Absolutely beautiful place for walk in the woods. Nice little food shack near one of the ponds…read more with sandwiches and cakes to enjoy if you get a little peckish on your walk. By far one of my favourite dog walks.

Awesome outdoors spot in Essex! This impressive park boasts :…read more - A Bowling Green - Tennis courts - A Children's playground - Two cricket pitches - Five football pitches What more could you ask for?

This is a bit of a hidden gem, which I'm really pleased we found. We took a random day trip to…read moreLeigh on Sea and on our way back my boyfriend navigated me on a detour. I'd seen a castle on the map but assumed there would be gates and a fee and seeing as it was early evening I expected it to be closed. My boyfriend knows that I love castles so thought we could chance it. We parked up at the end of a country lane by a cafe, farm and craft village (which had already closed) and took a walk along a pretty footpath. It's only a few minutes walk before you get to the castle, well ruins of, and it's a beautiful sight. It's owned by English Heritage but free for anyone and everyone to visit. There's no visitor centre, gift shop or ticket office which adds to the charm of this place. It's lovely and surrounded by hills and fields so unspoilt. It was dusk when we were there but could read the few unobtrusive signs with the history of the castle. The views to the sea were lovely too. This would be the perfect place for a picnic (make sure you take your rubbish home) out to watch the sun set from. It's not a whole day out but worth a visit if you're in the area. I loved it.

I have visited Hadleigh Castle numerous times since I was a little nipper and I still love to go…read morethere, admittedly the castle is ruinous but it still has great prominence looking out over the estuary. The views from the castle are great looking out over Canvey Island and towards Kent. From this point there is some good walks to be had, from walking to Two Tree Island or walking into Old Leigh and eating some fresh seafood. Or you can just set down a blanket and have a picnic, be warned though it can get a bit windy, but if you tuck yourself up in one of the alcoves of the ruins, it should not be too much of a problem. As the area is quite hilly, it is great for off-road cycling or grab a football or frisbee and play in the open green area. It is also very close to the Salvation Army farm, so a visit to Hadleigh Castle is a great time outdoors for all the family.

Nice place to have a walk, see the deer and have a picnic on a summer day. The three car parks are…read morepay and display for £2 (feb 09). There's a cafe for ice creams, cakes, rolls and hot drinks, they also sell deer food to hand feed them if they're interested on the day you go. And with the bread left over from your picnic, feed the birds (and water rats) on the lakes. If you can plan it right and get your some else to drive back and after having a pint in The Tower Arms around the corner.

I have been to quite a few parks in the area, but this is a really lovely one. Loads of different…read moreroutes to walk around - you could visit quite a few times and not take the same walk twice. £2 to park in the car parks, but this is pretty standard in any essex country parks. The deer are lovely, you can buy deer food in the visitor centre, or you can feed them some veggies you have brought along. theres a nice pond with lots of wildlife on it. and a huge space for kids to run around or have picnics on. theres also usually events going on here, like craft fairs, or kite events, but check the website for details.

The park has been around since the 1500s and is nearly 350 acres. I've visited a couple of times…read morebut don't think I'll ever be able to cover it all. Artwork throughout the park as well as memorials. On our first visit we saw war memorials. There's one for Princess Di as well. You can swim in the lake (I've not done that...yet). Another green space offering serenity from the hustle and bustle of a big city.

On our last full day in London, we spent the day at Hyde Park, one of London's most famous public…read moreparks. We purchased sandwiches at Harrods Food Hall, and ate our lunch in the park (we also purchased some beer and wine at a cafe in the park). It was a beautiful spring day, not too hot, not too cold -- just perfect. While we didn't see the entire park (at 350 acres, that would be impossible), we had a great day -- Hyde Park was one of the highlights of my time in London. We spent the majority of our time in Hyde Park watching the birds at the waterfront. I'm not a bird expert, but I saw at least nine different kinds of birds: swans, geese, Canadian Geese, ducks, seagulls, herons, pigeons, starlings, and crows. And further in the park, we saw parakeets. The diversity was amazing! If you're in London, Hyde Park is a MUST MUST MUST SEE! It also makes for an inexpensive day. Other things to note: you must pay to use the toilet, but it's only 20p. However, you can't pay by cash, only by credit card (which was fine by me, as I hate cash), and unlike Amsterdam, which charged €1, the washroom was CLEAN (there was an attendant). While I'm not a fan of paying to use the washroom, at least it was cheap (unlike Amsterdam), clean (unlike in my city or Amsterdam), and hassle free (unlike Amsterdam). [Yelp collections: Europe 2024; London, England; Parks and Gardens]

Even though we have had a shower the carpark is quite full. Luckily we brought our boots but the…read moredog didn't . Nice and roomy so the dog loves it and, luckily, he is dead beat after an hour or two.

Hylands park is lovely but very mud so take your wellies if it has been raining. The carpark is…read morelarge but it does get busy at the weekends with people parking everywhere, there are entrance gates that are locked at night depending on the time of year but open at 7.30am every morning check the locking times to make sure you don't get your car locked in the carpark, it is free to park. There are loos in the carpark but they are a bit chilly in winter and often run out of paper. There is a nice visitor centre and cafe up near the House. This is a great place to take the dog and kids for a run. The park is open all year apart from a few days when it is closed for the V festive.

Recommend an early morning to take in Belfairs Woods, especially now when the weather is ok in fact…read morequite stimulating. The woods are flat and caress an active golf course, as well as a horse riding school. The attraction is the open wooded space, the friendly squirrels and Jay's (bird) both try and hustle us for food, and not a bad thought as we had come pocketful of monkey nuts and yes we were the most welcome bods in the woods this morning. Simply great fun and strangely healthy.

A beautiful open space that is particularly lovely in Autumn. There is adequate parking which is…read morefree. There are a range of facilities at Belfairs including a riding stables and riding for the disabled, a cafe / restaurant, bowls club and pay per use golf. The golf course is the only down-side to walking in these woods - just as you start to feel like you are escaping into the peace of the woods you come across another part of the golf course and have to ensure children don't run out onto the greens - many of the paths go very close. The woods also have bridleways for horses and cycle paths which are signposted and mostly segregated. As others have mentioned there are lots of very tame squirrels.

Nice friendly spot. Small cafe with gift shop which encourages the younger ones to enjoy the great…read moreoutdoors. History of the plotlands and access to one of the original houses which sat on site prior to it being turned into nature reserve.

Danbury country park is found at the Chelmsford end of Danbury. It has a good sized car park which…read moreI believe is free (you may want to check if this has changed recently). It is a well established park with a range of different areas suitable for most tastes. This includes lawned areas suitable for family picnics, borders with beautiful flowers, as well as wooded area great for a ramble. There are a couple of small lakes in the middle with attract a range of birds. Families are often seen feeding them. If the weather's looking good this would be a great option for an affordable day out.

A nice place with a lovely open scenery for walking but several including one of my children have…read morealmost drowned in the lake after falling over face first into it.... Going to this location I would suggest keeping your kids well away from the lake Also a while back a murderer used the woodland as a hiding place and wasn't found by the police until six days after he was sleeping there... It's s great place but is it a safe place?

The Five Arches is an area of woodland and open grassland so names because of the five arches that…read moremake up the bridge across the river that runs through it. In the summer, children often paddle in the water and throw stones into the water from the bridge. There's also a park for children to play in which has been modernised to include some exciting looking playground toys. The wooded area provides a fun alternative for youngsters wanting to climb amongst the trees and play hide and seek and a local pub, The White Cross, is a great place for a drink and snack afterwards.