Castle Dore

You'll find yourself walking across open moorland towards what looks at first like just another grassy bump in the Cornish landscape. Then it clicks - those earthworks are the remains of a proper Iron Age fort, and you're standing inside one of the most significant archaeological sites in the south-west. Castle Dore, just outside Tywardreath, is essentially a Iron Age hill fort with two concentric rings of defensive ditches and ramparts still clearly visible despite being abandoned around 2,000 years ago.

It's free to visit and you can wander the site at your own pace - perhaps thirty minutes to an hour if you're actually interested in what you're looking at. Don't come expecting reconstructed buildings or interpretation boards; this is raw archaeology. You get what the earth has preserved, which is either fascinating or underwhelming depending on whether you enjoy piecing together how people actually lived. History buffs and walkers will find it worthwhile. Young children might manage ten minutes before asking when you're leaving.

The views across the moorland are genuine enough, and the site sits well within the wider Cornish holiday zone. If you're staying at Tremeer Farm's yurts or Mena Farm's touring pitches nearby, it's worth a morning visit to break up a park-based week. The walk across open ground is pleasant, and the solitude here - compared to more visited Cornish attractions - is rather refreshing. Bring decent footwear; the ground gets boggy after rain.