Winning tip: Whitebeams and roe deer in Bristol<\/p>\n
I always take friends on an afternoon walk when they visit Bristol, to experience the swift changes in scenery: starting at the tobacco warehouses of Cumberland Basin before ascending from the muddy banks of the River Avon up into Leigh Woods<\/a>, a national nature reserve. As well as possible animal sightings like peregrine falcons and roe deer, the woods are an important site for whitebeam trees, with several species only growing here. It\u2019s easy to spend a full afternoon crisscrossing the trails before walking over Brunel\u2019s famous suspension bridge for a well-deserved coffee at the Primrose Caf\u00e9 in Clifton village. ProfileReaders’ tips: send a tip for a chance to win a \u00a3200 voucher for a Coolstays breakShow<\/p>\n Guardian Travel readers’ tips<\/p>\n Every week we ask our readers for recommendations from their travels. A selection of tips will be featured online and may appear in print. To enter the latest competition visit the readers’ tips homepage<\/a><\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n A seal colony on a Cumbrian islandSouth Walney has an \u2018end of the world feel\u2019. Photograph: Rebecca Alper Grant<\/p>\n South Walney <\/a>nature <\/a>reserve<\/a> (\u00a33 adults, \u00a31 children) has an end-of-the-world feel. You drive through industrial Barrow-in-Furness to reach a windswept island that\u2019s home to Cumbria\u2019s only seal colony and a multitude of migrating seabirds. Curious seals surface as you gaze across the water towards Piel Castle<\/a>, which can be reached by foot at low tide. More seals can be observed from the immaculately kept hides, full of hand-drawn illustrations, local history and specimens of skeletons and shells. There is even a livestream seal cam for a closer look. Dartmoor\u2019s way of the deadBellever Forest, starting point of the Lych Way. Photograph: Michael Howes\/Alamy<\/p>\n Across Dartmoor\u2019s torn spine, the Lych Way<\/a> <\/a>drags its long memory westward. Moor folk once hauled their dead like felled trunks, boots sinking in peat\u2019s cold hunger. Wind gnawed faces raw; streams stitched ice through bone. Wheel ruts scarred earth, a ledger of grief. Farms emptied into distance, toward stone prayers waiting. Ravens watched slow processions darken the moor. Ten miles north, Ted Hughes\u2019s memorial stone listens, weather-drunk, to their passing weight, and silence rooting deeper than time beneath heather, where footsteps fade yet pulse on, buried but breathing in Dartmoor\u2019s black remembering heart that never loosens them. A cemetery now full of life in London\u2019s East End Photograph: Katharine Rose\/Alamy<\/p>\n Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is a truly magical place. Not your typical local nature reserve, and not your typical Victorian-era cemetery, this now deconsecrated space is truly a haven for human and non-human visitors. The site attracts an impressive array of flora and fauna thanks to its carefully \u201cmanaged wildness\u201d\u2013 an essential respite in London\u2019s East End. Wander at your own pace or join the Friends<\/a> (the charity which has carefully defended and managed the space since the 1990s) for a tour covering topics ranging from foraging and fungi to women\u2019s history and grave symbolism. Coastal birding and a castle in DumfriesCaerlaverock Castle. Photograph: Paul Williams\/Alamy<\/p>\n The Dumfries and Galloway coast is a beautiful but often overlooked gem among Scotland\u2019s natural offerings. Caerlaverock <\/a>national <\/a>nature <\/a>reserve<\/a> on the Solway Firth is a highlight, with its protected wetlands serving as a seasonal home for thousands of migrating birds, including geese, plovers and waders. It lends the place a year-round charm, even in the cold winter months. And if birdwatching isn\u2019t your thing, you can still enjoy the excellent walks and cycle paths, stunning views and a rare sense of peace. Make sure to check out the nearby Caerlaverock Castle<\/a> (from \u00a36.50 adults, \u00a33.90 