Mynydd Sygyn

The walk up Mynydd Sygyn rewards you with something rare in North Wales - total clarity about what you're getting. It's a straightforward fell, nothing dramatic, roughly 610 metres of moorland and grass that rises above Caernarfon without fuss. The summit itself is windswept and open, the kind of place where you genuinely notice the weather rather than hide from it.

This is walker territory, pure and simple. The ascent takes the best part of an hour from the valley floor, and you'll see why it draws the steady crowd of locals who treat it like a proper hill rather than a tourist tick-box. The views back toward Snowdonia and across to the Menai Strait are solid without being showy. On a clear day you get proper perspective on the mountains - but on a murky one, you're essentially climbing through cloud, which some people love and others find tedious.

Allow two to three hours for the round trip if you're not rushing. It's free, of course - it's a mountain. Families with decent walkers (eight or nine upwards) will manage it without complaint, though younger legs might struggle with the relentless gradient in the final stretch.

If you're based at one of the nearby campsites - Cae Du is almost on the doorstep - Mynydd Sygyn works brilliantly as a morning outing before heading toward Beddgelert or the bigger peaks. Don't expect drama. Expect a proper walk with decent views and the satisfaction of having actually climbed something.