. It is possible to clamber to the top of cliffs in places but there is no public access and it should be stressed these cliffs are unstable with frequent falls. If the beach profile has changed such that the sea reaches the cliffs return the way you came, do not attempt to paddle onwards. The last time Griffmonster Walks accessed this route there was a pinch point just beyond Pakefield where there was little left of the beach but enough to provide onward access at low tide.

Find more information and walks at Griffmonsters Great Walks here.

Coastal Erosion: The main feature of this walk is the coastal erosion and the curious sight of trees succumbing to the sea at Benacre Broad. It probably wont be long before the broad is engulfed also. At Easton Bavents there is more erosion. The home of retired engineer Peter Boggis once sat atop the cliffs and over the years he fought to defend his property from the sea. In December 2008 a judge ruled that a decision by Natural England to allow the cliffs near his home to continue to erode for scientific reasons was unlawful. But this ruling was overturned in the High Court in October 2009. In 2020 the house was demolished and views of the house can be seen on the BBC Website.