Spurn

Spurn is a thin spit of sand and shingle, a little over three miles long, curling south from the Holderness coast into the mouth of the Humber. It is one of the best places in the country to watch bird migration: in spring and autumn large numbers of birds funnel down the point, and the observatory here has logged rarities that pull birdwatchers from all over. Seals often haul out on the sandbanks too.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust looks after Spurn as a nature reserve, and the RNLI keeps a lifeboat station at the far tip, staffed by one of its few full-time crews. A tidal surge in 2013 washed away part of the road along the spit, so the walk to the very end is longer and wilder than it once was.

The one thing to get right is the tide: the low neck of the spit floods on high spring tides and can cut the point off, so check the tide times before you set out and give yourself plenty of margin. Most people park at the visitor centre near Kilnsea, at the landward end, and walk from there. Up the coast to the north, Withernsea is the nearest seaside town, and the King Charles III England Coast Path runs down to meet the reserve.