RSPB Old Hall Marshes

The marshes stretch out flat and quiet, salt-grass rippling in the wind, and you realise why the birds love it here. RSPB Old Hall Marshes near Colchester is properly worth a morning if you're into birdwatching or just fancy a decent walk away from crowds. There's no visitor centre or café - this isn't that kind of place. You turn up, you walk the paths, you look for whatever's nesting or migrating that day. Binoculars essential; patience even more so.

The reserve covers several hundred acres of grazing marsh and reed beds along the Blackwater Estuary. In spring and autumn the migrant numbers are staggering - warblers, egrets, the occasional rare bit of excitement that gets the serious twitchers excited. Winter brings wildfowl in force. Even in summer when things quieten down, there's usually something moving in the reeds if you stand still long enough.

Walkers will find it meditative rather than dramatic. The paths are flat, well-marked, and take between 45 minutes to two hours depending on your route. Not one for kids who need constant stimulation, but teenagers with an interest in nature will get on with it fine. Bring proper footwear - bits get muddy after rain.

Free access, open year-round, it works brilliantly alongside the seaside holiday parks clustered around West Mersea and Osea Island, all within five miles. If you're basing yourself at West Mersea Holiday Park or similar, this adds a proper nature element to your break without feeling like a chore.