Sunshine, showers, sunshine, showers — it’s the British Isles monsoon season. At least the plants love it.

Have you been to the countryside recently? It’s like a jungle out there. So let’s get out and enjoy it.

The prescription this week is a great country walk — a few summer sprinkles never hurt anyone, you know.

Two provisos: it’s got to be short — a couple of hours max — so we can squeeze it into the fair patches; and we want a snug, dry, classic country pub to retreat to before and after. Is that too much to ask?

Times Walks: the 100 best walks in the UK

Find your favourite ramble, print it out, pack your rucksack, and head out into the countryside or city

• Times Walks: Portesham and Hardy’s Monument, Dorset

Your favourite British walks

14 great walks in Britain as suggested by our readers. Got a good ramble you want to share? Let us know

• Times Walks: which is the best-read ramble?

The 12 best pubs in England and Wales

Alastair Sawday praises the determined and imaginative owners in his choice

• London's 10 best pubs

Of course not. In fact, here are 14 of them.

1. CULVER DOWN, Isle of Wight

Clouds about? Splendid. Nothing’s as beautiful as dappled light on the Channel, and this three-mile loop gives you plenty of it on the way back to excellent pub food at the perfectly sited Culver Haven Inn (01983 406107). Expect spectacular views, precipitous cliffs, rolling emerald-green downs and an awful lot of rabbits. The route is at nationaltrust.org.uk/walks — it’s called Bembridge Down.

2. LEITH HILL, Surrey

This family favourite is too easy to need a map. After a fortifying pint of Tickety-Boo in the Plough, at Coldharbour (www.ploughinn.com), take the uphill, left-hand track directly over the road. Pass the cricket pitch, then head straight on through woods and heath to the hilltop tower, with views of 13 counties. The display inside shows various routes back, stretching the walk to three miles or so.

3. DEDHAM, Essex/Suffolk

This is Constable country — they don’t let you forget it — and this dreamily easy three-mile circuit takes you right to the heart of it, across fields and along the peaceful River Stour past sugar-sweet Flatford Mill itself. Download the full route at nationaltrust.org.uk/walks; reward yourself with a pint of Adnams at the seductively creaky Sun Inn (01206 323351), on Dedham high street.

4. GORING, Oxfordshire

The Thames is at its sweetest here, the water meadows hemmed in by the Chilterns rising all around. Download the circular four-mile Chilterns Walk from visitthames.co.uk for the best towpath route. You’re spoilt for choice on pubs — the Bull, over the river at Streatley, has the history (the Three Men in a Boat munched lunch here), but we plump for a pint of Brakspear at the pleasantly beamy Catherine Wheel, in Goring itself.

5. BRENDON, Devon

The tiny East Lyn River tumbles along a lushly wooded Exmoor valley, crossed by stone bridges straight out of a Grimm fairy tale: it’s all rather otherworldly. Base camp is the 17th-century Rockford Inn (therockfordinn.co.uk), where they sell a handy local walking guide over the counter (£3.99). The leisurely three-mile round trip downstream to Watersmeet is our pick.

6. SKENFRITH, Monmouthshire

The curvaceous Monnow Valley is as bucolic as could be, all gently rolling fields, scattered woodland and low hills. The smartly refurbished 17th-century Bell, at Skenfrith (01600 750235), has walking pamphlets (50p) to help tipplers take full advantage. Go for the four-mile Knights Templar trail to mysterious Garway church, with its circular nave. Order a pint of Broome Farm perry on your return.

7. HALKYN, Flintshire

This 3½-mile stroll has sheltering woodland on the way up, and tops off with tremendous 70-mile, 360-degree views over the Dee estuary and back to the Pennines from the ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort atop 1,000ft Moel-y-Gaer. Pick up a pint of local ale (always half a dozen to choose from) and a directions leaflet (you’re after Walk Two) at the cosy 18th-century Blue Bell Inn (bluebell.uk.eu.org).

8. HOLME, West Yorkshire

If it’s blowy, all the better: you’ll blast out the cobwebs on this bracing five-mile loop over the hills and moors around Digley reservoir, at the head of the picture-perfect Holme Valley. It’s wild up top, but never fear: start and finish is the Fleece Inn, at Holme (01484 683449), a walker-friendly village local that won’t turn its nose up at muddy boots. Find the route at www.dalesman.co.uk/walks/peaknatpark.htm.

9. HUBBERHOLME, North Yorkshire

It’s the wide-open views that wow you, but there’s a bit of everything on this six-miler through lovely Wharfedale — limestone pavement, woodland, flower-strewn riverside meadows sliced by dry-stone walls. The route is at nationaltrust.org.uk/walks; the pint is waiting at the superb 400-year-old George Inn (01756 760223), an atmospheric flagstoned free house by the gurgling infant Wharfe.

10. GREAT LANGDALE, Cumbria

The Old Dungeon Ghyll (odg.co.uk) is a candidate for best walkers’ pub in England — the matey Hikers Bar has seen more boots than Ben Nevis — and dozens of great routes fan out from the door. We’d go for a moderately strenuous but spectacularly scenic seven miles over Pike o’ Stickle and Pavey Ark, with Stickle Tarn glinting below. You can find directions on the pub’s website.

11. DALRY, Dumfries and Galloway

Wild and lonely, the Glenkens are a patch of Highlands transplanted south, complete with sweeping uplands, peaceful glens and babbling burns. The stirring views from the 4½-mile circuit up Waterside Hill and down Garroch Glen will give you a thirst whatever the weather. Your pit stop is the Clachan Inn, at Dalry, which also provides the route at www.theclachaninn.com.

12. SHIELDAIG, Highlands

Highland perfection: a whitewashed hamlet looking out over tranquil Loch Torridon, with 3,000ft peaks towering all around. Start from the Shieldaig Bar (01520 755251) — fantastic seafood — for a three-mile circuit up the shoreline, through woods and over heather, with the bulk of Beinn Alligin looming over the water. Look out for otters and herons on the way. The route is at walkhighlands.co.uk/torridon.

13. GLENARIFF, Co Antrim

Thackeray described Glenariff as “Switzerland in miniature”. Ambitious, but the loveliest of Antrim’s glens has charm and drama: the forest park is splashed by spectacular waterfalls and laced with shady trails. The longest stretches seven miles, but pick the easier (though sometimes steep) 1½-mile loop at walkni.com; down your pint with a beef and Guinness pie at the refurbished Laragh Lodge (028 2175 8221).

14. GLENBARROW, Co Laois

Okay, the pub’s a five-minute drive from this splendid three-miler in the little-visited Slieve Bloom mountains, but that’s a small price for getting right out in the wilds. The Waterfall Loop runs along the leafy River Barrow — the highlight is the evocative, three-tiered Clamp Hole falls. Take your pint at the Rambler’s Rest, in sleepy Rosenallis (00 353 57 865 0997). For the route, visit www.discoverireland.ie/walking.