A slow-food week in Suffolk: eat your way around the county from The Firs

Suffolk is one of the great food counties of England, and a week at The Firs gives you the time to taste your way around it properly. As a countryside retreat with its own kitchen garden and outdoor kitchen, we're the ideal base for a slow-food week — somewhere to cook what you've gathered and feast on what you've found. We're 2 hours from London and 45 minutes from Norwich, an easy run for a week of good eating.

A week gives you room to do it justice. Start in the gardens — herbs and vegetables from the kitchen garden — then range out to the county's farm shops, bakeries and producers, picking up what's in season. The Suffolk coast delivers seafood landed that morning at Aldeburgh and Southwold. Inland, there are vineyards to tour and taste, smokehouses, cheesemakers and butchers turning out some of the best produce in the country.

Then comes the best part: bringing it home. Fire the pizza oven, light the firepit, and spend an evening cooking on fire with the day's finds — a long, lazy supper under the Suffolk sky, no reservation required. Other nights, let someone else cook and book a table at one of the area's excellent restaurants and country pubs.

Between meals (and there will be many), the wood-fired hot tub, the sauna and four acres of gardens keep the pace gloriously slow.

For foodie UK stays where the journey is as much about the kitchen as the coast, this countryside stay is a quiet gem. Come hungry; leave planning your return.

Ready for a week of good eating? Check availability and book direct.