Surprised to learn that England has great beaches?

Michael Brooks/Alamy

Travelers in search ofEnglandsclassic seaside townsoften head to Devon and Cornwall, southwest of London.

Heres how I spent a long weekend there recently.

A beach with colorful shacks.

Southwold, one of Suffolk’s most popular beaches.Credit:Michael Brooks/Alamy

When I arrived mid-morning, it was nearly empty, except for a few families building sandcastles.

Its popular summer calendar includes child-friendly Shakespeare and comedy acts.

The sitting area had a dramatic brick chimney that corkscrewed from floor to ceiling.

A still life of seafood including shrimp and oysters.

A seafood spread at Butley Orford Oysterage.Jemma Watts

Saturday

After breakfast, I paddled around my private lake in a rowboat.

Aldeburgh, perhaps Suffolks best-known town, was my next stop.

Spent from the day, I took my mille-feuille dessert upstairs to my room.

A hotel dining room.

The restaurant at the Suffolk inn.Courtesy of The Suffolk

The sound of the North Sea, which I could see from the window, lulled me to sleep.

I found impressive sculpture, too: three of the bronze figures from Barbara Hepworths famousThe Family of Man.

(All nine of the figures were originally installed at the center in 1976.)

A pair of photos one showing a sunlit river and the other the exterior of a hotel.

From left: The Butley River, in Suffolk, England; the Greyhound Inn, a pub and hotel in Pettistree, one of Suffolk’s smallest villages.From left: Emma Croman; Courtesy of The Greyhound Inn

For lunch, I headed to theGreyhound Inn,in the village of Pettistree.

These days, its best known for the pastries atPump Street Bakery.

There, I had a dozen creamy oysters grown in the nearby Butley River.