Forest bathing at Plymbridge Woods

Plymbridge Woods follows the River Plym just outside Plymouth, and the National Trust looks after it. The trees are mostly oak, ash, beech and sycamore rather than conifer, and the woods hide the remains of quarries and old railways that once carried granite and slate down from Dartmoor; nature has taken most of it back. The river changes with the weather on the moor, from a shallow trickle to a fast torrent.

The old railway line, now Drake's Trail, is well surfaced and nearly level, which makes this a good easy-access wood, though it can be muddy after rain and is shared with cyclists. About 2.4km from the main car park is Cann Viaduct, where in spring and early summer a viewing platform looks across to the peregrines nesting in Cann Quarry. For quiet, leave the trail and sit by the river.