Heritage Open Days returns from 11-20 September 2026, and this year's theme, "Everyday Histories," is a fitting excuse to dig into the stories behind Suffolk's smaller museums - the volunteer-run collections of lifeboats, engineering firms, submarine mining forts and Edwardian shopfronts that rarely get top billing.
Aldeburgh Museum
Aldeburgh Museum is housed in the Grade I-listed, timber-framed Tudor Moot Hall on Market Cross Place, tracing the seaside town's history from the Anglo-Saxons through to the present day via digital and manual displays. Open on multiple dates, pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/aldeburgh-museum-1.html
The Red House, Aldeburgh
The Red House, Aldeburgh, a short walk away on Golf Lane, was the home Benjamin Britten shared with his partner Peter Pears - and the people who lived there before them. Open across multiple dates, pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/the-red-house-aldeburgh.html
East Anglia Transport Museum
East Anglia Transport Museum, on Chapel Road in Carlton Colville near Lowestoft, is East Anglia's premier working transport museum and throws open its door.
Felixstowe Museum
Felixstowe Museum, on View Point Road, is housed in the rare Victorian Submarine Mining Establishment that forms part of the Landguard Fort site, covering Felixstowe's story from its beginnings through to its role as Britain's main port, with social history and military displays, seasonal children's activities and the Beehive Café. Open Sunday 20 September, 11am-4pm, pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/felixstowemuseum.html
Landguard Fort
Landguard Fort, right next door, is a Grade I-listed fortification with a rich military and maritime history stretching back to the 19th century. Open Sunday 20 September, 10am-3pm (last entry), pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/landguard-fort-1.html
Lowestoft Maritime Museum
Lowestoft Maritime Museum, in Sparrow's Nest Gardens on Whapload Road, offers one of the most generous openings of the festival - every single day, 11-20 September, 10am-4pm (last admission 3pm). Expect fleets of model boats, a recreation of Sir Christopher Cockerell's workshop where he invented the hovercraft, a small cinema, and volunteers full of reminiscences. Pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/lowestoft-maritime-museum.html
Alfred Corry Lifeboat Museum
Alfred Corry Lifeboat Museum, Southwold, housed in a 1923 lifeboat shed shipped over from Cromer, tells the story of the last rowing/sailing lifeboat on the East Coast, in service for 25 years from 1893. This year's new display covers the 200-plus fishermen who lived and worked on Southwold beach in the late 1800s. Open daily from Friday 11 to Friday 18 September, 10.30am-3.30pm, pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/alfredcorry-lifeboat-museum.html
Halesworth & District Museum
Halesworth and District Museum, in the old Station Building on Station Road, is running a brand-new exhibition for 2026, "Everyday Life in Edwardian Halesworth," covering the shops and industries of the town at the turn of the 20th century, alongside its regular collection of Bronze Age tools and Iron Age and Roman coin hoards. Open Tuesday to Saturday across the festival fortnight (11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 September), 10am-1pm, pre-booking not required.
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/halesworth-and-district-museum-everyday-life-in-edwardian-halesworth.html
Long Shop Museum
Long Shop Museum, Leiston offers "Fabrication Flashbacks!", the opening day of an exhibition built from an oral history project capturing the memories of people who worked at Richard Garrett Engineering as the 200-year-old business wound down. Open Saturday 12 September, 10am-4pm, with free entry to the whole museum, pre-booking not required.