See African lions, Amur tigers, lemurs, armadillos and the critically endangered tamarin at Africa Alive at Linton Zoo. Or go from wild to mild, meeting friendly sheep, ponies, goats and tapirs at Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park. Or go all exotic at Kimmy’s Zoo, with its chinchillas, tree frogs, bearded dragons and sugar-gliders.
Find a museum with a difference at The National Horse Racing Museum in Charles II’s sporting palace, with the chance to meet former racehorses. Get cultural at Moyse’s Hall Museum or the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds. Or just paint your own pots at Spotted Cat Pottery.
Steam through the countryside on the Colne Valley Railway, walk the woodlands, then refuel in the Buffet Car. Take the Beowulf and Grendel Trail at West Stow Country Park and Anglo-Saxon Village. Or visit Grime’s Graves, the only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in Britain, with a grassy lunar landscape of 400 pits.
Discover roller skating, mega-slides, a bistro and the biggest play frame in East Anglia at Curve Motion. Get bouldering at Cambridge’s Rainbow Rocket Climbing Centre. Catch some flicks at Abbeygate Cinema in Bury or Cineworld in Haverhill. Or head to Hedingham Castle, for jousts, outdoor theatre and hours that melt away.
Get trigger-happy with clay-pigeon shoots in Bury St Edmunds, Braintree or Royston. Shoot 18 holes at delightful golf courses at Clare Park Lake, Haverhill, Gosfield Lake, Royal Worlington and Newmarket, and Newton Green. Fish for carp at dog-friendly Rum Bridge Fisheries or picture-perfect Hermitage.
Head to Cambridge’s City Cycle Hire to tour one of the world’s oldest universities on two wheels. Stick around for the 1871 Gothic-revival All Saints Church, the country’s oldest university playhouse, and sweeping views of the city from the tower of the University’s Great St Mary’s Church.
Switch to four legs at Withersfield Hall School of Equitation or Spring Hall Farm and Equestrian Centre. Or just watch them gallop to victory at Newmarket. Play indoor tennis at Culford, or racketball and squash at The Essex Club. Go Ape in Thetford, karting at floodlit Red Lodge, or canoeing and kayaking at Stour Valley Adventure.
Get some pampering in at Gainsborough Health Club and Day Spa or at Bannatyne’s in Bury St Edmunds. Catch a Tudor Week or a Fright Night at Kentwell Hall. Check out the wool churches in lovely villages such as Long Melford, Clare and Cavendish. Or get along the A12 and see the lights and sights of Old London Town.
