Nether Largie Middle Cairn

You'll need to work for this one. Nether Largie Middle Cairn sits on the Kilmartin Glen, a proper archaeological hotspot about three miles south of Lochgilphead, and it's not the kind of place that announces itself with a visitor centre or gift shop. What you're looking at is a Bronze Age burial cairn - basically a 5,000-year-old mound of stones where someone important got a rather permanent send-off.

The cairn itself is modest but atmospheric. You can walk right up to it and peer inside the stone chamber, which is where the burials happened. It's the sort of thing that makes you pause and actually think about time passing - not in an abstract way, but standing right there with your hand on Bronze Age stonework.

This is genuinely one for history obsessives and archaeology nerds. Kids under ten will lose interest in about seven minutes, unless they're into climbing on old rocks. That said, the Kilmartin Glen has several cairns in close proximity, so if you're serious about archaeology, you can string together a decent half-day exploring the lot of them.

It's free to visit and open year-round - though there's nothing here in the way of facilities or signage, so come prepared. The Pod Over By is only a few miles away and makes a solid base if you're tackling the wider Glen. Best visited in dry weather, though honestly, that's the Scottish Highlands for you.