Law Hill

The walk up Law Hill takes about forty minutes from Lanark town centre if you're reasonably fit, and the effort pays off with views across the Clyde Valley that stretch for miles on a clear day. You're standing on a proper viewpoint here - the kind of place where locals bring visitors to prove their landscape isn't all industrial grit. The town sprawls below, the river winds through trees, and on good weather days you can see right across to the Southern Uplands.

It's free to visit and there's no time limit, though most people spend an hour at the top before heading back down. The path itself is straightforward if muddy after rain - nothing technical, just a steady climb through farmland and rough grass. Worth doing in the morning before the clouds roll in, which they do regularly in this part of Scotland.

Families with older kids will manage this fine. Younger ones might find the return leg tedious. History buffs will appreciate that you're standing on ancient ground - there's been a settlement at Lanark for well over a thousand years, and William Wallace's name gets tied to the area, though the actual connection is debated.

If you're staying at Ecosse Glamping nearby, this makes a solid morning activity before lunch. It's not a day-long expedition, more a proper stretch of the legs with a decent reward at the top. The kind of walk that takes twenty minutes to recover from and makes you feel like you've actually done something.