Skip to content
Mixroutes
Lowestoft
Town and civil parish in Suffolk, England

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.

Plan a trip to Lowestoft→From London, Essex

As the most easterly UK settlement, it is 38 miles (61 km) north-east of Ipswich and 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Norwich, and the main town in its district. Its development grew with the fishing industry and as a seaside resort with wide sandy beaches. As fishing declined, oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea in the 1960s took over. In 2021 the built-up area had a population of 71,327 and the parish had a population of 47,879.

Get in

Getting to Lowestoft

If coming from the south, the A12 London-Lowestoft road passes right through the town, ending where it joins the A47 that then goes to Great Yarmouth and beyond to Norwich, King's Lynn, Wisbech Peterborough & Leicester. A few miles north of Ipswich much of the road is single-carriageway and can become congested during summer holidays and weekends so allow 3–4 hours driving time from London.

  1. 01
    Railway Station

    The UK's most easterly railway station is in the centre of town, just north of the river.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Gulliver

    126-metre-high wind turbine.

  2. 02
    Ness

    The most easterly point in Britain, and a signpost noting distances to various major British and international cities.

  3. 03
    East Anglia Transport Museum

    Transport museum on a greenfield site with nostalgic buildings, a tram route, trolleybus route, and narrow-gauge railway.

  4. 04
    Lowestoft Maritime Museum

    Sparrows Nest Gardens, Whapload Rd, NR32 1XG, admin@lowestoftmaritimemuseum.co.uk.

Do

Things to do

Lowestoft has one of the finest sandy beaches in the East of England and is a regular winner of the 'Blue Flag' award, the beach being easily accessible along the coast of the town.

  1. 01
    Pleasurewood Hills

    Leisure Way, Corton Lowestoft, NR32 5DZ, info@pleasurewoodhills.com.

  2. 02
    Africa Alive
  3. 03
    Somerleyton Hall

    First Light Festival is held on the beach for 24 hours midsummer.

Eat

Where to eat

Lowestoft lacks notable restaurants. The town centre provides the expected fast food chains including McDonald's, KFC and Subway, but no Burger King. There are also numerous Kebab and Asian cuisine outlets, which range in quality.

  1. 01
    The Spice

    89-90 High Street, info@spicedenlowestoft.co.uk.

  2. 02
    The Wherry Hotel

    Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, NR32 3LN,.

  3. 03
    The Waveney

    132-134 Bridge Rd, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, NR33 9JT (opposite Nicholas Everett Park.), contact@thewaveney.co.uk.

  4. 04
    Joseph Conrad

    Mon-Thu 8AM-midnight, Fri Sat 8AM-1AM, Sun 8AM-midnight.

  5. 05
    The Swan Inn

    Being by the coast it’s no surprise that fresh fish is a popular choice for diners.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.