Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk. Mostly recognised for its football club, it has recently had new developments such as the Waterfront entertainment district, the University Campus Suffolk and new shopping developments are under construction.

Understand

Ipswich was one of the most prosperous cities in the UK since Saxon times. During its heyday it was a major trading port, being located on the estuary of the Orwell River on the East Coast. Ipswich fell into rapid decline after the opening of the new ports at Felixstowe and Harwich and stayed that way until the 1970s when much of London's financial services industry used Ipswich as a hub for their secondary offices with names such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Willis Group (pka Willis Faber & Dumas), Norwich Union and AXA opening shiny new skyscrapers in a new CBD development just north of the river. Most recently, the brand new University Campus Suffolk brought on rapid development along the waterfront area with lots of trendy new bars, restaurants and apartments lining the east bank of the river.

Anyone expecting a typical, small provincial town will get a little culture shock when stepping out of the train station as 1960s tower blocks, Saxon half-timber cottages, Victorian townhouses and shiny new high-rise developments sit side-by-side.

Get in

By Air Ipswich has good connections to both London Stansted and Norwich International airports. From Stansted, there is an express bus service (X5) which runs between Ipswich Old Cattle Market Bus Station and Stansted Airport Coach Station every 2 hours, 24 hours a day; taking approx. 90 minutes. Expect to pay around GBP75 for a prebooked minicab and over GBP100 for a metered taxi.

Norwich Airport can be reached in approx. 1-1.5 hours. From the airport, take a local bus or a taxi to Norwich Railway Station and from there it's about 40 minutes by train to Ipswich. A taxi will be about GBP50-60.

By Train Ipswich Station is located on the West Bank of the Orwell River on the intersection between Princes St, Burrell Rd and Ranelagh Rd, about 1 mile from the town centre. There are frequent services (every 20 minutes) to London Liverpool Street (1hr10mins journey time), Norwich (every 30 mins - 40min journey time), Cambridge (every hour - 1hr20min journey time), as well as services every two hours to Lowestoft and Peterborough, and an hourly service to Felixstowe. Tickets must be purchased from the vending machines (credit cards accepted) or at the ticket office in the entrance hall of the station. Taxis and local buses depart from the station's forecourt.

There is also a smaller station called Derby Rd. Ipswich, located on Derby Rd in the eastern suburb of Rose Hill. It is unstaffed and has an hourly service between Ipswich and Felixstowe. It's not recommended to take a train from here at night as there are no staff and very little lighting or CCTV.

By Bus and Coach Old Cattle Market bus station on Falcon Street serves all regional and long-distance bus services. Frequent regional buses run to Stowmarket, Sudbury, Woodbridge, Felixstowe, Colchester, Framlingham etc., while National Express services run to London (3 times per day), Liverpool (1 per day), and Stansted Airport (every 2 hours). Rural bus and minibus services run to surrounding villages, although some are very infrequent. There is no ticket office at the station, so tickets should be bought on board (change is usually available but drivers will be reluctant to change large bills), except for National Express services, which must be prebooked by phone or over the internet. Electronic signboards display the next 20 or so departures and which stand they will depart from. Schedules are displayed at each departure gate.

By Car Ipswich is conveniently located on the intersections of the A12 (London - Great Yarmouth) and A14 (Felixstowe - Birmingham) highways with several exits along both routes. Driving into the city can be slow as traffic congestion is heavy. Also, a very confusing one-way system runs around the edge of the city centre, feeding drivers into the rabbit-warren of small streets. Maps and sat-navs are a bit useless once you're past the inner ring-road so allow plenty of time. Parking is very limited and expensive (in an underground or multi-storey city centre car park expect to pay about GBP9.00 for 3 hours) although some parking areas close to the inner ring-road will charge around GBP2.50 for one day, although they are not as secure. Alternatively, Park & Ride bus services run from 3 parking sites on the edge of the city close to the A14, costing GBP2.80 per day including free bus travel to the city centre. Look out for the blue Park & Ride signs (displaying a letter 'P' alongside a bus) when approaching Ipswich on the highway.

