Cold Harbour Plantation

Walk into Cold Harbour Plantation and you're immediately swallowed by proper woodland - the kind where daylight filters through a dense canopy and the ground underfoot is soft with years of leaf litter. It's a forest rather than a manicured park, which means it feels genuinely wild despite being right on Nottinghamshire's doorstep, just outside Newark.

What you get here is straightforward: woodland paths that wind through mixed trees, mostly without the crowds you'd find at bigger attractions. There's no visitor centre, no facilities to speak of, just the forest itself. It's the sort of place where you can walk for an hour without seeing another soul, which some will find brilliant and others might find a bit lonely.

This works best for walkers and anyone after a proper dose of fresh air rather than structured activities. Families with older kids who can manage muddy terrain will get something out of it; under-tens might lose interest fairly quickly. Bring decent boots - it can get boggy - and allow two hours if you want to explore properly without rushing.

The plantation slots nicely into a wider park holiday in the area. You're close enough to Wigwam Holidays at Orchard Stables or Southwell Retreat's glamping pods for a decent morning walk before heading elsewhere, or an evening stretch after a day at another attraction. It's not a destination in itself, but as a walking leg of a broader Nottinghamshire trip, it's worth knowing about.