St. Ternan's Church

The walk to St. Ternan's Church takes you through proper Aberdeenshire countryside - rolling fields, stone walls, the works. Once you find it (and you will need to look), the kirk sits in a quiet corner near Arbuthnott, a few miles south of Montrose, looking exactly as Scottish country churches should: modest, grey, and absolutely unfussy.

Inside, there's medieval stonework and a few local historical touches that speak to centuries of worship in this spot. The graveyard's worth a wander too - old stones, quiet place, the kind that makes you realise how many generations have passed through here. It's not a major tourist draw, which is precisely why it works so well. No crowds, no gift shop, no interpretive boards telling you what to think.

This one's for walkers and history types rather than families after a big afternoon out. Allow 30 minutes to an hour if you're browsing the church and the graveyard. There's no admission charge - just turn up and have a look. Spring or autumn probably beats summer, when the midges can be relentless in rural Aberdeenshire.

If you're based at one of the caravan parks nearby - Stonehaven's Queen Elizabeth Park is about four miles away - St. Ternan's fits nicely into a morning's ramble before heading to the coast or deeper into the Mearns. It's the sort of place that rewards wandering rather than planning.