children), with its picturesque setting \u2013 and unique triangle shape! Historic sailing on the Norfolk BroadsTraditional wherry boat on the Norfolk Broads. Photograph: Chris Herring\/Alamy<\/p>\n We were holidaying in the Broads national park<\/a> when my husband told me that my birthday present was a day out on a historic wherry yacht<\/a>. At the boatyard in Wroxham, an enthusiastic crew showed us round the boat, and within a few minutes we were watching the huge gaff-rigged sail rise up the mast. We sipped our tea, gliding silently past the reeds, and stopped for a guided tour of Bure Marshes national nature reserve. Lunch was a picnic on Salhouse Broad, and a treat was a cornet from the ice-cream boat. A perfect day on the water for \u00a360 each. London\u2019s hidden wetlands Photograph: Jennika\/Stockimo\/Alamy<\/p>\n Not many Londoners know that there is a real treasure of a nature reserve just 20 minutes from the city centre by tube. The Walthamstow Wetlands<\/a> is a protected area, easily reached via Tottenham Hale railway\/tube station. I often spend a day there with a picnic, a bird guidebook, a flask of coffee and a pair of binoculars. Birds come to the site to feed around the 10 areas of open water and marshland. Swifts and little ringed plovers arrive in spring. Much-travelled black-tailed godwits can also be seen and there\u2019s even the chance of spotting a peregrine falcon. Enjoy the circular bird walk, viewing platforms and hiding areas. There are also weekly guided bird walks starting from the tube station from early spring. It\u2019s free to enter and wander around the nature reserve. Trees and wild fauna abound everywhere you go \u2013 a brilliant oxygen overload after the traffic fumes of central London. Hampshire\u2019s alluring lagoons Photograph: Richard Donovan\/Alamy<\/p>\n I only meant to stop briefly at Titchfield Haven <\/a>national <\/a>nature<\/a> reserve<\/a> (\u00a36.50 adults, \u00a33.50 children), but it drew me in for the entire afternoon. Tucked between river and sea, it feels a world away from the busier south coast. I wandered slow, winding paths through reed beds and lagoons, pausing in a hide where a sudden flash of electric blue revealed a kingfisher. As the tide shifted, the landscape subtly changed and the light softened across the water. Nothing here shouts for attention, and that\u2019s the magic of it \u2013 a place where doing nothing feels completely absorbing. Lakeside magic in Eryri (Snowdonia)Sunrise on the Carneddau mountain range above Llyn Crafnant reservoir. Photograph: Steve Robinson\/Alamy<\/p>\n Near Trefriw in the Eryri national park<\/a>, there is a scenic walk around Llyn Crafnant reservoir. You can also walk over to Llyn Geirionydd from Llyn Crafnant to swim in the lake or paddleboard; it can get a little busy in the summer but it still feels like a little bit of a secret spot. For a big hike, you can walk down from here, past Crimpiau mountain, to Capel Curig, taking you from the Conwy valley to the Ogwen valley. On safari in Kent Photograph: Rob Read\/Alamy<\/p>\n The approach to Elmley national nature reserve<\/a> (\u00a310 adults, free for up to two accompanying children) is thrilling: precious saltmarsh habitat sandwiched between the elegant Isle of Sheppey road bridge and the looming hulk of a paper factory across the Swale estuary. The reserve\u2019s safari-like access drive is surrounded by bubbling curlews, darting hares and patrolling marsh harriers, while lapwings cavort just feet from the car. As well as being the UK\u2019s only privately owned national nature reserve, Elmley is also the only one you can stay overnight<\/a>, so you can sip a drink outside your cosy hut or yurt while short-eared owls hunt for small mammals and barn owls glide silently past. Watching the wildlife action unfold on your own personal savannah is magical. ProfileReaders’ tips: send a tip for a chance to win a \u00a3200 voucher for a Coolstays breakShow<\/p>\n Guardian Travel readers’ tips<\/p>\n
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