Prestonbury Castle

The Iron Age hillfort dominates the landscape north of Exeter with surprising drama for somewhere so close to the city. Walk up through farmland and you're rewarded with serious views across the Exe Valley - the kind that make you understand why someone decided this particular hill was worth defending two thousand years ago.

What you actually get is earthworks. Proper earthworks - multiple defensive ditches and ramparts that are still distinctly visible, even if you're not expecting much. It's not a castle with walls standing up; it's the ghost of one, basically. That said, if you're into Iron Age settlement or just want to read the landscape like a history book, it's genuinely interesting. The ramparts tell a story if you know how to look.

Allow forty minutes to an hour, and good footwear matters - it gets muddy. This works well as a half-day venture from any of the nearby parks: Barley Meadow Touring Park is barely a mile away, so you could knock it out before lunch without any fuss. Sunsets & Marshmallows and Woodland Springs are both within a couple of miles too, making it an easy detour during a Devon park holiday.

Families with restless kids might find it a bit abstract - there's no visitor centre or interpretation, so you need some historical imagination. But walkers and anyone with a genuine interest in archaeology will find it worthwhile. Free to visit, naturally. Go when the ground isn't waterlogged if you can manage it.