Dunnet Hill

The drive up to Dunnet Hill's car park is already worth the petrol. You're on the northernmost mainland point of Britain - not Land's End, whatever the English tell you - and the sense of edge-of-the-world kicks in before you've even left the vehicle.

The walk itself is straightforward and takes about an hour round trip. It's not a slog, more of a proper moorland amble with the ground rising gently beneath your feet. What hits you at the top is the sheer exposure. Three hundred metres up, you're standing on essentially a flat plateau that drops away on all sides to cliffs. The views across the Pentland Firth toward Orkney are genuinely spectacular on a clear day - which, granted, isn't guaranteed up here.

There's a radar station on the summit, which is a bit modern and functional compared to what you might expect, but the landscape more than makes up for it. On a windy day - and there usually is one - you're gripping your jacket and grinning. It's bleak, proper bleak, and absolutely brilliant for that reason.

Families with older kids will get on fine here. Younger ones might find the exposure a touch nerve-wracking. Walkers love it because the walk is manageable but the payoff is real. History buffs should know Dunnet Head has Bronze Age cairn remains, though they're subtle.

It's free. Allow two hours to be proper about it. Thurso is the nearest town about fifteen minutes away. If you're camping at Little Croft Highlands, this is an easy morning trip that doesn't require booking or planning - just turn up and go.