Car-free days out

Travelling on trains and buses makes the journey all part of the day out. On the way you can read the paper, play cards, and take time to switch off. Without being tied to where you’ve parked the car, you can do linear walks and bike rides, and of course you can enjoy a drink before returning home. Most major cities have excellent rail and bus networks, so you can travel across town without the hassle of parking, or head out to the countryside to many wonderful visitor attractions that often give discounts if you arrive by public transport. Here are three examples of car-free days out: leave the car and the congestion behind, and away you go.

NEW FOREST TOUR, HAMPSHIRE

Plan A Good Journey

Find how to travel car-free to many of the UK’s best visitor attractions with discounts when you arrive by train, bus, bike or on foot at goodjourney.org.uk

The car-free New Forest Tour is a hop-on, hop-off bus service that runs each summer on three circular routes around the ancient forest and to the coast at Barton-on-Sea and Milford-on-Sea. From the top deck of the open-top bus, there are grandstand views of the wild ponies grazing and the many historic villages of the New Forest, en route to places such as the Beaulieu National Motor Museum, Ringwood Brewery and Hythe Ferry, home to the world’s oldest pier train where you can take the short return ferry ride over to Southampton.

The flexible hop-on, hop-off tickets mean you can stop off and spend some time at one of the attractions along the way and re-join the bus later in the day. The tour calls at Brockenhurst railway station, which has frequent trains from London, so it’s an effortless, car-free day out from the capital as well as from cities along the south coast, such as Southampton, Bournemouth, and Salisbury. thenewforesttour.info

WHINLATTER FOREST PARK, KESWICK, CUMBRIA

England’s only true mountain forest, Whinlatter Forest provides views across Bassenthwaite Lake, Derwentwater and Keswick and is home to the longest purpose-built mountain bike trails in the Lake District. You can hire bikes and head off on one of the bike trails (Altura, Gorse and Quercus) to reach the viewpoints with speedy descents or take part in mountain bike orienteering along a combination of forest roads and parts of the Quercus trail. There’s also horse riding through the forest, guided walks with alpacas, or spend a few hours on the high-ropes course at the onsite activity centre. During the summer, you can reach Whinlatter on the hourly 77/77A bus from Keswick, a wonderful route that’s also known as the Honister Rambler – one of Britain’s most scenic bus routes. Route dates and times may vary so do check the Stagecoach timetable before you travel (stagecoachbus.com). You get free admission if you arrive by bus or by bike. forestryengland.uk

SCOTTISH SEABIRD CENTRE, NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND

Learn about Scottish marine life – deep sea corals, kelp forests, marine mammals and the five million seabirds that breed around the Scottish coast each year – at this innovative interactive discovery centre. There are live cameras to zoom in on the local wildlife but if you want to get closer to the action, there are several boat trips out to the Firth of Forth, including a one-hour cruise around the island of Craigleith and the Bass Rock, home to the world’s largest colony of northern gannets; if you’re lucky you may also spot a dolphin. The centre is a 15-minute walk from North Berwick railway station, which is about 30 minutes by train from Edinburgh Waverley. seabird.org