Get around

By Bus Local urban bus services are provided by Ipswich Buses and First Eastern Counties and radiate from the Tower Ramparts Bus Station. The green and white Ipswich buses cover most urban routes and link to surrounding suburbs and retail parks. Most services run every 10–20 minutes during the day time and every 30–60 minutes in the early morning and late evening - most services start around 5:30am and finish around 11:00pm. There's a flat fare of GBP1.80 which is paid into the farebox next to the driver - if you don't have exact change you'll be issued with a voucher that can be used as part-payment on your next journey or can be refunded at the Ipswich Buses customer service office at Tower Ramparts bus station. Day passes, weekly and monthly tickets are available, as well as a rechargeable smart-card for regular travellers. First Eastern Counties services are less frequent except for #66 which runs every 15 minutes between Bourne Bridge and Martlesham and runs 24 hours a day. Fares on First buses are charged by distance and return tickets are available - change is also given but drivers are reluctant to change anything bigger than a GBP5.00 note. Tickets are not interchangeable between operators.

A useful service for tourists is the #38 which loops the town centre and is free of charge - useful for getting to know your way around. An open-top sightseeing bus runs a circuit of nearby tourist attractions during the summer months.

By car Driving around Ipswich is not recommended - traffic is often heavy, the rabbit-warren of one-way streets is confusing and parking can be expensive. However, a car is more useful if you're staying in the suburbs or plan on travelling to some more remote attractions away from the town.

By taxi Taxis in Ipswich are cheap by British standards. Metered taxis can be found at taxi-stands outside the train station, the Old Cattle Market bus station and on a side-street beside Debenhams just off Crown Street - hailing a taxi in the street is not recommended as most taxi drivers will wait in a taxi rank rather than cruise for passengers. Phone-booked minicabs are cheaper and will take you to more inaccessible locations, but can be hard to book late on Friday and Saturday nights. Note that if you want to travel by taxi to a nearby town such as Felixstowe or Stowmarket, local minicabs in those towns will usually be cheaper than those in Ipswich.

On Foot Ipswich town centre is very compact and much of the town-centre is pedestrianised so walking is often the fastest and most pleasant way of getting around. However, walking at night is not so fun - walking beyond the town centre usually involves passing some unpleasant areas and walking through the public underpasses that cross the 'inner ring' or along by the river can sometimes be unsafe - take a taxi instead.

By bicycle Ipswich Borough Council has gone to great lengths in recent years to make the town more cycle-friendly, and most major routes into the town centre have cycle or bus lanes, although they are often ignored by motorists, many of whom are not happy with sharing the road with cyclists, so it helps to have a good level of confidence in urban cycling. Alternatively, there are several signposted cycle routes taking in quiet residential streets, traffic free trails through the towns many parks and contraflow cycle lanes that allow cyclists to travel in both directions on a one way street. National Cycle Network routes 1 and 51 pass though Ipswich, and the borough council produces a free cycle map.

See

• Christchurch Mansion and Park.

• The Ancient House on Buttermarket. Now a branch of the Lakelands chain of stores, its pargetting is definitely worth the walk.

• Also, for architecture enthusiasts, the Willis Building. The first commercial construction by Norman, now Lord Foster, this building has won numerous awards and was in 1991 made into a Grade I listed building - the youngest building ever to receive such a status.

Note however that the building is in commercial use and so is not as such open to the public.

• A walk by the docks can be of interest, especially as most of the old former grain store buildings on the dockside are being demolished and being replaced by new luxury apartments, high-rise offices and entertainment complexes.

• The Ipswich Museum. Now merged with the Colchester Museum, first opened in 1847 and though small compared to any of the London museums, entrance is free and there are some interesting exhibits.

• Ipswich has the third largest number of medieval churches in the United Kingdom, after the City of London and Norwich. Medieval churches include the civic church St Mary Le Tower, the oldest church in the town St Peter's (now out of use), St Margeret's in 'Christchurch Park, the Anglo-Catholic St Mary Elms and the ruins of Ipswich Blackfriars. Non Anglican churches of interest include the Unitarian Meeting House (the oldest purpose built non conformist chapel in England) and St Pancras which just missed becoming the Catholic Cathedral for Eastern England.

Do

• Ipswich is home to Ipswich Town Football Club, a team currently residing in the second league of English football ("The Championship") and its ground, Portman Road, is close to the centre of Ipswich. The ground has been extended to seat 30,000 people, and if you visit Ipswich and are yourself, or with someone, keen on football, it's worth a visit - a friendly ground, with large amounts of family spectators. Also look out for the Sir Alf Ramsay and Sir Bobby Robson statues.

• Ipswich has two cinemas, Cineworld and Corn Exchange arts cinema, plus the Regent Theatre, which has featured appearances from, amongst others, The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Rufus Wainright, The Foo Fighters, Ricky Gervais, Deren Brown and Jimmy Carr. The Wolsey Theatre hosts productions year round and is soon to be joined by the Witchbottle theatra which will be opening in 2010.

