Berry Wood

Deep woodland trails wind through Berry Wood, a proper working forest just outside Northampton where you can actually feel like you've left the town behind. The canopy is thick enough to offer real shelter even when the weather turns, and the paths are well-maintained without feeling manicured. It's the sort of place where the kids can run ahead without you losing sight of them completely, and where you can genuinely breathe.

This isn't a destination for a full day out - reckon on an hour to ninety minutes for a decent walk depending on which route you fancy. The woodland is mixed, so there's enough variety to keep things interesting: open stretches alternate with proper dense forest. Spring's excellent here if you can time it, with plenty of life returning. Winter's quieter and the ground can get boggy in spots.

It suits walkers and families with older kids more than toddlers. The trails aren't pushchair-friendly, and there's not much in the way of signage, so you'll want to know roughly where you're going. There's also limited parking and no facilities, which means you're really just here to walk and breathe.

If you're based at Northants Caravan Site over at Covert Farm - less than six miles away - this makes an easy morning's leg-stretch. It won't be the highlight of your park holiday, but it's a solid pocket of green that genuinely works when you need to get out into something that actually feels like forest.