Forest bathing at Coedmor National Nature Reserve

Coedmor is one of the last remnants of a large medieval forest, surviving on the steep sides of the Teifi gorge near Cardigan. Sessile oak is the main tree, with beech, small-leaved lime, ash, wych elm and wild service. The gorge is humid, and more than 200 kinds of lichen grow here. Otters use the river, wood warblers and pied flycatchers arrive in late spring, and autumn brings fungi.

The Gorge Walk is short but steep: a path from the small free lay-by down through the wood to the riverbank, returning the same way, about half an hour there and back. Slopes are slippery when wet. Above the gorge, the 19th century gardens of Coedmor Mansion were laid out in the picturesque style; they are privately owned, but you can walk through them on informal paths with steps, bridges and a river viewpoint, reached from a separate small car park.