Riverside Walk, Hadleigh

The river path through Hadleigh is one of those walks that sneaks up on you. You're wandering through a proper Suffolk market town, and suddenly the Dour opens up beside you and the whole place gets quieter. The walk itself runs along the water with decent views across fields, and on a clear day you can see right out to the Essex border. It's flat, easy underfoot, and takes about forty minutes there and back from the town centre, though you can extend it if you fancy.

This is walker territory first. Families with young kids will get bored after half an hour unless there's ducks to chase, but older children keen on a gentle ramble will be fine. The real draw is the peace of it - you're barely two miles from Colchester's bustle, yet it feels properly rural. Spring and summer are best; winter floods can make sections boggy.

Free access, naturally. You can park in Hadleigh town centre and start from there. Combine it with the high street shops and a pub lunch back in town, and you've got a solid half-day. If you're staying at Polstead Country Park just down the road, this walk is your closest proper outing - easy enough for a morning before heading to one of the bigger attractions. The Lost Garden Retreat and Wheathill are also within easy driving distance if you're basing yourself at any of those spots. Nothing flashy, but it's worth the twenty-minute drive from Colchester if you want genuine quiet.