Innergellie Wood

The woods around Innergellie feel properly remote for somewhere just a few miles from Anstruther's busy harbour. You're walking through dense beech and oak, the kind of forest that actually makes you feel like you've left the coast behind, even though the East Neuk is practically on your doorstep.

It's a walker's sort of place rather than a destination where you'd sit with a picnic for three hours. The paths wind through the trees with enough variation to keep things interesting - you'll find clearings, burns running through the woodland floor, and the occasional view back towards the Fife countryside. Nothing earth-shattering, but genuinely pleasant if you're staying nearby and want to stretch your legs away from the seaside towns.

Families with young kids might find it a bit samey after the first twenty minutes of novelty, but older children who actually enjoy walking will get something from the quiet of it all. Spring's probably the best time - the woodland floor becomes a carpet of wild garlic and bluebells, which transforms the whole experience.

If you're based at Sauchope Links Holiday Lodge just down the road, you couldn't ask for better access to somewhere this green. It's the sort of place you slip into for an hour or ninety minutes when the weather's decent, not something you'd plan a day around. Free to access, no facilities to speak of, and genuinely peaceful - which is exactly why it works.