Ten Acre Plantation

A proper woodland walk without the pretension. Ten Acre Plantation, just outside Cambridge, is exactly what it says on the tin - ten acres of mixed forest where you can stretch your legs and actually breathe something that doesn't smell of car fumes.

The trees here are established enough to create proper shade, which matters on those sticky Cambridgeshire afternoons. It's the sort of place you'd wander through for an hour, kick about some leaves if you're feeling nostalgic, and spot the occasional pheasant getting cross at you for interrupting its afternoon. The ground's reasonably well-maintained, so it's not a slog, though it's not a manicured park either - which is rather the point.

Take the kids if they like a proper adventure rather than a playground. Walkers heading out from Cambridge will find it a decent break from the flat cycling routes, though it's too compact to be anyone's main event. The real draw is proximity - you're minutes from the city centre yet feel genuinely removed from it.

If you're staying at HappenOak Treehouse nearby, this becomes an obvious morning ramble before heading into Cambridge proper. Free admission, no visitor centre nonsense, no set hours that anyone seems to know about. Just woodland. That's refreshingly straightforward.