Gove Wood

The woodland around Gove Wood near Chepstow is the sort of place you stumble upon rather than plan for. Dense, quiet, properly atmospheric - this is a proper forest walk if you know where to look, with good paths threading through beech and oak that change character dramatically by season.

It's best for anyone who actually enjoys being in trees rather than just walking past them. Not a destination in itself, but absolutely worth combining with a longer ramble across the Monmouthshire countryside. Families with young kids will find an hour here quite sufficient, though older walkers could easily spend half a day exploring the surrounding network of tracks. The forest floor gets muddy in winter - properly muddy - so boots aren't optional.

There's no charge and no visitor facilities to speak of, which is either a bonus or a drawback depending on your tolerance for roughing it slightly. Go early in the morning if you can; you'll likely have the place to yourself. The light filtering through in spring and autumn is genuinely lovely, and it's close enough to Chepstow that you could base yourself at Penhein Glamping just down the road and use this as a morning's exploration before heading elsewhere.

This isn't somewhere to bring people expecting drama or grand views. It's understated and easy to miss - which rather makes it worth seeking out.