Bury Castle

Walking up to Bury Castle from Bodmin, you're climbing into genuine Iron Age territory - this is a proper hillfort, the kind that would have housed a community of maybe 200 people around 500 BC. The earthworks are still obvious once you're up there: concentric banks and ditches that the locals would have dug to keep threats at bay. Not much else remains, which is honest rather than disappointing.

The real appeal is the walk itself and the views across Bodmin Moor once you've made the effort. On a clear day you can see for miles. It's the sort of place history buffs will find genuinely interesting - there's something about standing on these ancient ramparts that makes the Iron Age feel less like a textbook chapter and more like actual people solving real problems. Families might find it a bit thin on entertainment if kids are after hands-on stuff, though the scramble up is decent enough exercise.

Allow an hour for the walk and a look around. It's free, as these things usually are. Bodmin itself is fifteen minutes away if you need tea or a proper meal after. If you're based at Camp De Lank, the site is four miles or so - easy enough to slot into a wider morning exploring the moor. Go early or late to avoid crowds, though honestly crowds aren't much of a problem here. You're not walking into a gift shop experience; you're walking into actual archaeology.