It’s good to walk.
And here we have rounded up among the absolute best places to stretch the legs, from the romantic Wiltshire wood where Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour to the family-friendly Durham forest that was planted by miners within the Nineteen Thirties.
POTTER IN LAKELAND
Golden: Head on an autumnal walk across the Lake District’s Tarn Hows (pictured), a lake that was once owned by the creator and illustrator Beatrix Potter
Within the Lake District, the National Trust path around Tarn Hows is the perfect method to get an enormous dose of autumn color.
Good to know: The lake was once owned by creator and illustrator Beatrix Potter.
Stay: Cuckoo Brow Inn, Ambleside. Double B&B from £143 (cuckoobrow.co.uk).
THE KING’S PARK
Henry VIII’s deer park in London’s Greenwich Park is now top-of-the-line places to see autumn colors within the capital.
Good to know: Collect edible nuts along the avenue of 400-year-old Spanish Sweet Chestnut trees.
Stay: The Pilot. Double B&B from £194 (pilotgreenwich.co.uk).
ABBEY VIEWS
On a walk from the romantic Tintern Abbey (pictured) along the River Wye you may pass moss-covered boulders and gnarled twisted trees en route
Monmouthshire’s best autumn walks wind along the River Wye from the romantic Tintern Abbey. Paths climb the banks through moss-covered boulders and gnarled twisted trees.
Good to know: For the right snap, the abbey ruins are at their best with the backdrop of golden trees.
Stay: Tintern Old Rectory, Tintern. Double room from £85 (tintern-oldrectory.co.uk).
AMONG GOLDEN REEDS
Spot kingfishers on a stroll through the gold swaying grasses of Wicken Fen reserve in Cambridgeshire’s Fenland
It’s not only trees — swathes of reeds change color in autumn, too. The most effective place to see vast expanses of red and gold swaying grasses is Wicken Fen reserve in Cambridgeshire’s Fenland.
Good to know: Spot kingfishers.
Stay: The Three Pickerels, Mepal, Ely. Double B&B from £86 (thethreepickerels.co.uk).
SEE THE HUFF DUFF
Follow vibrant autumn paths through purple heather to the Huff Duff within the Latest Forest.
Good to know: ‘Huff Duff’ isn’t being breathless after this modest hilly walk — it’s the name of a powerful World War II radio station viewpoint.
Stay: High Corner Inn, Linwood, near Ringwood, Latest Forest. Double B&B from £73 (butcombe.com/high-corner-inn-hampshire).
ON ROBIN HOOD’S TRAIL
Go trying to find acorns on a walk through Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood and his men once hid
Journey through Sherwood Forest to seek out Britain’s biggest oak tree, where they are saying Robin Hood and his men once hid.
Good to know: Search for acorns: the Major Oak sheds 150,000 every year.
Stay: Forest Lodge Hotel, Lyndhurst. Double B&B from £85 (forestlodgehotel.co.uk).
VISIT THE TREE ZOO
Admire the attractive colors of the national collection of maples on a walk through Gloucestershire’s Westonbirt Arboretum
Our biggest ‘tree zoo’, Gloucestershire’s Westonbirt Arboretum, has miles of paths between its 2,500 tree species, including the national collection of maples.
Good to know: See more trees at King Charles III’s Highgrove estate round the corner.
Stay: The Hare & Hounds, Westonbirt. Double B&B from £102 (cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk/hare-and-hounds-hotel).
ROMANTIC WANDERS
Go on an autumn stroll through Wiltshire’s romantic Savernake Forest – it’s here that Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour
Savernake Forest likely has Europe’s highest concentration of 1,000-year-old trees. Couples stroll hand-in-hand down Capability Brown’s four-mile line of beeches. Even Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour on this Wiltshire wood.
Good to know: The Duke’s Vaunt Oak once had a door and a lock fitted to its hole trunk and will ‘shelter 20 boys inside’.
Stay: Castle & Ball Hotel, Marlborough. Double B&B from £95 (greenekinginns.co.uk).
PUMPKIN PATH
Search for early morning and late openings for autumn walks in Cornwall’s Lost Gardens of Heligan (above)
Cornwall’s Lost Gardens of Heligan were rediscovered 32 years ago. Europe’s biggest garden restoration project is filled with paths between impressive pumpkins and vibrant trees.
Good to know: Search for early morning and late openings for autumn walks.
Stay: Wyndham Trenython Manor, Tywardreath, Near Fowey. Double B&B from £84 (wyndhamtrenythonmanor.com).
MINERS’ TRIUMPH
County Durham’s Hamsterley Forest was planted by unemployed miners within the Nineteen Thirties. Follow Forestry England online maps to seek out Bedburn Valley Walk. Children find it irresistible, because it results in a forest playground.
Good to know: Gruffalo sculptures are hidden within the trees.
Stay: Forresters, Middleton-in-Teesdale. Double B&B from £70 (forrestersmiddleton.co.uk).
WALK AMONG GIANTS
As you walk through the forest paths of The Hermitage in Perthshire, Scotland, look up to absorb views of a few of Britain’s tallest trees
Walk under a few of Britain’s tallest trees within the National Trust for Scotland’s Hermitage. This Perthshire path results in a Georgian folly alongside a waterfall.
Good to know: You might spot salmon leaping up the falls.
Stay: Latest Mill Farm, Stanley. Double B&B from £90 (newmillfarm.co.uk).
OLDEST FOREST PARK
Glenbranter’s craggy woods in Argyll Forest Park were once the retreat of entertainer Harry Lauder, and now they form Britain’s oldest forest park. It’s a probability to identify red squirrels, red deer…and red leaves.
Good to know: Allt Robuic gorge is filled with cascading waterfalls.
Stay: Whistlefield Inn, Loch Eck, Dunoon. Double B&B from £78 (thewhistlefieldinn.com).
