Littleport Dog Park

Your dog will absolutely lose it the moment you arrive at Littleport Dog Park. This nature reserve just outside Ely gives you proper off-lead freedom on what feels like acres of open ground - the sort of place where your spaniel or terrier can actually run rather than do endless loops around a cramped town green.

The landscape is typical Cambridgeshire wetland: flat, windswept, and surprisingly peaceful once you get away from the car park. There's actual habitat here too - reed beds, open water, the whole works - so you're not just getting a dog exercise yard dressed up as conservation land. You'll spot the odd heron if you're lucky, and the light across the fen in late afternoon is genuinely good.

Bring wellies. The ground gets boggy, especially after rain, and the paths aren't all hard-standing. Allow at least an hour if your dog has any sense of adventure. It's free (as far as we can tell - nothing online suggests otherwise), and there's parking right there.

Staying at Hatters Meadows or Heatherbield Lodge gives you easy access here - both are within a couple of miles - and you'll have somewhere to rinse off muddy paws afterwards. For walkers without dogs, it works fine too, though the real appeal is letting them properly tire themselves out. Not a manicured attraction, but exactly the kind of place most dog owners are actually looking for.