Bury St Edmunds Visitor Guide

Abbey Gardens — the ruins of the great Benedictine abbey set in immaculate award-winning gardens beside the River Lark. Free, and the best hour in town.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral — climb-worthy Millennium Tower, completed in 2005 in traditional Gothic style; the only fully working cathedral in Suffolk.

Theatre Royal — Britain's last surviving Regency playhouse, run by the National Trust, still staging a full programme.

Greene King Brewery tours — brewing on the same site since 1799, with rooftop tastings over the town.

Moyse's Hall Museum — 12th-century merchant's house telling nine centuries of West Suffolk history.

The Wednesday and Saturday market — one of the largest and oldest open-air markets in East Anglia.

The Nutshell — officially Britain's smallest pub, and worth squeezing into once.

Pea Porridge — neighbourhood restaurant with a serious reputation for wood-fired, ingredient-led cooking.

Maison Bleue — long-standing seafood restaurant on Churchgate Street.

1921 Angel Hill — modern British tasting menus in the shadow of the abbey gate.

Really Rather Good / independent cafés around Abbeygate Street for coffee and cake between galleries.

Abbey Gardens has a playground, aviary and huge lawns for running off energy.

Nowton Park, ten minutes out of town, has 200 acres of parkland and easy waymarked walks.

West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village — reconstructed timber houses and a country park, brilliant for curious kids.

Ickworth House (National Trust) — Italianate rotunda, woodland play trail and a huge estate, six miles south-west.

Base yourself on the Heritage Coast and treat Bury as a rainy-day or market-day excursion — it's a comfortable drive from Saxmundham, Leiston and Southwold.

Pair Bury with Lavenham and Long Melford for a day of medieval wool towns.

Spring and early summer are the best time for the Abbey Gardens; December brings one of the biggest Christmas markets in the region.