Alton Water Highland cattle

The Highland cattle at Alton Water are a proper head-turner, especially if you've never seen them up close before. These shaggy giants with their distinctive long horns roam around the water's edge east of Ipswich, and they're genuinely impressive animals - easily six feet tall with coats that look like they've been styled by someone who doesn't believe in haircuts.

You can see them most of the year, though they're at their best in autumn when the light catches their rust and cream colouring just right. The walk around Alton Water itself is lovely, about five miles if you do the full loop, and the cattle are just part of what makes it work. They're handled properly and kept as part of the landscape management, so they're not some tacky roadside attraction - they're genuinely wild-looking in their own space.

Families with children get a kick out of spotting them, and photographers will find them worth the trip. Walkers come for the water walk anyway, so seeing the Highlands is a bonus. There's no faffing about with admission fees or set visiting hours - you just pitch up and walk. Allow two to three hours for a proper look around.

If you're staying at Strangers Holiday Park or Priory Park nearby, both within a few miles, this makes a cracking half-day out. It's not a destination in itself, but combined with the water walk and the countryside around here, it's well worth an afternoon.