Goat Lane Plantation

A quiet woodland walk east of Sandy that feels a world away from the Cambridgeshire flatlands. Goat Lane Plantation is proper forest - the kind with actual trees towering above rather than the scrubby spinney you half-expect in these parts. The paths are straightforward and well-trodden, winding through beech and oak with enough cover to make a rainy day manageable.

It's not a destination that'll keep you occupied for hours, but as a break from the caravan parks clustered nearby - particularly Cambridgeshire Lakes just down the road - it does the job brilliantly. Families with young kids will manage the circuit in 45 minutes to an hour. Dog walkers come here regularly and it's dog-friendly. The woodland floor is soft underfoot and there's genuine peace, which is rarer than you'd think in the East of England.

Bring a packed lunch and settle on one of the stumps if the weather's kind. Spring's best for bluebells, though the place works year-round. Summer can feel a touch muggy under the canopy. The location between Sandy and a handful of decent caravan sites makes it an easy detour rather than a separate trip - combine it with St Neots if you're after a proper day out, or just slip in for an hour between breakfast and heading to wherever's next.

There's nothing flashy about it. That's rather the point.