Antrim Motte

You'll spot it straight away - a steep grass mound rising abruptly from the flat ground near Antrim town, with trees crowning the top. That's the motte, a Norman fortification built around the 12th century, and it's genuinely impressive once you're standing at its base looking up at the sheer sides.

There's not much to do here beyond having a good gander and climbing to the top if you're feeling energetic. The walk up is proper steep - easily five minutes of it - but the effort rewards you with decent views across the surrounding landscape. You get a real sense of why the Normans chose this spot: commanding, defensible, hard to ignore. No remains of the original keep, mind you, just the earthwork itself, but that's enough to read the history into.

This works well for history buffs and walkers wanting something short and sharp. Kids might manage the climb, though younger ones could find it a bit of a slog. If you're staying at Six Mile Water Caravan Park or Blair's Castlewood just down the road, it's barely worth making a special trip - perhaps a 20-minute diversion on the way to somewhere else. Worth the walk? Only if you're interested in medieval military engineering or you simply fancy a mild huff up a grassy hill. Free to visit, naturally. Best on a clear day when you can actually see something from the top.