Church Cover

The woodland walk at Church Cover, just outside Cheltenham, is the sort of place you stumble upon by accident and then keep coming back to. It's a proper forest ramble through beech and oak, with a small stream running through that's genuinely lovely after rain. The real draw is how quiet it stays even when the weather's decent - you'll pass a handful of other walkers at most, which makes a nice change from the overcrowded tourist trails elsewhere in the Cotswolds.

Walkers will get the most from this one. It's not a destination in itself - there's no cafe, no visitor centre, no gift shop - but it's the kind of place that justifies a morning or early afternoon. The paths are well-trodden but can get muddy, so proper footwear matters. You can spend anything from forty minutes to two hours here depending on how deep you want to go into the woodland, and which of the smaller tracks you fancy exploring.

It fits perfectly into a Cotswolds caravan holiday. If you're staying at Bourton-on-the-Water Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite - just a few miles away - this makes an easy break from the main roads. It's free to access and there are no listed opening hours because you can arrive at your own pace. The forest is at its best in autumn and early spring, though winter can be rewarding too when the bare trees open up the views. Summer gets busy with holiday crowds, but Church Cover stays relatively peaceful regardless.