Coastline

Suffolk

Start your journey at Britain's most easterly point, Lowestoft Ness. It is marked with ‘Euroscope' - which shows the direction and distances of major European towns, alongside Great Britain's other cardinal points. The vulnerability of Suffolk's crumbling cliffs is most evident at the tiny hamlet of Covehithe (once a busy port), where the severed ends of roads hang above the cliff face. At Southwold enjoy a wildlife cruise up the River Blyth, looking for Heron and Marsh Harriers. Back on the coast, take the little ferry to Walberswick, famous for its annual children's crabbing contest. Here you can watch the 'Wild Coasts and Ancient Heaths' film at the visitor centre. The nearby National Nature Reserve has reedbed, hay meadows and grazing marshes - home to the Bittern.

From Walberswick, walk along the shingle beach to Dunwich - where the 12th C. capital of East Anglia has been literally washed away by the sea. Visit the museum to discover the story. From here there are views over the Dingle Marshes Nature Reserve, a magnet for breeding/wintering wildfowl and the internationally important Starlet Sea Anemone. Dunwich Heath: Coastal Centre and Beach is a unique remnant of the once extensive ‘Sandlings' heaths - great between June and September, when the Heather is in bloom. Seek out Red Deer, Ant-Lions and Dartford Warblers here. The adjacent RSPB Minsmere Nature Reserve is famous for its rich habitat of reedbeds, coastal lagoons and woodland - home of the Bittern. Continue south past the eccentric seaside village of Thorpeness (with its House in the Clouds and meare) to Aldeburgh. Stretching 10 miles (16 kilometres) south from here - and separated from the mainland by the River Alde is Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, Europe's largest vegetated shingle spit. Formed by deposits washed away from the soft cliffs further north, it is home to breeding/passage birds and shingle flora. Take a boat trip from Orford to explore. Close by is RSPB Havergate Island, an important breeding place for Avocets and terns.

Stop off next at Shingle Street, one of the most isolated communities in Britain - and a good place to search for the precious gem amber (the fossilised resin of pine trees). At Bawdsey, take the ferry across the River Deben to Felixstowe. Here the exposed sand and shingle peninsula of Landguard Point is excellent for migrating birds and rare shingle flowers. It forms the northern entrance to the Rivers Orwell and Stour - the sheltered waters providing some of the best sailing on the East Coast. End your tour at Trimley Marshes Nature Reserve, a wetland area created from arable farmland in 1990 - home of Britain's largest hawker dragonfly, the Emperor.

Essex

Start your journey at the steep, well-wooded banks of the River Stour, home to wading birds, ducks and geese. Visit the RSPB reserve at Wrabness. Heading south is Hamford Water National Nature Reserve - a large estuarine basin, comprising intertidal mud/sandflats, tidal creeks and saltmarshes. Home to wintering birds and the rare Sea Hog's Fennel. View the area on a boat trip or along the seawall footpath. The Naze is an unspoilt headland of heath, saltmarshes and sandy beaches jutting out into the sea - it's 70 feet high cliffs of London/Red Crag (rich in fossils) are being severely eroded away. The Holland Haven Country Park at Clacton-on-Sea is a good place for a walk along the cliffs, and through unspoilt grazing marshes. Just to the south is Colne Point (restricted access), the best developed shingle spit in Essex.

Between Brightlingsea and Burnham-on-Crouch is a series of pretty river estuaries and creeks, once the haunt of smugglers, and today a haven for sailing. But this area is also open to landlubbers too. Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve has a range of habitats, where over 200 species of birds have been recorded. Head to Britain's most easterly inhabited island at Mersea (reached by its causeway) to try the locally grown oysters. The Blackwater Estuary is protected as a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest' - its open water and mudflats important for wintering birds and seals. Look out for the majestic Thames Sailing Barges. Two islands sit in the estuary, the private Osea and Northey - the latter is owned by The National Trust, and an important nature reserve. Explore this area on the North Blackwater Trail, a 12 mile (19 kilometre) walk from Tollesbury to Maldon. At Copt Hall Marshes, follow the grassy paths to view the remote saltmarshes, rich in wildlife.

Between the Rivers Blackwater and Crouch is the Dengie Peninsula, where much of the countryside was once waterlogged, then reclaimed in the 17th C. to create rich farming land. Visit England's oldest Saxon church at Bradwell-on-Sea, or why not take a boat trip to see the seals at Burnham-on-Crouch. Further south is the remote Foulness Island, the fourth largest off the coast of England; and the intertidal flats and marshes of Maplin Sands, a haven for wildfowl. Turn the corner now into the wide expanse of the River Thames - and end your journey at Hadleigh Castle Country Park, with a sea wall walk to Two Tree Island, home to Kestrels and wintering wildfowl.

Take a trip out to a sandbank aboard the 'Wash Monster' at Hunstanton, then view England's only red and white striped cliffs - made up of carrstone and chalk.