Bury Hill Fort

The Iron Age fort sits on high ground just above Wotton-under-Edge, and you'll know you're getting close when the landscape starts to roll upward beneath your feet. It's not a dramatic arrival - there's no grand entrance or visitor centre, just a proper hillfort as it was left over two thousand years ago, with its defensive ditches still clearly visible cutting across the ridgeline.

What you're actually looking at are the earthworks themselves. Walk the perimeter and you'll trace the raised banks and sunken ditches that would have housed people and livestock in prehistoric times. On a clear day, the views across the surrounding valleys are reason enough to make the climb, and the fort's strategic position becomes immediately obvious once you're up there. It takes maybe thirty minutes to walk the full circuit, though plenty of people just potter about for an hour, sitting on the banks and taking in the Gloucestershire countryside.

Historically minded visitors and walkers will get the most from this one. It's not flashy - no reconstructions, no interpretation boards - but that's rather the point. You're standing in the actual place where Iron Age people made their lives, and that authenticity counts for something. Kids under ten might find it a bit thin on excitement, to be honest.

It's free and accessible year-round. If you're staying at Wixoldbury Farm Glamping six miles away, it's an easy half-day outing to combine with walking the wider Cotswold paths in the area. Go early morning or late afternoon for the best light and fewest other visitors.