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Quintessential English seaside town of Southwold joins the cruise map

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Saga Pearl II anchored off Southwold (PHOTO: Emma Bond)
The small Suffolk seaside town of Southwold received its first cruise ship this week when Saga Pearl II called on a round-Britain cruise.

Southwold is a quaint English seaside town with a quirky pier, a working lighthouse tucked alongside residential properties, rows of beach huts, tea-houses and numerous pubs selling local brewery Adnams' beer.

Saga Cruises put the south east town on the UK's cruise map with a call by Saga Pearl II on Tuesday during on a round-trip Dover itinerary. The ship anchored about a mile form the coastline and passengers are taken ashore by tender, about a 15 minute ride to the town's harbour.

Next year Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines ‎will make its first-ever call at Southwold, not far from the company’s Ipswich head office, on July 26, 2017, as part of Boudicca’s eight-night ‘Wildlife of England & Scotland’ cruise departing from Liverpool.

Neil Herbert, head of sales for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: 'We are very excited to be calling at the coastal Suffolk town of Southwold in summer 2017, especially as we are the only ‎cruise line based in the county.'

Apart from strolling around the pretty town, local tour options include the Royal Society of Protection of Birds reserve at Minsmere and the nearby seaside town of Aldeburgh, the home of composer Benjamin Britten and a cultural hub for the arts, as well as its award-winning fish and chips shop.