2 Best Sights in Orford, East Anglia

Small and squat, this castle surveys the flatlands from atop a green mound favored by picnickers in summer. Its splendid triple-tower keep was built from 1165 to 1173 as a coastal defense. Climb it for a view over what was once a medieval port; the 6-mile shingle (small pebbles) bank of Orford Ness eventually cut off direct access to the sea. Below ground are medieval tunnels and an original well, while the upper hall holds Orford's museum and its collection of Roman brooches.

A short boat ride beyond Orford Quay lies mysterious Orford Ness, a 5-mile-long causeway of beaches and salt marshes that make up the longest shingle spit in Europe. Its past is cloaked in secrecy—from 1913 until the mid-1980s it served as a military site, and the first experiments with radar were carried out here in the 1930s. Today Orford Ness is a great place to see migrating and native sea birds. If you'd rather sit than walk, take the tractor-drawn trailer tour on the first Saturday of the month, July through September, but be sure to make reservations, as tours book up quickly.