Planning a trip to Lavenham

Getting There -- Trains depart London's North Street Station at least once an hour, sometimes more often, for Colchester, where they connect quickly to the town of Sudbury. For information, call tel. 0845/748-4950 or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk. From Sudbury, Chambers & Sons, Ltd. (tel. 01787/227233; www.chamberscoaches.co.uk) has about nine daily buses making the short run to Lavenham. The trip from London takes between 2 and 2 1/2 hours.

National Express buses depart from London's Victoria Coach Station, carrying passengers to the town of Bury St. Edmunds, some 14km (9 miles) from Lavenham. For information, call tel. 0871/781-81-81 or visit www.nationalexpress.com. From Bury St. Edmunds, you can take another bus on to Lavenham. The trip takes about 2 1/2 hours.

If you're driving from Bury St. Edmunds, continue south on the A134 toward Long Melford, but cut southeast to Lavenham at the junction with the A1141.

Visitor Information -- The Tourist Information Centre is on Lady Street (tel. 01787/248207; www.discoverlavenham.co.uk) and is open Easter to October 31 daily 10am to 4:45pm; March and November, Saturday hours are 11am to 5pm.