About three kilometres north of Berkhamsted, the National Trust's Ashridge Estate covers 5,000 acres of beech woodland and chalk downland along the Chiltern escarpment. A herd of around 500 fallow deer roams the woods year-round and is easy to spot at dawn or dusk near the central monument and along the bridleways.
In spring the bluebells under the beech canopy are some of the best in southern England — late April and early May are the peak. Year-round walking includes the climb up Ivinghoe Beacon (a tough mile from the car park at the visitor centre) for one of the longest views in the Chilterns: on a clear day you can see the towers of central London thirty miles to the south-east. Free to enter; parking charges apply at the main car parks.