Glasgwm

The walk up Glasgwm from Dolgellau is steep enough to make you question your choices halfway through, but the payoff is genuine. This modest peak sits at around 2,500 feet and rewards the grunt with views across the Cader Idris massif and down into the Mawddach valley - proper stuff if you time it right and the cloud cooperates.

It's a walkers' mountain, no question. The path is straightforward but relentless, and you'll find yourself breathing harder than expected. Allow three hours return, maybe four if you're not a regular on the hills. The rock underfoot can be damp and slippery, so decent boots matter. Most people tackle it from the Dolgellau side, and the whole experience is brisk rather than leisurely.

Families with young children might find it a bit much unless they're already hill-hardened. Keen walkers who don't mind a proper leg-burner will get the most from it. There's something satisfying about climbing something this steep and narrow - you've earned your afternoon tea in town afterwards.

It costs nothing, obviously. The best window is late spring through early autumn, when the weather's marginally less temperamental. Winter gets grim fast. If you're camped at Llwyn yr Helm, barely forty minutes away, it's a cracking choice for a morning mission before the afternoon crowds appear. Torrent Walk Campsite is also close enough to make it worthwhile.