In the East of England deep in the county of Suffolk there is a little market town called Halesworth. It might not be well known for many things but it’s important to me because my gran lives there!

For many years I’ve travelled from Yorkshire to Suffolk and back every year to pay her a visit. Every time we go, the seasons change, the businesses change and we all get a little older. One thing’s for sure though we always have a special time seeing her and exploring the pretty town.

This year we visited in Summer. 2024 it was Spring and 2022 it was winter… Maybe next time it will be Autumn? Despite all of those visits I’ve never written a post about Halesworth. I’ve probably never felt like there was much to say about the place. I’ve watched it change over the years and it’s only now that I have a toddler I can really appreciate all it has to offer and view it in a different light.

Halesworth is a small town with a beautiful little high street perfect for wandering toddlers. It is known as the thoroughfare and it’s almost entirely pedestrianised. Our 2 year old Hilda was able to roam the streets freely thanks to the large space. I can’t think of a single town in Yorkshire with that feature! I’m always pulling her away from the roads in fear of the traffic whizzing around. It reminded me of the streets of Montenegro and how we were able to let her wander over there so easily.

There have always been a couple of pubs in the town all of which we have visited previously. We have had one hell of a good night out in the White Swan back in 2021 where we made friends with locals and joined a quiz team all just because we popped in for one drink! In 2024 we even enjoyed a rare drink in the beer garden because we timed it perfectly with our 10 month old’s nap.

My dad and I have popped in for a drink here before as it has a real local pub feel to it. In winter it is especially cosy with the fireplace roaring when we visited back before the pandemic.

The White Hart is a pub that we’ve always enjoyed a drink in close to Christmas time. We’ve also eaten here a few times during our visit. Sadly on our recent visit in August 2025 this pub was closed down with no indication of how long for. I hope it returns as it always seemed to be full every time we popped in.

The Angel Hotel is the final watering hole combined with an Italian restaurant and hotel. It’s where we end up eating every time we are in Halesworth and will be even more so now that The White Hart is closed. That narrows your eating choices down even further! It has a large beer garden which we’ve enjoyed the sunshine from a few times. This time we weren’t so lucky but it was still warm enough to have our lunch outside.

This bank holiday weekend we popped to Cleone’s Italian Restaurant located inside The Angel Hotel. As mentioned previously we tend to eat here quite often. It is a nicely decorated little restaurant, reasonably priced with good food. I love that it’s casual enough to not feel like we are intruding on everybody’s date night when our toddler decides to dominate the room. Luckily this time we were seated in a quiet spot and she was on her best behaviour.

We shared the Antipasti which Hilda loved to sink her teeth in to!

On our previous visit in Easter 2024; when Hilda was just a baby, we enjoyed breakfast at The Black Dog Deli. This is a little pricey but an ever so popular little chain with deli’s around Suffolk. I loved the retro decor and attention to detail. With plenty of seats outside and the ability to bring your dog in, this place is super popular!

Are you a fan of Ed Sheeran or the movie Yesterday? Well this was filmed in Halesworth and the location of this cafe is in the movie too! You may notice the backdrop next time you watch it. I believe this was before it became The Black Dog Deli but the same location either way!

Throughout my many visits I’ve also eaten at the Thai restaurant Singtong Neeyom a couple of times. I absolutely love this little family-run hidden gem and recommend visiting especially if it is your first time trying Thai food – It’s a great place to start!

Besides the collection of bars and restaurants I like that Halesworth brings a bundle of different shops every time I visit. Some stick around a while, some i’m sad to see go. Unfortunately not many small businesses thrive these days so it is sad to see so many of the shops I loved to visit disappear.

Over the years I’ve enjoyed purchasing little trinkets as I’ve explored the town. This time my favourite shop was a new one that looks to have replaced the Antiques store. The Magickal Emporium. It reminded me of our trips to Whitby as it sells all kinds of witchy trinkets. I hope it thrives and will be there next time I visit. I love independent stores like this and the preloved clothes for kids at the back of the store were beautiful. I wanted to treat Hilda to some backpacking pants like mine but they were too small – Maybe next time!

When you visit a town only a couple of times per year you really notice how quickly things change. The Spar and Co-Op remain the main grocery stores but my gran says there is a Lidl to open up close-by soon. That’ll be a game changer for the town if it happens as it will be significantly cheaper than the local grocery stores!

Halesworth is a real pretty town and I really enjoy our visits now. They have some great dog walks, it’s no wonder the town attracts so many dog owners. Hilda had to meet every single one of them of course!

We had the pleasure of visiting Halesworth Library whilst we were there and they have one of the cutest children’s libraries I’ve ever seen. It far out does any that i’ve found in Leeds. I absolutely love that they even had an outdoor space. I’ve never seen this in a UK library at any of the locations I’ve visited throughout Yorkshire.

After the library we headed to the park where we had been previously on a rainy day last Easter. This time our toddler could run around and enjoy the slides, swings and roundabouts. I felt this park was way better than any of our local parks. I was surprised at how many things there was for little kids to play on here as normally parks near me are aimed at bigger kids. Our 2 year old loved to play here.

Halesworth Millenium Green offers the largest Millenium Green in the UK. It is a fabulous location for dog walkers, hikers and nature lovers. What a great walk to have on your doorstep! We didn’t explore it this time but we have walked the paths a number of times previously.

Just walking around the town of Halesworth visiting the abundance of Charity Shops and spotting fishes in the water was enough for all our little legs.

A fun filled bank holiday weekend for us this August. Halesworth has definitely grown on me over the years and I only wish it wasn’t such a long drive from Leeds or we’d visit more often.

I hope it won’t be too long before we can make it over again. Have you ever been to Halesworth?

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If you’d like to read about any of our past visits to the Suffolk area you can find some of my posts below.