• Ipswich is home to the main centre for Dance in the East of England at the Jerwood Dance House. Open since 2009, this gem is already captivating audiences with performances of the highest order.

• Ipswich has several art galleries, check out Eyestorm gallery, The John Russell Gallery and The Town Hall Galleries.

• If architecture is your passion then look out for Ancient House, Wolseys Gate, The Willis Building (designed by Sir Norman Foster), St Lawrence Church, St Mary le-tower, Christchurch Mansion and the Unitarian Meeting House. There are timber framed building throughout the town centre as well.

• The Suffolk Leisure park located on the edge of the town has a dri ski slope and golf driving ranges. This is soon to be overshadowed however by the huge SnOasis development on the edge of the town. When complete this will be the largest indoor real snow ski slope in the world, and will also feature and ice rink, a snowboarding half pipe and many winter olympic sport facilities. not to mention many hotels and restaurants.

• The Ipswich Market is a growing attraction, this is mainly due to the food! From hog roasts and jacket potatoes to Caribbean and Tunisian cuisine you are never stuck for something to eat.

• Ipswich has many beautiful parks but the best has to be Christchurch Park. Located on the edge of the city centre this park features some beautiful gardens, tennis courts and Christchurch Mansion. It also has two large pond areas and plenty of room for sport.

Buy

Ipswich was nothing special when it came to shopping - however several independent stores have opened in recent years, Urban Vintage is the best choice for men located on Queen Street, as well as Blacksheep located near the buttermarket, further along on St. Nicholas Street and St. Peters Street there are several choices for women in Aura, Marianna and Caramel. Other independent stores for men include Jonty's(Tacket Street) and the department store Coes on Norwich Road.

A long pedestrianized street (Northgate Street, Tavern Street, Carr Street) runs right across the town centre and is lined with big-name stores such as H and M, Gap, Debenhams, Boots, Marks & Spencer etc. A few smaller pedestrian streets house some smaller retailers and is the best place to find small, independent retailers. There are 2 main indoor shopping malls (Buttermarket Centre and Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre) although neither are anything special, this is where you can find Topshop, Topman, laura Ashley and TK Maxx.

The south-eastern part of Norwich Road is a good place to see Ipswich's vibrant ethnic community and the street is lined with shops and restaurants selling food, snacks and local products from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, India and elsewhere.

Many locals now prefer shopping in out-of-town retail parks and superstores. Copdock Interchange retail park close to the intersection between the A12 and A14 highways in the southwest of Ipswich is one of the largest with a 24-hour Tesco Extra superstore, Toys R Us, PC World, Currys (electronics and appliances) and several fast-food chains including Burger King, McDonalds and Pizza Hut (take Bus 13 from Tower Ramparts and get off at the last stop - by car it's close to the A12/A14 Copdock Interchange and at the end of the A1214 London Road from Ipswich town centre - free parking). Anglia Retail Park in the northwest of Ipswich close to the A14 highway is also popular and has an Asda superstore, B&Q home-improvement and the usual furniture and appliance stores, plus a McDonalds and a KFC (Bus 8 from Tower Ramparts - get off at the last stop - by car it's close to the Ipswich/Bury Road exit of the A14, at the top end of Norwich Road from the town centre).

The main supermarket serving the town centre is Sainsbury on Upper Brook Street. There is a larger Sainsbury on Hadleigh Road close to the train station, and there's a small branch of Somerfield on Carr Street in the town centre. Most other supermarkets are located out of town in large retail parks - the two largest are listed above. Convenience stores such as Martins, Co-op, Spar, Tesco Express and Premier can be found everywhere - most are open from 6AM-11PM, although many petrol station convenience stores are 24-hour.

Eat

St Nicholas Street in Ipswich has several restaurants. You can eat Greek, Italian, French, Thai, Chinese, Indian and modern British cuisine. The best of these are Keo's and The Galley for British food, The Ghandi and Zaika for Indian Food, Trongs for Chinese, and Kwan Thai for Thai.

Another good area to eat in is the waterfront with an abundance of local choices, lots of good British cuisine and also a French restaurant. The best by far along here is The Salthouse Harbour Hotel which is rated very highly. Others worth a try are The Bistro on the Quay, Il Punto, The Waterfront, and Quayside.

