Britain’s best walks

Brace yourself for a big, bold walk, which leads from Eastbourne, with its stone beaches and Edwardian seafront, up onto the high chalk cliffs whose most famous landmark is the red-and white-striped Beachy Head lighthouse. You’re then on the ups and downs of the famous Seven Sisters, which will give your legs a workout and your eyes gorgeous English Channel vistas.

The Brecon Beacons aren’t all about hills, you know. This is also waterfall country, and this well-trodden path takes in four of the very finest, along with some of the best-preserved areas of woodland in southeast Wales.

Many walkers overlook Exmoor, but that’s a mistake. This hike encapsulates all that’s lovely about the UK’s smallest national park: dappled woodland, peaceful fields, fast-running rivers and rural architecture – in this case, an ancient clapper bridge made of flat stone slabs.

The spectacular cliffs and pinnacles of the Quiraing are a compact and easily explored example of the dramatic landscape features that make Trotternish – the Isle of Skye’s northern peninsula – unique. Rough hill paths give access to the summit plateau of Meall na Suiramach (543m), with fine views of the surrounding islands, the Applecross Hills on the mainland and the soaring cliffs of the Trotternish escarpment itself, before returning through the heart of the Quiraing.