Crinan Wood, Argyll, Scotland

To enjoy Crinan Wood at its best, take a magnifying glass. This pocket of Atlantic oakwood in Argyll, Scotland, is a prime example of the UK’s rare surviving temperate rainforest. The air is so clean (and the climate so wet) that the trees – mostly oak and birch – are festooned with lichens and mosses. Examining the fruiting cups of lichens with a hand-lens is like entering a strange and colourful fairy-tale landscape, as if you have just swallowed one of Alice’s magic pills.

Look up from your wonderland and you may see red squirrels who make their homes in twiggy nests, or dreys, and oddly stunted oak trees that have been pollarded for centuries. Between the trees are views over the sea to the islands of Jura and Islay. A two-mile circular walk through the woods includes a stretch of the charming coastal Crinan Canal, once transited by coal-fired “Clyde puffers” but now frequented by yachts.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]