Once you’ve had your fill, the Meynell Ingram Arms (01283 575202, themeynell.co.uk) at Hoar Cross, is the place to go for lunch: it serves guest ales from local microbreweries, too.

£3; bluebellwoodsofyoxalllodge.com

WEST YORKSHIRE

Hardcastle Crags

Back in the early 20th century, Hardcastle Crags was a honey pot, visited each year by half a million people and home to at least six cafes, as well as tea dances and a roller-skating rink at Gibson Mill.

It’s much quieter than that now — and after centuries of charcoal burning in the valley, the woodland is making a comeback. The mile-long walk up from the (small) car park on Midgehole Road to Gibson Mill runs through oak, rowan, birch, beech and sycamore, and wherever the forest canopy allows, there are bluebells. The clearing at Rom Folly is particularly good.

According to Andrew Marsh, the local National Trust warden, the lower end of the valley is already dusted blue, and the colour will creep upwards over the next 4-6 weeks. If you haven’t brought a picnic, the Muddy Boots Cafe, at Gibson Mill, is the spot for lunch.

Valley walks are free, but parking costs £3-£4; nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-hardcastlecrags

DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY

High Camer Wood

Think of this as the highlands of the lowlands, an area broken by rolling fells, lochs and burns. These days, Britain’s largest forest park covers 300 square miles of this upland territory, and along with the inevitable conifer plantations, you’ll find plenty of broadleaf woodland.

At this time of year, that means bluebells, although they are running later than most of the UK. “They’re just beginning to spread up the valley,” says Linda Moorhouse, manager of the Cree Valley Community Woodlands Trust. To get the best of them, she advises waiting a couple of weeks, then heading up to High Camer, on the old woodland road that runs parallel to the A714. The area was cleared of mature oak in the 1950s, and since then there has been vigorous regeneration by birch trees and bluebells, as well as honeysuckle and wood sorrel.

There’s a car park and picnic site down by the road, but to get the full effect, you need to walk up to a separate patch of oak woodland that lies higher on the eastern side of the valley. Drive on to the Glentrool Visitor Centre for lunch.

Free; www.creevalley.com/ camer_wood.htm

CARMARTHENSHIRE

Greencastle Woods

There may have been woodland at Greencastle since the last ice age, spreading up the hillside on the western shore of the Towy estuary. The site covers 100 acres, and there is a mix of oak, alder and birch; it’s beneath the oaks that the bluebells prosper, but they’re mixed with wild garlic and wood anemone, so the colour is a vivid mix of blues and whites. There’s a car park here, and benches are scattered along the footpaths at the best viewpoints of the estuary — good for picnics. For those who need to stretch their legs a little more, the Carmarthen Bay Coast and Estuaries Trail passes through the site, and can be followed down to Llansteffan.

Free; www.wt-woods.org.uk/ greencastlewoods

CO DOWN

Mount Stewart

These gardens on the eastern shore of Strangford Lough aren’t only famous for their bluebells. The parterres and herbaceous borders shine, and there’s a very un-northern sense of fecundity — a result of the mild microclimate on the Ards peninsula.

The bluebells are concentrated around the lake and beech woods — both part of a 1½-mile walk around the grounds — and they are just emerging. Go soon and you’ll also see the rhododendrons, which are already out and looking superb.

Entry to gardens £5.60; nationaltrust.org.uk/mountstewart

Times recommends

• Oasis of the Seas: the Times review
• The 20 best new year party places to stay
• Green Spaces 2009: are you the winning writer?