Away from the two main areas are plenty more options. The Arboretum, located near the Ipswich museum is fast becoming a town favourite with rave reviews. Award winning restaurant Aqua Eight serves unrivalled Chinese and south east Asian food. My Keralam (southern Indian) and Mr.Wings (Chinese) offer good food right next to the Ipswich Regent Theatre.

Options out of the town centre include The Greyhound on Henley Road, The Tuddenham Fountain on Tuddenham Road and Milsoms at Kesgrave located off the Main Kesgrave Road.

• Loch Fyne at Mortimers on the Quay. Average, overpriced, seafood restaurant that has very very few vegetarian options (most parties have someone that needs to be catered for). 

• Il Punto's. On the dockside. Despite its name, a good French restaurant on a boat permanently moored on the Quay. Probably the best restaurant in town, though a bit expensive. 

• Trongs, ☏ +44 1473 256833. Ipswich's best Chinese restaurant (though the proprietor is Vietnamese); the main problem is booking is required at least a week in advance if you wish to dine on a Friday or Saturday evening. 

• My Keralam, ☏ +44 1473 288599. Ipswich's only real Indian (South Indian) restaurant (there are other Bangladeshi restaurants in town). Superb food, a bit of a small restaurant and the lighting could be better. Good vegetarian, fish and a few meat dishes. Very efficient service, reasonable prices. Diagonally opposite the Regent Theater. 

• Kwan Thai Restaurant, 14 St. Nicholas Street, ☏ +44 1473 253106. 
• Townhouse Restaurant, Orwell Place, ☏ +44 1473 230254. The Townhouse is a great restaurant in the town centre, serving contemporary British food. 
• Brewery Tap, Cliff Road, ☏ +44 1473 225501. The Brewery Tap is a fantastic pub serving really great locally sourced food made on the premises by a great chef. They also serve a wide range of local beers, including the Suffolk lager, Calvors. If this place had an ego, it would be a gastro pub. Quiz night every other Thursday and regular live music of the acoustic variety that you can still hold a conversation over. If Carlsberg (which they don't serve) made pubs... ;-) 
• Zaika, St Nicholas St, Ipswich, ☏ +44 1473 210110. Zaika is the best Indian restaurant in Ipswich. The menu has a lot of the standard curry house fayre on it, but also a very good range of dishes unique to them. Everything is made on the premises from raw ingredients. It's a tad more expensive than most others, but well worth it. You'll need to book to get in. 

Drink

For daytime summer drinking the only place to be is Isaac's along the waterfront, a fantastic establishment with huge outdoor area and 4 separate bars to reduce queuing.

Churches, Zing Bar, Barcoda, The Swan, and Keo's are the pick of the town centre bars.

• The Greyhound. About ten minute's walk from the town centre, is a pub serving a good range of food and again is TV-free.

• Fat Cat, Spring Road. About 15 minutes walk from the centre, is worth a visit. Formerly Suffolk Pub of the Year, again it's TV-free, but more importantly has a range of around 20 beers on draught at any one time - a beer drinker's paradise. There is an excellent beer garden and the pub has an arrangement with local take-away restaurants who will deliver food + plates and collect these from the pub direct.

• The Milestone, Which offers a wide range of beers and live music of the traditional R & B type - i.e. played by middle-aged men who have real jobs in the day. The Railway is probably the best "live music" pub in Ipswich, featuring "indie" style bands on Thursdays, and mostly cover bands at the weekend. Mostly free admission.

• The Dove, St. Helen's Street and nearer to the centre of Ipswich. Sometime in the near future will be adding a Microbrewery and B&B services. Was voted Suffolk Pub of the Year and East Anglian Pub of the Year 2006 by CAMRA, and winning numerous publican awards since. Dove Street Inn

• The Brewery Tap, Cliff Road, IP3 0AT, ☏ +44 1473 225501. The Brewery Tap is a fantastic pub serving really great locally sourced food made on the premises by a great chef. They also serve a wide range of local beers, including the Suffolk lager, Calvors. If this place had an ego, it would be a gastro pub. Quiz night every other Thursday and regular live music of the acoustic variety that you can still hold a conversation over. If Carlsberg (which they don't serve) made pubs... ;-) 

Clubs

• Liquid can be a haven for the barely-legal drinker - however most nights the Envy room is over 21's or over 25's.
• Fire and Ice is a favorite, playing old school as well as more recent dance music, as well as a popular indie/alternative night on Mondays with cheap cover fee and even cheaper drinks.

