Highgate Hill

The walk up Highgate Hill rewards you with proper views across the Powys borderlands, though you'll earn them. Starting from Presteigne - a modest market town that's worth a wander in itself - the climb takes about forty minutes depending on fitness. The route isn't technical, just relentless in places, and the path can be muddy after rain.

Once you're up there, the payoff is genuine. On a clear day you get sweeping vistas of the mid-Wales valleys, farmland rolling off in every direction, and if you're lucky a sense of proper isolation that's surprisingly hard to find this close to England. It's not dramatic or vertiginous - no sudden drops or alpine theatre - but it has that quiet, unshowy appeal that makes you realise why people actually lived in these hills.

This works best for hill walkers who don't need a cafe at the summit, and families with teenagers who are beyond the ice-cream-stop stage. Young children will find the trudge tedious. The walk takes two to three hours round trip if you pace it steadily. Spring and early autumn are best - winter can be grim and muddy, summer might have you cursing the heat on the exposed sections.

Stay at Presteigne Holiday Park and you're nicely placed for exploring the wider area. Hush Hush Glamping a few miles out offers something more atmospheric if that appeals. The hill itself is free and accessible year-round, though it's genuinely worth checking conditions before heading out in poor weather.