Meall na Faiche

Meall na Faiche isn't the kind of peak that'll stop you dead in your tracks from the car park. What you get instead is a proper Scottish hill walk starting from near Beauly - straightforward enough, around 800 metres of ascent if memory serves, and the views across Strathglass and towards the northern Highlands are genuinely solid once you're up there. The walk itself takes a good couple of hours each way at a steady pace, so factor in at least four hours if you want to spend any time actually looking around at the summit.

This one's for the walkers, full stop. Not a scramble, not technical - just a hill that rewards effort with decent Highland views. You won't need climbing gear or special skills, though proper boots make it considerably less miserable in wet weather, which in this part of Scotland is... fairly often. The path is reasonably well-trodden, though it can turn boggy on the approach. Start early if you're doing this in winter when daylight's precious.

Free to climb, naturally - it's a Scottish hill, not a theme park. The nearest town is Beauly, which gives you somewhere reasonable to grab supplies beforehand. If you're staying at one of the Loch Ness parks nearby - and they're only 5 to 6 miles away - this makes for a decent half-day excursion that gets you moving without eating up an entire afternoon. On a clear day it's well worth the slog. On a grey one, you'll mostly see cloud.