Southwold Celebrity Walk

Explore Southwold with Love Southwolds Celebrity Tour Walk

Southwold is one of the undisputed gems of the Suffolk coast, and has always held particular appeal for those who want to enjoy the unspoilt beaches with their famous multicoloured beach huts. Receiving its town charter from Henry VII in 1489, Southwold started life as a vital fishing port, but nowadays it has found fame as a place to escape the hectic hubbub of the city, and a slew of famous faces have decided to make it their home in recent years. Southwold has also been a popular location for TV and film. With this in mind, we’ve created the Southwold Celebrity Walk, which will take you on a whistlestop tour of some of the town’s most celebrated sights and people.

Southwold Celebrity Walk Route

Our walk starts at the Southwold Pier (1) at the north of Southwold beach, which as well as being a beautiful example of 19th century seaside style, was also the setting for several Little Britain sketches in which Matt Lucas and David Walliams delighted locals with their ‘ladylike’ behaviour.

Once you’ve enjoyed the pier and maybe treated yourself to an ice cream, head south along the beach to the Promenade, where you’ll see the famous multicoloured beach huts (2) which can retail for up to £100,000. Once you’ve picked your jaw up off the sand, head up the steps to and walk along East Street until it turns into the high street, where you’ll find a host of cafes and art galleries. (3)

Fans of crime fiction will want to keep their eyes peeled, as bestselling author P.D. James lives near the Town Hall, and can often be seen taking a breath of fresh air.(4)

Take note of the Orwell Bookshop on your right, which commemorates one of the town’s most famous residents, George Orwell, originally named Eric Arthur Blair, whose family lived in the town until 1939. His family home is now Marks Fish and Chip shop (5) at the north end of the high street, so why not pop in and pay your respects to the author of 1984 and Down and Out in Paris and London by ordering a fish supper or just a pickled egg?

Keep following High Street until it turns into Station Road, and you’ll come to the end of our walk at the now closed for business ‘King’s Head Hotel’, (6) which was a favourite of many visiting London celebrities and their Southwold-living friends. Geoffrey Palmer, best known for his role as Lionel in the BBC sitcom As Time Goes By, was often to be seen there, as he has a house in nearby Spinners Lane. Stars such as Chris Evans, David Tennant and Dame Judi Dench have all been spotted at the King’s Head in its heyday, so why not take a photo from outside and tell people what a famous pub this was

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