Local Essentials
The practical stuff most travel sites skip. Everything you need to know before visiting Southwold, from parking to pharmacies.
Accessibility
Town
The town centre and the seafront promenade are flat and easy going. The one real gradient is the low cliff between the promenade and Gun Hill, which has both steps and a ramp. The beach itself is sand over shingle and is not wheelchair-friendly beyond the promenade.
Parking
Only the pier car park is lined, and it holds the town's 16 marked blue badge bays with wider access. Every other car park in Southwold is unlined with a rougher surface. Blue badge holders park free at meters, at pay and display machines and in marked disabled bays.
Attractions
Southwold Museum states that wheelchairs can manoeuvre around the building. Queen Street Pharmacy lists step-free access, wheelchair access, an induction loop and guide-dog access. The lighthouse tour involves 113 stairs with no lift and is not accessible. For a disabled toilet key at the pier car park, contact Southwold Town Council on 01502 722576.
Contact venues directly for door widths and specific access. The Walberswick ferry is an open rowing boat reached across shingle and is not step-free.
ATMs & Banking
Cash machines in the town centre
High Street and Queen Street, Southwold
Card and contactless payment is taken almost everywhere, but two things in Southwold are cash only: the Walberswick ferry fares, and some market stalls. Draw cash before walking down to Ferry Road, because there is nothing at the slipway. Specific current ATM locations were not itemised in this research pass; confirm on the ground.
Emergency Services
General Emergency
999 or 112
Coast Guard
999, ask for the Coastguard. Southwold has an RNLI lifeboat station at the harbour and the town holds an RNLI Lifeboat Day each summer.
Police Station
There is no staffed police front counter in Southwold. Call 101 for non-emergencies and 999 or 112 in an emergency.
Southwold has no A&E and no minor injuries unit. The nearest Accident and Emergency department is at the James Paget University Hospital, Lowestoft Road, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk NR31 6LA, which Southwold Town Council's own visitor site gives as 19 miles away; by road it is about 32km and roughly 35 minutes' drive. Ipswich Hospital is further, about 53km and roughly 55 minutes. For anything urgent but not life-threatening, call NHS 111 first: it is free, staffed 24 hours, and can direct you to the right service or arrange an out-of-hours appointment.
01493 452452Sole Bay Health Centre
The GP practice serving Southwold, in Reydon just across Mights Bridge, rated Outstanding by the CQC and with an adjoining pharmacy on the same site. Published opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 6.30pm, closed Saturday and Sunday. Out of hours, call NHS 111. Visitors who are not registered locally should call 111 first rather than turning up.
The hospital number given is the James Paget University Hospital switchboard. Southwold Town Council lists ten public defibrillators in the town, including the old red phone box on the corner of Victoria Street and High Street, the phone box opposite the pier, Tesco Express on Queen Street, the Swan Hotel by the Market Place, Southwold Pier, Southwold Golf Club and the rugby club on the Common, the Scout Hall on Mights Road, Fishers Funeral Directors on Field Stile Road, the caravan site on Ferry Road and the harbour manager's office. NHS prescriptions in England carry a per-item charge.
Golf
Southwold Golf Club
Field Stile Road, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6TB
A course laid out on Southwold Common at the western edge of the town, on the inland leg of the walk round the town's boundary. Green fees and visitor arrangements are published by the club; confirm before travelling.
Parking
Southwold Pier car park
Rate: Charges vary; check the board on arrival
Capacity: 335 spaces, of which 293 car, 16 disabled, 11 motorcycle, 10 motor caravan and 5 coach
The biggest car park in Southwold and the only lined one, at IP18 6BN. Its 16 blue badge bays are wider for easier access; every other car park in the town is unlined, so while blue badge holders can use them there are no defined bays and the surface is rougher.
Harbour Quay East
Rate: Charges vary; check the board on arrival
Capacity: 228 spaces
IP18 6NB, the right choice for the harbour at Blackshore, the fish company and the Walberswick ferry. A second Harbour Quay East car park at IP18 6ND holds 47.
Millennium Foundation Car Park, Mights Road
Rate: Donation box for payment
Capacity: 120 spaces
IP18 6BE. Payment is by donation box rather than machine.
Ferry Road car park
Rate: Charges vary; check the board on arrival
Capacity: 55 spaces
IP18 6HQ. A further free car park at Ferry Road North holds 9.
York Road and Godyll Road car parks
Rate: Free
York Road IP18 6AN and Godyll Road IP18 6HN. Both small and both full by mid-morning in high summer. Harbour Quay West, IP18 6TA, is also free and holds 60.
Pharmacies
Queen Street Pharmacy
18 Queen Street, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6EQ
The pharmacy in the centre of Southwold, listed by Southwold Town Council's own visitor site. Services include NHS prescriptions, NHS Pharmacy First and the new medicine service, plus private cholesterol and glucose tests and hearing screening. It lists step-free access, wheelchair access, an induction loop and guide-dog access. There is a second pharmacy adjoining the Sole Bay Health Centre in Reydon.
Supermarkets & Groceries
Tesco Express, Queen Street
Queen Street, Southwold, Suffolk
Listed by Southwold Town Council as one of the town's defibrillator sites. Southwold's shopping is otherwise almost entirely independent; the nearest large supermarkets are in Halesworth and Lowestoft.
Taxis & Rideshare
Southwold Private Hire
Also on 07917 701892. Covers station pickups at Halesworth and Darsham and airport and seaport transfers. There is no taxi rank in Southwold, so book ahead, particularly on Sundays and for early trains.
Getaway Rider
The second local private hire firm, also covering station and airport transfers. Both firms are listed by Southwold Town Council's own visitor site.
Public Toilets
Southwold Pier car park
North Parade, opposite St James Green
Church Green, Cumberland Road
Ferry Road, two separate blocks, one near the town centre and one near the harbour
WiFi & Connectivity
Southwold Library and local cafes
Southwold Library offers free PCs and wi-fi along with tourist information, and most cafes and pubs in the town offer customer wi-fi. Mobile coverage is generally reliable in the town itself and thinner out on the marshes and along the Blyth.