Bury St Edmunds is a wonderful medieval town with a fine abbey, much renovated over the past ten years and now topped by a magnificent spire.
Nearby in the very centre of Bury St Edmunds is Moyse's Hall where you can gain a good insight into the town's history from medieval times onwards. if you are taking children then visit on a Wednesday in August, when they will have an opportunity to meet medieval characters and join in activities, and watch demonstrations of medieval crafts.

For full details go to www.moyseshall.org or call 01284 706182

A very fine Elizabethan house which once played host to Henry VIII's second daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. As with any royal visit in Tudor times the entertainment would have been lavish, the owners thinking nothing of extending or re-vamping the property and its grounds for the royal visitor and her 2,000 courtiers in 1578.

Today Melford Hall is run by the National Trust, its exterior little changed in over 500 years. Set in magnificent Edwardian-style gardens surrounded by the remains of an ancient deer park, where Elizabeth I and her court no doubt hunted, the walks are superb.

A mecca for antiques enthusiasts owing to its excellent range of shops (and appearances in the Lovejoy television series), Long Melford also boasts the longest village high street in the country, a church of cathedral-like proportions, two historic mansions and an atmosphere that will have you planning your next visit before you’ve even departed…

It’s amazing to think that the peaceful village of Long Melford is only about 53 miles away from the hustle and bustle of London.