Walberswick, Suffolk: A Family Day Out at the Crabbing Capital

Walberswick is Southwold’s quieter twin across the river Blyth — a village of weatherboard cottages, the ruined St Andrew’s church, and the world’s most famous unofficial crabbing championship every August. The pace here is slower than Southwold, the beach is wider, and the dunes back onto reedbeds that lead inland to Westleton Heath. It’s the Suffolk coast at its most low-key.

Main things to see and do

1. Crabbing on the harbour. Walberswick is the official British Open Crabbing Championship venue (usually mid-August). Buy a line and bait at the village shop, set up on the harbour wall, and gently return everything to the river.
2. The Walberswick–Southwold Ferry. Small wooden rowing-boat ferry running across the Blyth in summer (typically Easter to October). Five minutes across; the alternative is a 45-minute walk via the bailey bridge.
3. Walberswick Beach. Long, wide, sandy at low tide, dunes behind. Quieter than Southwold, dog-friendly all year on the south end.
4. St Andrew’s Church. Two churches in one — a Tudor ‘tower-and-porch-and-much-smaller-church’ built into the ruins of the older much-larger medieval parish church. Free entry, properly atmospheric.
5. Westleton Heath walks. Inland, the heathland connects to RSPB Minsmere via marsh tracks — the long route is one of the great Suffolk walks. Take the OS map.

Where to stay

If you are making a weekend of it, the Suffolk coast has more good self-catering than is reasonable for a coastline its size. We use Sykes Holiday Cottages for most of our family breaks here — their holiday cottages in walberswick and along the suffolk coast cover most of the price brackets and most of the dog-friendly properties. (Affiliate link — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Practical bits

• Postcode: IP18 (centre of town)
• Region: Suffolk Coast
• OS map: OS Explorer 231 — Southwold & BungayBuy from OS →
• Public transport: the Coastlink and 99 bus services run the length of the Suffolk coast in summer; check the live timetable with Suffolk On Board.