Best wildlife picnic spots around the UK

Discover our pick of places to immerse yourself in nature

Exploring the great outdoors, experiencing close encounters with wildlife, then stopping to tuck into a delicious sandwich and sip a cool drink. Does a summer’s day out get any better? Plus, visiting nature reserves and national parks helps support their work too, protecting habitats and encouraging wildlife.

Brockholes nature reserve

Just off the M6 at Preston, Lancashire, Brockholes is a 250-acre nature reserve with lakes, woodland and walks along the River Ribble. There are picnic benches and grassy areas allowing visitors to relax and enjoy their own portable feasts, while overlooking the floating Visitor Village and Meadow Lake.

Best for: Birds and insects, with great crested grebes nesting, sand martins performing spectacular aerial displays, dragonflies, butterflies and, if you are really lucky, otters on Meadow Lake.

Steart Marshes

One of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust’s open sites, Steart Marshes in Somerset is a brilliant example of a ‘working’ wetland, protecting local homes from flooding and providing habitats for a wide array of wildlife. There’s no café at Steart but it is described as an ‘ideal picnic spot’, so bring your own refreshments.

Best for: Spotting a vast array of wetland wildlife in the freshwater and salt marshes, from otters to owls and waders to wildfowl.

Glen Finglas Estate

A vast expanse of hills, woodland, water and open heathland, Glen Finglas is home to some of Scotland’s most iconic wildlife in the heart of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and is part of the Great Trossachs Forest National Nature Reserve. There are picnic places a-plenty in the ancient woodland, by the lochside and at viewpoint summits.

Best for: Wild walks. There’s a network of nine waymarked walking routes to follow and the 24-kilometre Meall Trail will lead you into ‘wilder’ hill land.

Cley Marshes nature reserve

Located on the north Norfolk coast, Cley Marshes is the oldest Wildlife Trust reserve in the UK, a haven for birds where wide-open salt marshes and long stretches of beach create a sense of freedom and space. A deck with picnic benches looks out over wader pools, grazing marshes and all the way out to the sea.

Best for: Watching the reed beds for marsh harriers, the pools for avocets, spotting spoonbills in summer, and many more birds in the skies.

Wildwood

Set in beautiful ancient woodland near Herne Bay in Kent and Escot Park in Devon, the Wildwood Trust opened in 1999 as a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife. It offers a dedicated picnic area outside the on-site café at both locations, with additional tables dotted around the enclosures. Sign up for monthly or annual membership to get unlimited access at both parks.

Best for: Immersive animal experiences in natural enclosures where the parks’ bears, bison, badgers and beavers roam.

WORDS: CASSIE FAIRY