Chapelton Trail

The walk along Chapelton Trail rewards you with wide-open views across Aberdeenshire countryside that justify the trek from nearby Cookney. This isn't a fussy heritage site with interpretation boards and gift shops - it's a proper hill walk that takes you through farmland and moorland to moorland ridges with sight lines across the Highlands when the weather plays along.

The trail itself follows the contours well enough, though it's genuinely steep in places. Allow a good two hours there and back if you're not scrambling up every incline at pace. You'll want decent boots - the ground gets boggy and the grass is deceptive when it's damp.

Families with younger kids might find it a slog, but teenagers who've done a few country walks will get something out of the effort. Serious walkers could incorporate this into a longer day across the surrounding hills. It's the sort of walk that improves as you go higher - the first twenty minutes through the lower fields feel ordinary until you're up high enough to see properly.

Stay at Stonehaven Queen Elizabeth Park if you're basing yourself here - it's less than five miles away and a decent spot for a week of exploring this stretch of countryside. The walk is free, obviously. No admission fees to the hills. Check conditions before you go in winter; the exposed sections get dodgy when the wind picks up or the ground's frozen.