Curling Pond

The water here sits perfectly still most days, reflecting the Aberdeenshire hills like a sheet of dark glass. Curling Pond is exactly what it sounds like - a small, purpose-built loch just outside Huntly where locals have played curling for generations. Winter's the real draw if you're after the sport itself, though frankly the pond's just as pleasant to walk round any season.

It's a low-key spot, the kind of place families amble to while staying at nearby Huntly Castle Holiday Park. Kids won't get bored for long - twenty minutes round the water, maybe a bit of stone-skipping if you're lucky - but it's the kind of walk that sets up a proper afternoon rather than filling one. The pond sits in open country, so there's a genuine sense of being out rather than visiting a manicured attraction.

Walkers heading between Huntly town and the surrounding countryside often pass this way. The path's easy underfoot, takes barely half an hour if you're just doing the loop. No facilities to speak of, no admission fee - it's genuinely free, genuinely simple. Best visited on a crisp, clear day when the reflections work their magic. Don't expect crowds or interpretive boards. What you get is a working bit of Scottish life, quiet and unhurried.