The 50 Best Winter Walks

The Independent's essential guide to going out and staying in lists The 50 Best Winter Walks. Here are the top 3:

1.) Freshwater Way, Isle of Wight - One of eight way-marked inland trails on the island, this gentle route takes you from the mouth of the Yar estuary through woodland, farmland and to the water's edge at the Causeway. Here, you can either continue along the flat river valley or take the path that rises up to Afton Down; finishing above the cliff at Compton bay. more info

2.) Ashridge, Hertforshire - The National Trust's Ashridge estate is set on the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire border and straddles the Chilterns. The popular way-marked woodland trail gives you a real sense of the scale of the 5,000 acre estate. It's advisable to wear strong footwear as the woodland tracks here tend to be muddy all year round. more info

3.) Thixendale Round, Yorkshire - This is an intriguing journey through a landscape of dry chalk grassland valleys, green meadowlands and medieval villages. Leaving the remote village of Thixendale, which is at the hub of 16 dales in Yorkshire Wolds, this walk passes through Painsthorpe Dale, which only became accessible to the public for the first time earlier in 2006. more info