Chapel Hill

The walk up Chapel Hill from Dorchester rewards you with proper views across the Dorset countryside - on a clear day you can see right across to the coast. It's a modest height but the climb is genuine, and the path gets a bit muddy after rain, so decent boots matter.

What you're after here is the Iron Age fort that crowns the summit. The earthworks are still visible if you know what you're looking at, though honestly they're subtle - this isn't Maiden Castle. The real draw is standing at the top with Dorchester laid out below you and the rolling landscape stretching away. Takes most people 45 minutes to an hour to reach the peak from town, depending on fitness and how often you stop to catch your breath.

History types will find it worth the effort. Families with younger kids might find the walk a bit of a slog for what amounts to some bumps in a field and a view, though teenagers who don't mind a trudge will get something out of it. Walkers tackling the local network will naturally pass through here.

It's free, obviously - it's a hill. Go midweek if you can; weekends draw the Dorchester crowd. Autumn's lovely when the light's low and golden. If you're camped at Chesil Beach Lodge or any of the touring parks within a few miles, this makes a solid morning out before heading elsewhere. Pair it with a proper look round Dorchester itself and you've got a decent day.