Great Park

The woodland here sprawls across several hundred acres on Oxford's doorstep, and it's the kind of place where you can actually breathe properly after spending time in the city centre. Ancient oaks tower overhead, the paths wind through genuinely quiet corners, and you're never quite sure what you'll stumble across - a clearing, a stream, the odd bit of local history tucked away without fanfare.

Walkers will get the most from this. The terrain varies enough to keep things interesting without demanding fell-running experience, and the tree cover means it's pleasant even when the sun's doing its best impression of a fierce thing. Take a map though, or rely on your phone - the paths can feel a bit maze-like, particularly deeper in. Families with young kids will manage fine for an hour or so, but don't expect playground equipment or cafes. You're genuinely in woodland here, not a manicured country estate.

There's no charge to wander about, and the access is straightforward from Oxford itself - about twenty minutes depending on traffic. If you're based at Cotswolds Caravan and Camping five miles or so away, it makes a solid morning out before heading off to explore the Cotswolds proper. Spring's lovely for bluebells, autumn for that proper woodland smell, winter for seeing the structure of the place without leaf cover getting in the way.

Bring wellies if there's been rain. The ground gets boggy in patches.