So go the lyrics from the track “Auschwitz to Ipswich” by Jarvis Cocker from his “self titled” solo album. Its quite difficult to find songs with Ipswich in the lyrics that are positive about the town. We debated hard and strong on whether to include Ipswich Town football chants or go for a bit of Jarvis. So here we go a bit of Jarvis.
Earlier this year Tripadvisor released a list of the Top 25 emerging travel destinations. Top of the list was Kaliningrad, Russia. We recently covered the 13th place on the list, Tulsa and by now you can guess that Ipswich is also on the list at No. 14.
In some ways its not surprising that Ipswich it up there on the list. In a survey by the Royal Mail, Ipswich was rated as the 7th most desirable place and in a separate service, the 3rd happiest place to live in the UK.
Although settled in Roman times, Ipswich grew due to the importance of maritime trading in the middle ages. The riverfront area of the town used to be a hub of activity with boats loading and unloading their wares. Today the boats are for pleasure. There are a number of boat trips you can book lasting from an hour up to 3 and half hours down the River Orwell to the port of Felixstowe. You can even book dinner on a river barge. For those of you who prefer to keep your feet on dry land, there is plenty of choice to eat and drink along the waterfront.
The oldest surviving building on the Ipswich Waterfront is over 175 years old. The Old Customs House as it is known today has been at the centre of Ipswich’s maritime story since its construction in 1845. It was built to coincide with the construction of the Wet Dock. An area of thirty-three acres and an island of fourteen acres. When the dock when built, it was the largest in the country exceeding any of the docks in London, Liverpool or Hull. The building was designed by local architect, John Medland Clark who won a competition for the design. The iron door shown above was the entrance to the bonded stores and sits beneah the stairways to the main entrance.
Christchurch Mansion is a beautiful brick built Tudor House. Vistors can visit the rooms that show the history of the house from Tudor to Victorian times. In addition there are a number of collections available to view incluing the biggest selection of works by Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable outside of London.
Ipswich has great road transport routes in part due to its position near the main east coast ports. In addition it has good rail links to London, Cambridge, Peterborough, Norwich and the whole of the East Anglian region. In fact one of the hidden gems in Ipswich is the Ipswich Transport Musuem that is housed in the old Trolleybus Depot. Please check their opening hours before travelling as they are restricted. The collection started with one bus now inludes include trams, trolleybuses, motorbuses, lorries, fire engines, horse drawn vehicles, bicycles, prams, ambulances, a police car, and even a funeral hearse.
Ipswich is the entertainment capital of the region with an exciting summer events programme, thriving theatres, cinemas, clubs and bars.
Yet, wherever you stay in or around the town you are only minutes away from picture postcard villages, Constable Country and the Heritage Coast. We will cover these in more detail at a later date.
Contact Maggie today to get to you started with ideas of where to stay not just in Ipswich but anywhere on Tripadvisor’s Top 25 up and coming tourist destinations.
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