The most invigorating Boxing Day walks for all the family

The best post-Christmas walks to help you work off all that turkey

Ilkley Moor makes for a bracing walk on Boxing Day (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The day after Christmas was made for windswept cliff-top jaunts and muddy strolls through forests filled with history. Here are some of the finest schleps for the whole family this festive season.

Tintagel circular walk, Cornwall

Length: 3.3 miles

Tintagel Castle has been linked to myths and legends including that of King Arthur (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This at-times challenging 3.3-mile hike starts and ends at the bewitching Tintagel Castle. Set high on Cornwall’s wind-battered north coast, it’s a place steeped in history and legend, and is believed to be where King Arthur was conceived by Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, and Queen Igerna, the wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall. Follow the trail down to the secluded beach, before making your way along the craggy coastline – past towering headlands and noisy bird colonies – towards the sandy cove at Bossiney and back through pretty Tintagel village.

Ashdown Forest, East Sussex

Length: 2 miles

Rolling hills in Ashdown Forest (iStock)

Ashdown is famous for being the real life inspiration behind A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories and this two-mile walk takes in many of places mentioned in the tales (although some of them have undergone a name change over the years). In reality, 100 Acre Wood is actually Five Hundred Acre Wood and The Enchanted Place, visited by Christopher Robin and Pooh, is known as Gills Lap Clump. Originally a deer hunting forest during Norman times, it now has national and international protection because of its wildlife – from rutting red deer to tiny pygmy shrews.

Hengistbury Head, Dorset

Length: 4 miles

Hengistbury Head sits between Dorset and Mudeford (iStock)

This headland jutting out into the knife-cold English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford is a site of international importance because of its archaeology. Scheduled as an Ancient Monument (like Stonehenge), the earliest history of Hengistbury Head shows it was used as a high ground vantage point by nomadic hunters and it was also a major Iron Age trading centre. Its salt-soaked clifftop trails and pebbly beaches are great for dog walkers, and those who want to clear the cobwebs after days spent buried under crackling wrapper paper and pigs in blankets.

Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh

Length: 2.75 miles

Arthur's Seat is the highest point in Edinburgh (iStock)

Sedentary sorts be warned, this is a proper hill hike, ascending the rocky summit of Arthur’s Seat, which dominates the Edinburgh skyline. The 251-metre-high hill is actually what remains of a long-extinct volcano, and tracks here are well-signposted and easy to find. Make it to the summit for impressive views of the Firth of Forth and then return home for turkey leftovers in front of a crackling fire.

Ilkley Moor and The 12 Apostles, West Yorkshire

Length: 6 miles

The fields of heather remain beautiful all year round (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The sweeping, heather-carpeted views at Ilkley Moor are so special there’s even a song dedicated to them (ask a local and they might be so kind as to belt out a few lines from the unofficial Yorkshire anthem ‘On Ilkla Moor Baht At’). A walk across the moors is, unsurprisingly, all about the views, and the marked trail starting from West View Park takes you through White Wells and up at an easy gradient towards Ilkey Crag, where you’ll find a standing circle of stones known as The 12 Apostles. The circle dates back to the Bronze Age and is believed to be at least 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.

Dinas Emrys, Snowdonia

Length: 2.2 miles

Dinas Emrys is the legendary home of the Welsh dragon (Wikimedia)

As legend has it, Dinas Emrys is the lofty mountain home of the red dragon you see fluttering on the iconic Welsh flag. The 40-minute walk (one way) through beautiful oak woodland to the summit is perfect for families, and rewards hikers with magnificent views of the pretty countryside, speckled with Welsh black cattle and roaring waterfalls. At the top, you’ll find the crumbled remains of a square tower and defensive ramparts of Vortigern’s castle, built in honour of the wizard, Merlin. But remember to tread softly, you don’t want to wake the dragon.

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