Bliby Wood

The walk through Bliby Wood, just outside Ashford, is exactly what you want when you need to stretch your legs without faffing about with serious hiking boots. It's a proper woodland ramble through mature trees, the kind of place where the ground squelches underfoot after rain and you actually feel like you've escaped somewhere, even though the car park's only ten minutes from town.

There's nothing flashy about it. No visitor centre, no marked trails with interpretive boards explaining what a hawthorn is. You just walk in, follow the obvious paths, and let the quiet do the work. The trees are old and well-established, which means decent shade in summer and that lovely woodland smell most of the year. It's the sort of spot where kids burn off energy without needing constant entertainment, though I'd say it's better for family walks than proper explorer expeditions.

Allow a couple of hours if you're ambling about. You won't need to book ahead or check opening hours - it's accessible most of the year unless there's been heavy flooding. Free, naturally, which makes it a proper bargain when you're staying at one of the nearby parks like Broadhembury just over a mile away.

If you're based at any of the caravan parks in the area, this is a genuinely useful option for breaking up a holiday that might otherwise involve too much driving to Port Lympne or Daleacres. Nothing extraordinary, but sometimes that's exactly what you need.