Forest bathing at Crarae Garden

Crarae is a woodland garden first laid out in 1912 in a glen about ten miles south of Inveraray. The Crarae Burn is the centre of it, dropping through rocky gorges and waterfalls, crossed by wooden bridges. Around it grow maples, birch, tall beech and eucalypts, evergreens and trees and shrubs from China, Nepal and Tibet, some of them champions of their kind. The sound of water is with you almost everywhere, which makes it an easy place to stop and listen.

Paths lead up from the visitor centre along the burn towards the gorge and the falls, so the glen is best taken slowly, pausing on the bridges. Spring brings azaleas, camellias and magnolias; in autumn the maples and birch take over. There is a café, shop and visitor centre. National Trust for Scotland members go free; others pay to enter, and opening hours change through the year.