Sleep

• Swallow Belstead Brook Hotel, ☏ +44 1473 684241, res.belstead@crerarmgmt.com. Situated in 9 acres of gardens and offering heated pool, gym & therapeutic spa as well as restaurant facilities. 

• Salthouse Harbour hotel on the Ipswich docks has been highly recommended as an up market alternative to the many Novotel / Holiday Inns available in the town.

• Lattice Lodge, Woodbridge Road. Award winning urban eco bed and breakfast, using 100% renewable electricity, among myriad other green features. A great B & B, very comfortable accommodation, also features free wireless broadband. Tel +44 1473 712474, email=info@latticelodge.co.uk url=http://www.latticelodge.co.uk Online booking available.

Stay Safe

Despite the sensationalized news reports about the Suffolk Murders and the nightclub shootings in Ipswich, crime is no more rampant here than in any other similar-sized town. Avoid getting into confrontations, particularly in bars, as things get a bit nasty. There are several no-go areas at night - most notably Chantry, Gainsborough and Greenwich, as well as the residential areas around Norwich Road, although the average tourist will find no need to go to these areas, and if you stick to the main arterial roads you'll be safe. Avoid using Derby Road train station at night as it's poorly lit, isolated and unstaffed. Be careful of parking your car in quiet residential streets at night, or leaving your car in a privately run 'budget car park' such as the one at the waterfront, as car break-ins and car-thefts are common - use a town-centre car park operated by Ipswich Borough Council or NCP instead.

There's a strong rivalry between Ipswich Town FC and Norwich City FC - on match days avoid wearing football colours or saying things that may provoke a football-related confrontation. That said, the rivelry here is not as serious as it is between for example Birmingham City and Aston Villa in Birmingham; or Chelsea and Arsenal in London and football hooliganism is rare.

Go next

Ipswich sits in a beautiful area of East Anglia - "Constable Country". In fact, the setting of Constable's most famous painting, "The Haywain", is only a few miles down the A12 road (heading towards London) in nearby Flatford - click here to see how the site looks today. There is a National Trust centre in Flatford that is worth a visit, if only for the good home-made cakes on sale. Dedham nearby is worth driving onto.

About the same distance - i.e. less than ten miles - out of Ipswich is the attractive market town of Woodbridge (located on the A12, heading out towards Lowestoft). Woodbridge was once a major port, in Tudor times, and the town is still popular today amongst sailors, with a high population of retired City types who have settled in this part of the world to "mess around on boats". You can also reach Woodbridge via train from Ipswich, although the service is far from frequent. Woodbridge has many antique shops, tea shops and old pubs, and is mainly pedestrianised. Worth a visit, especially if you are, or are travelling with, someone elderly. On the outskirts is a mill (clearly signposted from the A12), the only survivor of the 10 or more which used to feed the soldiers barracked in the area during the Napoleonic wars. Places to eat: "Spice" on the main street "the Thoroughfare" or the Captains Table. To drink: the Kings Head on the town square.

Just outside of Woodbridge is Sutton Hoo, an Anglo Saxon burial ground of royal princes, buried alongside priceless treasures in ship graves. The National Trust exhibitor centre can be found here: website. In all honesty, although the site is doubtless of great historical interest, the exhibition itself is somewhat thinly stretched. (If you want to see any of the treasures found here, you'll have to go to the British Museum in London.) Worth going to if you are in the area, anyone travelling some distance to the site could be disappointed.

On the way to Woodbridge, the villages of Waldringfield and Newbourne, both off the A12, have pubs offering good food and, in the case of Waldringfield, an attractive view over the River Deben.

Five miles outside of Woodbridge is Rendlesham Forest, site of possibly the only authenticated UFO landing in the UK (!) but also good for cycling round, with bikes available to hire in the Easter / Summer school holiday periods.

Levington - between Ipswich and Felixstowe - sits on a river estuary, and features preserved wetlands which house many migratory birds. The pub there ("The Ship") does wonderful food - liver and bacon and any of the seafood especially recommended - no bookings taken. Their wine's pretty poor though. Have a quick walk before or after visiting the pub down to the river - footpath just opposite the pub, which is the only place to park in the village.

Further out of Ipswich, Orford Castle (12 miles outside Woodbridge, on the B1084) is worth a visit in good weather - the castle is over 800 years old, in good condition for a building of that age, and Orford itself is an attractive village, with good fish and chips available from pubs and restaurants at the far end of the village.