If you are coming to Hadleigh for the Olympics, you might fancy coming to Rayleigh for a meal. There are plenty of cafes and tea-rooms, and a good range of restaurants – whether you want Fish and Chips, Italian, Spanish, Chinese or Indian. Plus lots of pubs….
And if you want to go a bit further, and eat by the river, you can have a very good meal at Hullbridge or Battlesbridge.
If you’ve come from abroad, and are interested in science, then you could drive to Paglesham, where the remains of Darwin’s Beagle are somewhere in the river bed. There’s absolutely nothing of H.M.S. Beagle to actually see, but the pubs do good food and it’s a very tranquil place to walk.
And if you are more religious-minded, there are plenty of ancient village churches to see, including one at Paglesham. The view from the churchyard at Ashingdon is particularly fine.