Wadenhoe Great Wood

The woodland around Wadenhoe, just a short drive from Peterborough, offers proper old-school forest walking with none of the crowds you'd find at better-known spots. It's mixed woodland - the sort where you genuinely lose phone signal and that feels like a feature rather than a problem.

What you get is straightforward: footpaths threading between mature trees, open rides where light floods through, and the constant sound of things rustling in the undergrowth. Spring brings bluebells if you time it right. Autumn is thick with fungi and that leaf-mould smell that makes you remember why you left the city. The paths are muddy more often than not, which sorts out the flip-flop brigade quite effectively.

This works best for walkers who actually want to walk rather than instagram-hunt. Families with restless children might find an hour of it plenty - there's no dramatic views or ruined castle to aim for, just trees and air. Bird watchers do well here; the woodland edges hold finches and the occasional nuthatch.

Brightside Caravan Park sits within striking distance if you're basing yourself in the area, making Wadenhoe Wood a decent leg-stretcher between days at the park itself. There's no visitor centre or car park formality that I'm aware of - you just find a verge and start walking. That lack of infrastructure is rather the point. Go in winter when the undergrowth is sparse and you can actually see what's on the woodland floor. Go in mud season if you like your boots tested properly.