Sittaford Tor

Sittaford Tor rises sharply from the moorland south-west of Exeter, a granite outcrop that rewards the climb with proper views across Dartmoor. It's not a long walk - maybe 45 minutes from the car park at Postbridge - but it's steep enough that you'll feel it in your legs. The summit is genuinely impressive: you get the tor itself, which is climbable if you're comfortable with a bit of scrambling, and from the top the moorland rolls away in all directions. On a clear day the sight lines are tremendous.

This is walker terrain, full stop. Families with young children will struggle with the gradient, and it's not the sort of place to take a toddler. But teenagers and fit adults will find it satisfying - there's something about a Dartmoor tor that makes even a short walk feel like an achievement. The rock formations are genuinely interesting if you're into geology.

It's free to visit, and you can spend as long as you want up there - some people pop up for 20 minutes, others settle in for a couple of hours. The moorland around it is part of the wider Dartmoor experience, so it works beautifully as part of a longer Dartmoor National Park visit. Weather matters enormously here: on a drizzly day the views compress to nothing, so check conditions before you drive out. Summer gives you the best odds, though the moor gets busy then.