Monks Wood

The woodland floor at Monks Wood feels properly ancient - moss-covered logs, gnarled oaks that have watched centuries pass, and the kind of quiet you don't get in many places anymore. This is a National Nature Reserve on Lincolnshire's edge, about ten miles south of Lincoln, and it's one of England's oldest semi-natural woodlands.

What you're actually doing here is walking. There are paths through mixed woodland - oak, ash, hazel - and if you time it right, you'll spot woodland birds and maybe catch sight of badgers or muntjac deer. Spring brings bluebells and wood anemones in proper abundance. Summer crowds you out a bit, but autumn is genuinely special - the light filters through differently, and you won't trip over families with buggies every fifty metres.

Historians will find this worth the detour. The woodland's been managed since medieval times, which explains why it looks the way it does - coppiced hazel, scattered ancient trees, that managed-but-wild feel. Walkers get a good few hours here without it feeling exhausting. Kids might get restless if you're expecting a theme park experience, but if they enjoy scrambling through woods and looking for creatures, they'll manage.

Allow two to three hours. It's free to visit, which is crackling good value. If you're based at Lincolnshire Lanes Camp nearby - their log cabins are solid - you could easily slot this into an afternoon without faffing about.