Forest bathing at Borthwood Copse

Borthwood Copse is a 24-hectare National Trust wood near Sandown, a surviving piece of a much larger medieval hunting forest. Isabella de Fortibus, the 'Queen of Wight', is said to have watched hunts from Queen's Bower at its north-west corner. Today it is ancient oak woodland with hazel and sweet chestnut coppice, sunny glades, a clearing of beech and some birch. It is still worked in the traditional way, and its oak and chestnut go into hurdles and fencing.

Park at the Parish Council car park on Alverstone Road. The National Trust's red squirrel walk is a 1.2-mile loop with no stiles or gates on the route, though paths are uneven, narrow in places and often muddy; there are no signposts, but the wood is small enough that you won't get lost. Bluebells carpet the floor in spring, and the beech clearing turns russet in autumn. Move slowly and you have a fair chance of seeing red squirrels.