Car-free ways to visitFilm and TV locationsSuffolk

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Beaches and bars, marshes and mansions, half-timbered cottages and glass-walled office blocks: Suffolk’s unique landscapes and buildings have often been used to film all kinds of stories from crime dramas and fantasies to true-life stories of war, royalty and archaeology. And you can get to lots of them by public transport or a short walk in the countryside. Here are some great film and TV locations that you can reach without a car.

County: Suffolk
Great for: film locations | good cafés and pubs | military history | museums | scenic bus and train |
Refreshments: lots of great cafes, restaurants and pubs.
Please note: researched/updated in January 2026. If anything’s changed or you have more tips to share, do get in touch: [email protected]

1. Masters of the Air

This 2024 TV miniseries is an exciting new drama about the US air force bombers who were based in East Anglia during World War II. The series was filmed elsewhere, but thousands of the real-life Masters of the Air spent the war in Suffolk. You can visit recently-declassified nerve centres where people worked to win the war as well as sites associated with American bombers.
- One of the easier places to reach is Bury St Edmunds Guildhall, which has the only surviving World War II Operations Room of the Royal Observer Corps. You can visit the operations room on open days or book a tour of the Guildhall.
- How do I get to Bury St Edmunds Guildhall without a car? Regular trains from Cambridge and Ipswich arrive at Bury St Edmunds station. From there, it’s a pleasant 20-minute stroll through town.
- You can book guided walks around the town to visit sites related to the extraordinary stories behind Masters of the Air. Just up the road, Moyses Hall Museum is a fascinating place with all kinds of extraordinary exhibits from gory gibbet cages to a lock of May Tudor’s hair. It’s home to the Suffolk Regiment Gallery and the museum also hosts an annual exhibition of Sci Fi and Film artefacts, where you can see original props and costumes belonging to private collectors.
- What else was filmed in Bury St Edmunds? Scenes from The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) were filmed on nearby Angel Hill and inside the Theatre Royal.
- What other sites are connected with Masters of the Air? Not too far from Bury St Edmunds is Rougham Control Tower museum, which opens on Sundays in summer. The Gliding Club at Rattlesden Airfield near Stowmarket has developed an exhibition about the history of the site, including the US bombers who stayed there. Parham Airfield Museum also has open days from March to October and is closest to Wickham Market station. Follow Good Journey’s directions.
- How do I get there? These isolated historic sites are quite tricky to reach without a car, but there are various options. From the nearest bus stop or station, you could book ahead with the demand-responsive service at Connecting Communities. If you’re feeling energetic, you can cycle from the nearest station – or even walk. Rougham Control Tower is a couple of miles from Thurston station, mostly along traffic-free cycleway 51. Parham Airfield Museum is four miles north of Wickham Market railway station on quiet lanes or footpaths.
- And finally, the Airmen’s Bar at the Swan is a short bus ride from Bury St Edmunds (see 2 below). Servicemen from RAF Lavenham used to drink here and the walls display more than 1,000 signatures and lots of military memorabilia. The nearby airbase was home to one group of the Eighth US Army Air Force, nicknamed the “Mighty Eighth”, subject of Masters of the Air. Lavenham Guildhall also has a gallery devoted to the Mighty Eighth. Read on for more about Lavenham…

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Twelve miles south of Bury St Edmunds is the village of Lavenham with its spectacular medieval guildhall and towering church. Lavenham’s old timber-framed cottages are so picturesque, it’s hardly surprising they’ve often been used as film locations.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 used houses from this village to represent the village of Godric’s Hollow, where Harry Potter lived with his parents before Voldemort murdered them.
- The Guildhall in Lavenham’s market place, now in the care of the National Trust, is one of England’s most impressive timber-framed buildings. There’s an interesting museum inside too. De Vere House on colourful Water Street has also been used for filming a cottage in Godric’s Hollow and you can even stay there in real life at the B&B.
- How do I get to Lavenham without a car? Follow Good Journey’s directions to Lavenham, using bus 43 from Sudbury or Bury St Edmunds (not Sundays). In both cases it leaves from the bus station. Sudbury bus station is just a few minutes’ walk from the railway station. Bury St Edmunds’ bus station is slightly further away – maybe 15 minutes’ walk. One of several pleasant walking routes is to stroll along St John’s Street, where you will pass numerous cafes.
- What else has been filmed here? Episodes of the TV drama Lovejoy, the 1960s film Witchfinder General and lots more.
- And is there anywhere to eat? Of course! Lavenham is bursting with great pubs and cafes.

