Constable country

The "idyllic" hamlet of Flatford is at the heart of "Constable country", the corner of Suffolk where the great painter spent much of his life, says Oliver Bennett in the Independent on Sunday.

Its landscape is little changed and instantly recognisable from his work - the willow trees, the "flat, fecund pastures" and the vast East Anglian sky.

You can visit the cottage he owned in Flatford, which is in the care of the National Trust; and a guided walk through the surrounding countryside takes in the places he knew - his school in Dedham, the church where his Ascension still hangs - as well as many of the views immortalised in his paintings, most famously The Hay Wain.

Milsoms Hotel (01206 322795; Milsom Hotels) offers doubles from £108 per night. ·