Wolf Way

• When to go – The Suffolk geology is sandy and well-drained such that the Winter Wolf route variant is generally ridable throughout the year. It avoids the seasonal ferry crossing, so is slightly longer than the Summer Wolf route. Expect mud on some of the off-road bridleways and tracks after very heavy rain, but this often makes the very sandy sections more rideable.
• Logistics – The route is circular and passes through several towns with train stations, making it easy to join by rail. Ipswich is on the mainline to London with good connections. Visitors from Europe can take the Hoek to Harwich Ferry, and a short ride on the Harwich Harbour ferry allows you to easily join the route at Languard Point.
• Dangers and Annoyances – some of the bridleways can be quite sandy after dry weather, and bumpy in places if cows and horses have been down them. Watch out for herds of red deer crashing across forest trails.
• Travel basics – the Summer Wolf Route has a weather-dependent seasonal ferry crossing from Felixstowe Ferry to Bawdsey, so always check with the ferryman that it’s running. Otherwise, you’ll have to ride around the river Deben to Cross near Woodbridge.
• What bike – we recommend using a gravel bike or similar, with at least 32mm tyres to deal with the sandy sections and rough bridleways. An MTB or hybrid would also be fine.

Bikepacking Route Variants

• Summer Wolf Way (including Seasonal ferry crossing of the Deben) – 260 miles
• Winter Wolf Way (avoids ferry crossing, can be ridden all year round) – 276 miles
• East Wolf (Shorter Coastal Loop) – 174 miles

Shorter Route Variants

• Wolf Cub Bury St Edmunds – 64 miles
• Wolf Cub Ipswich (passes thru 4 train stations) – 53 miles
• Wolf Cub Woodbridge – (includes seasonal ferry crossing of the Deben) – 45 miles
• Wolverine (short family friendly ride around cycle paths and quiet lanes) – 9 miles

The POI map lists many places to stay including campsites, hotels, Pubs and; B&Bs, along with cafés, restaurants and shops and other places of interest.
There are several really good campsites along most of the route, many of which are very welcoming to cyclists, notably:

• Wardley Hill Camping (Near Beccles) – also offer 10% discount to Wolf Way riders using WOLFWAY10 discount code
• The Shottisham Campsite (just after ferry crossing near Bawdsey) – and it has Alpacas!
• Henny Riverside Camping (just south of Sudbury)
• Hillside Camping (Near Hopton)

There are several really good glamping options notably:

• Hippersons Boatyard (Beccles) – amazing floating camping pods, special offer to Wolfway riders!
• Springlake Leisure (Near Lowestoft)
• Maglia Rosso (near Bury St Edmunds) – also has bike shop and café onsite.

There are also plenty of wild-camping options in the forest along the coastal part of the route, notably:

• Rendlesham Forest
• Tunstall Forest

There are also plenty of bike-friendly pubs, B&Bs and Hotels along the whole route, check out the Facebook group for recommendations from other riders who have had good experiences at many of these.

• There are loads of places to get food and supplies all along the route, as it goes through several towns and villages.
• This includes some amazing cafes and cake shops see this Facebook group for recommendations.
• There’s also plenty of churchyard taps if you want free water.

The route starts by the statue of St Edmund and his guardian, the wolf, in the Great Church Yard, adjacent to Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, a short ride from the station. You head out of town on quiet cycle paths towards Bradfield St Clare. Not far from here is the SSSI Bradfield Woods, a remnant of ancient wildwood, where you can find ancient, coppiced ash trees thought to be 1,000 years old.

As you continue south towards Thorpe Morieux, you’ll pass the crash site of the US flying fortress B17G, marked with a plaque. A little further down the trail, you’ll find a memorial dedication with some remnants of mangled metal and a board detailing what happened on 27 March 1944. Not far from here, you’ll reach the medieval wool town of Lavenham, with its half-timbered houses and 15th-century church. Close by is the similarly picturesque Brent Eleigh, where you can stop for a coffee and cake in the lovely gardens of Café Como, a popular cycle destination.

Continuing south, you soon reach Long Melford. In the country park, the route joins an old railway line that skirts around Sudbury and Great Cornard, into the Stour Valley, and on to Bures. Here, you can head up Cuckoo Hill to the viewpoint and see the mythical Bures Dragon carved into the adjacent hillside. You ride through the western tip of Dedham Vale AONB, past Arger Fen and Tiger Hill. On reaching Hadleigh, you join another disused railway line before continuing eastwards to Ipswich. Following cycle paths through the city and along the Orwell, past the ships in Ipswich Docks, you’re within easy reach of the station, hotels, and other facilities. A gentle climb through Hollywell Park then you’re heading out for the east coast.