3. Magpie Murders

The idyllic little village of Kersey provided a perfect time-warped location for Britbox’s 2022 miniseries Magpie Murders, shown on BBC One in 2023. Starring Leslie Manville and Tim McMullan, several scenes from the six-part serial were shot here. The picturesque village has dozens of listed buildings like the distinctive brick-gabled River House next to the ford and the flint-walled St Mary’s church on a hill at one end of the village, which becomes a crucial location.
- Other scenes filmed in Suffolk include some shots of Woodbridge station, where the author Alan Conway is seen walking over the bridge with boats in the background. The show opens with Greater Anglia’s Stansted Express arriving in Liverpool Street, one of the few London locations that were actually filmed there. Elsewhere, the Norman Foster-designed Willis Building in Ipswich, a gleaming glass-walled office block, stands in for London.
- How I do get to Kersey without a car? Bus 91 runs every couple of hours from Ipswich or Sudbury to Hadleigh. From here, Kersey is about two miles away. One option for getting there is a pleasant cross-country walk. This does involve carefully crossing the main road, but includes a beautiful riverside stroll and flowering meadows. Visitors could also cycle, get a taxi or book ahead with Connecting Communities (01473 826242).
- Is there anywhere to have lunch in Kersey? Absolutely! One of many great things about a leisurely country walk to the village is treating yourself to lunch at the thirteenth-century Bell Inn, which became the on-screen Queen’s Head.

4. Yesterday

After an accident leaves him with concussion, Lowestoft musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) wakes up to find that the Beatles never existed and he seems to be the only person who remembers their songs. Yesterday, Danny Boyle’s feel-good celebration of music, featuring local boy Ed Sheeran, is rooted in the landscapes of East Anglia. The film makes use of several Suffolk locations, including the Latitude Festival in Henham Park, which organises buses from Halesworth Station.
- Halesworth Thoroughfare, the town’s main shopping street, is the road that Jack and Ellie (Lily James) run through on the way to meet Gavin, who wants to record Jack’s songs, in the Hideout café (now sadly closed).
- The Thoroughfare easy to get to as trains from Lowestoft and Ipswich stop at Halesworth Railway Station hourly and the High Street is about ten minutes’ stroll from there. Bus X41 from Norwich stops even closer, just a couple of minutes from the White Hart.
- A more remote location, but worth a bit of forward planning is the Ramsholt Arms on the shore of the beautiful River Deben. Jack first sings Yesterday to his friends at a waterside table outside this brilliant pub. As he sings, the camera swings round to show views children playing near the estuary in golden afternoon light and then views of the pub and beach with boats in the foreground.
- How do I get to the Ramsholt Arms without a car? Connecting Communities rural public transport service provides a cheap pre-bookable shuttle from Melton Railway station to Ramsholt. Phone the Suffolk Coastal service 01728 635938 to book well in advance.
- Is anything else filmed in this area? There are further crucial scenes from Yesterday filmed on the picturesque Deben Peninsula, the remote area between the river and the sea. Later in the film Jack finds a significant character living in an isolated house on a huge pebbly beach. This is Shingle Street, also accessible via the community transport system.
- You could walk between the two locations and book the minibus back. It’s about five miles cross-country. If you choose to walk round the coast via Bawdsey it’s about eight miles. It’s best to allow plenty of time and to end at the Ramsholt Arms (check opening times) so there’s somewhere to wait if you’re early.
- Bawdsey, also accessible via Connecting Communities, was a key location for the 2023 sci-fi-thriller series, The Power. Amazon studios chose the wide, open landscapes of the Deben Peninsula as the setting for the convent, where main character Allie (Halle Bush) arrives after fleeing her foster family. The dramatic building, constructed for the show, is surrounded by the area’s flowering meadows, huge marshes and atmospheric coast.

