Bryn Dafydd

The walk up Bryn Dafydd from Aberystwyth is steep, relentless, and absolutely worth doing on a clear day. You're climbing roughly 500 metres to reach the summit, which means proper leg work, but the payoff is a view across Cardigan Bay that stretches for miles. On good visibility you can pick out the Preseli Mountains inland and catch sight of Snowdonia if you're lucky. The peak itself is moorland - windswept and a bit barren, but that's precisely what makes it feel wild and genuine rather than manicured.

Allow a solid two hours for the round trip if you're reasonably fit, more if you're taking photographs or letting the kids set the pace. It's free to walk, naturally, and there's parking near the start in Aberystwyth itself. Spring and early summer are best - you avoid the worst of the weather and the bracken hasn't yet swallowed the path. Autumn mornings can be magical too, if you time it right before the mist rolls in.

This is one for walkers and people who actually want to earn their landscape. Families with younger children might find it a slog; teenagers with reasonable fitness will handle it fine. It's the sort of walk that clears your head properly. If you're camping at Woodlands Caravan Park or Brynllwyd Glamping, both within five miles, this makes an excellent morning expedition before heading back for lunch. Not Instagram-pretty, but genuinely memorable.