Adwell Cop

The walk up Adwell Cop rewards you with views that stretch across the Chilterns - assuming the weather plays ball. It's a proper little climb from Watlington, taking you through beech woodland before you emerge on open downland. Nothing dramatic, but on a clear day you can see why people bothered to walk up here in the first place.

This is walkers' territory, not a sit-down attraction. Allow 90 minutes for a gentle loop from Watlington town itself, less if you're fit and skip the lingering. The summit itself isn't vast - you won't find benches or an ice cream van - but that's rather the point. It feels genuinely remote for somewhere so close to the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire border. Families with older kids will manage fine; anything under eight will probably start moaning about halfway up.

Come in late spring when the beech canopy is full, or autumn when the light turns golden through the trees. Muddy after heavy rain, which is often the case in the Chilterns. The nearest town is Watlington, which has a decent high street and a couple of pubs for post-walk refuelling.

If you're camping locally - White Mark Glamping or Lashlake Barn are your closest options within five miles - this makes a proper morning's walk before lunch. It's not a destination in itself, but paired with the quieter corners of the Chilterns, it justifies the petrol. Worth doing once, frankly.