Red Cove, dun site

You're looking at what's left of a dun - an Iron Age hillfort that once commanded this stretch of Argyll coastline. Red Cove sits just outside Tarbert, and what you'll find is the substantial remains of a defensive settlement: stone walls, tumbled ramparts, the bones of a structure that took real effort to build. The site sprawls across rough ground with views down toward the water, and you can still make out the fort's layout if you know what you're looking at.

It's proper rewarding if you're into archaeology or Iron Age Scotland. For casual walkers it's less obvious - there's no visitor centre, no interpretation boards explaining what you're standing in. You need to come with either a guidebook or genuine curiosity about what pre-Roman fortifications actually looked like. Kids might find it a bit underwhelming unless they're already interested in forts and ancient stuff.

The approach from Tarbert takes you through rural Argyll, and getting there involves some legwork - you can't park right at the site. Allow a couple of hours if you're going to do it justice, longer if you want to sit and absorb it. There's no admission fee and no set opening hours, which means you can visit whenever suits you, but equally there's nobody there to tell you anything about it.

Stay at Muasdale Holiday Park nearby and you've got a proper base for exploring this corner of the peninsula. Combine Red Cove with walks around Tarbert itself and you've got a decent afternoon sorted.