5. The Dig

Poignant 2021 Netflix film The Dig about the excavation of Sutton Hoo used lots of locations locally. Shingle Street appears in the film (see 4 above), Thorpeness Beach, and the river and marshes at Snape Maltings.
- How do I get to Snape Maltings without a car? You can book the Katch minibus from Wickham Market railway station. You could also cycle to Snape Maltings and other sites in the area on an Electric Bike. You can hire one from EEZYBIKE, based at Hall Farm Lane near Aldeburgh. Bus 522 and bus 64 from Saxmundham both stop nearby.
- The Dig wasn’t actually filmed at the famous Anglo-Saxon burial site, but Sutton Hoo, with its new museum and viewing tower, is also a must-visit for anyone interested in the story.
- How do I get to Sutton Hoo without a car? Melton Station is 1¼ miles away and you need to walk some of the way along the road. Bus 70 (not Sundays) runs from the railway station to Sutton Hoo’s entrance. Follow Good Journey’s directions.

6. The Crown

This royal drama on Netflix was filmed in some spectacular places. Lots of scenes in The Crown take place in Buckingham Palace or Sandringham, but the show was rarely filmed there. Instead, the producers chose a series of picturesque alternative locations.
- One of these was Somerleyton Hall and Gardens, known for its gorgeous springtime wisteria and lots more. Somerleyton stood in for Sandringham in Season 4. The house was decked with Christmas decorations in March to film scenes with Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman), Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and others
- How do I get to Somerleyton Hall without a car? It’s about 1½ miles’ walk from Somerleyton station, mainly along pleasant paths and quiet country lanes.
- Another Suffolk location that starred in The Crown was Newmarket, where racing scenes were filmed. Rowley Mile racecourse is walking distance from Newmarket station. There’s also the National Horse Racing Museum, about ten minutes’ walk from the station. Follow Good Journey’s directions.
- For more Crown locations you can visit without a car, see our dedicated guide.

7. The Detectorists

This gentle gem of a TV series won a dedicated audience of fans. Part of what made The Detectorists so attractive were the enduring Suffolk landscapes that formed a backdrop to the all-too-human stories of Lance (Toby Jones) and Andy (Mackenzie Crook). Scenes were filmed in the countryside around Woodbridge and Orford.
- The most recognisable locations are in the town of Framlingham, where you can see Lance’s flat, the hall where the characters assemble for meetings of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, and the pub, just by the town’s impressive castle, where they all go for a drink.
- How do I get to Framlingham without a car? Catch bus 118 from Ipswich. If you arrive by train, you will need to walk or take a bus through town to the Old Cattle Market bus station. Look left as you cross the bridge and you’ll catch a glimpse of glass-walled Endeavour House, the County Council’s office building, which doubles for London in The Detectorists‘ third season.

8. Dad's Army

Just over the border in Norfolk, the town of Thetford was a base for much of the filming of the classic TV serial Dad’s Army. There are numerous locations in the town as well as a museum and a bronze statue of Captain Mainwaring sitting near the river.
- Dad’s Army was also filmed in lots other places, including Lowestoft, where the lifeboat sheds were used as the setting for a scene about a rowing boat. And further up the River Waveney near Beccles, where the platoon learn to row. Thetford, Beccles and Lowestoft all have railway stations.
- Between them, all these film and TV locations showcase some of the most interesting scenery in Suffolk and much of it is accessible without a car. Have a good journey!