West Wood

The woodland around West Wood, just outside Worksop, gives you proper mature forest with a genuine sense of being away from things. Ancient oaks and beech trees tower overhead, and in autumn the floor turns copper and gold - it's genuinely worth timing a visit for that. The walks are straightforward enough for families, though the paths can get boggy after rain so wellies aren't optional.

You're looking at anything from a quick 30-minute loop to a couple of hours if you want to really wander. There's no visitor centre or facilities to speak of, which means it stays quiet and unspoilt. Walkers will love it more than anyone else - the kind of place where you actually hear birds instead of screaming kids. It's also proper handy for combining with Clumber Park just four miles away, which has more formal trails and a proper tea room when you've had enough of trees.

The forest works well if you're staying at Riverside Caravan Park or any of the Clumber Park sites. You can do West Wood on a morning when you want something low-key, then hit Clumber's Duke's Drive or lakeside paths in the afternoon. Free to roam, no car park to navigate, just turn up and walk. It's not dramatic or famous, and that's exactly the point.