Cove Hill

The walk up Cove Hill near Montrose is a proper little scramble, nothing too demanding but enough to get the blood pumping. You're climbing maybe 400 metres or so, and the path winds through heathland before opening out onto the summit where you get views across the Angus coast and inland towards the Cairngorms. On a clear day it's genuinely expansive.

What catches you most is how intimate it feels for a hill with such wide vistas. The walk takes about an hour and a half there and back, and it's busy enough with locals at weekends without being overrun. Families with kids aged eight and up will find it manageable - nothing technical, just steady climbing.

The hill works brilliantly as a half-day outing if you're based at St Cyrus Holiday Park down the road. There's a car park at the foot, and you can be back for lunch without any faffing about. The wind can be fierce up top, so come prepared. Winter and early spring show the landscape at its bleakest, which honestly suits the mood of the place.

Not the most famous peak you'll climb in Scotland, but that's rather the point. It delivers proper Highland views without the crowds you'd get at somewhere more celebrated. The walk itself matters more than the destination here.