Pen-y-Gaer hillfort

The walk up to Pen-y-Gaer is proper steep, but the Iron Age hillfort that rewards you at the top makes the huffing worthwhile. You're looking at ancient defensive ramparts and ditches that still hold their shape after two thousand years, spread across a high ridge with views that stretch toward Cardigan Bay. It's the kind of place where you can actually stand inside the old fort and work out how it was laid out - two rings of earthworks suggest this was a serious settlement, not just a lookout post.

Walkers will get the most from it. History types too, naturally, but you do need to bring your own imagination here - there's no interpretation board or visitor centre, just the landscape and the lumps in the ground. Allow a couple of hours if you're coming from Pwllheli. The access is free and the site is open to the elements year-round, which means winter can be absolutely biblical weather-wise.

It sits well with a broader ramble around Gwynedd's coastal hills. Tal-y-Fan Holiday Park is barely half a mile away, making it a natural choice for a base if you're into Iron Age archaeology and don't mind a bit of a graft. The site itself isn't flashy - no café, no facilities - but that's exactly why it's worth the trip. You're not competing with coachloads for a decent view.