All the routes will take you through the Suffolk Coasts and Heaths AONB, starting in Rendlesham Forest. This is the location of a Britain’s Roswell-equivalent UFO sighting, near RAF Woodbridge, and is marked by a UFO trail that leads you to the mothership in the heart of the forest. A little further along, as you approach Butley, is something even more remarkable: Staverton Park and the Thicks. This has to be one of the most magical places in the UK, where the country’s tallest holly trees tower over ancient pollard oaks. It is a place of Tolkienesque wonder and beauty, with its hordes of marching Ents, and should not be missed. Soon, you will be in Orford Ness, where you can take a ferry over to Europe’s largest shingle spit and explore the nature reserve that was once a military radar and atomic testing site.

Thorpeness is Suffolk’s unique holiday village. Created in the Edwardian period, it has Tudor- and Jacobean-style homes, including the House in the Clouds and the Magical Mere, a Peter Pan-inspired boating lake. At the Leiston Gap, you’ll see the imposing hulk of the Sizewell B Power station. You can stop for a brew at the Sizewell T Café and spot seals swimming in the warm sea there. A spectacular bridleway through the heart of the Minsmere RSPB reserve takes you to Dunwich. Dunwich was once the capital city of the East Angles, until the harbour became blocked in a huge 13th century storm and coastal erosion destroyed it. Some of the old priory remains, and Dunwich beach is the destination of the overnight cycle ride, the Dunwich Dynamo, every summer.

Southwold is next, home to the famous pier, lighthouse, and the Adnams Brewery. It’s a great place for fish and chips on the seawall or any other of the cornucopia of foody delights, including George Orwell’s former family home, now a fish and chip shop at the end of the high street. Lowestoft is a busy harbour town, and you’ll have to join the traffic to cross over the Waveney’s inner harbour. However, you’re soon back onto a quiet cycle path heading for the UK’s most easterly point. It’s marked with a giant compass pointing to nearby cities over the seas, giving you the distance were you able to glide there like an albatross. You follow a lovely section of EuroVelo route 12, the North Sea coastal route, along the seawall, until you reach Links Road which climbs steeply back up into the city.

Now, you follow more cycle paths and quieter roads back to re-cross the Waveney at Oulton Broad, a popular park with cafés overlooking the water. Then it’s westwards, skimming the top of the Norfolk Broads at Mutford and Beccles. You cross the Waveney a third time at Mendham, just south of Harleston, then it’s on to Hoxne, where St Edmund was martyred—his hiding place under the Goldbrook bridge being given away by a glint of his gold spurs to a newly married couple. St Edmund put a curse on all couples crossing the bridge on their way to get married, which is still strong to this day.

Hoxne is also where the Hoxne Hoard was found, Britain’s largest collection of silver and gold coins, now residing in the British Museum and said to be worth more than £2,600,000. Not far from Hoxne is Eye, named after the old English word for island, indicating its watery past. Next, you will reach Mellis, with its beautiful common, and ride down Cow Pasture Lane, which was famously saved by local environmentalist and author Roger Deakin. His novel Waterlog revitalised wild swimming in Britain, and he spent years restoring and tending Walnut Tree Farm to be a haven for wildlife. Eventually you’ll arrive at Knettishall Heath, another SSSI and the start point of the Peddars Way, an ancient Roman road linking the Icknield Way with the Norfolk coast at Holme-next-the-Sea.
The Angles Way and Iceni Way also meet here.

If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the Exmoor ponies and grab a coffee from the café van in the visitor car park. You join the Icknield Way here and follow wide sandy tracks through the Euston Estate to Berner’s Heath, past an old concrete tank target, then down the rutted rollercoaster tracks of Deadman’s Grave to the beautiful flowing trails through Cavenham Heath, stopover place for stone-curlews at the end of summer. You can grab a last-minute coffee and cake at the Purple Pantry when you approach Cavenham village. You’re now approaching the journey’s end, coming back into Bury St Edmunds via Risby and Fornham All Saints.

Additional Resources

• There is a Wolf Way Website that hosts the all versions of the routes, and links to some useful resources including the POI Map for places to eat, drink, and sleep.
• The Storymap has a more interactive list of surrounding places of culture and heritage.
• There is also a Facebook group to share route planning tips, connect local business with riders, and share trip photos and tales of adventure.
• Here is a nice Guardian article about the route.