Taynuilt

Iron ore once ruled this sleepy Highland village, and you can still feel the industrial heritage at Bonawe Iron Furnace - one of Scotland's best-preserved charcoal-fuelled ironworks from the 18th century. The massive stone structures tell the story of an era when these hills rang with hammers and furnace fires.

Taynuilt sits in a proper sweet spot between Loch Awe and the sea, with Ben Cruachan's hulking mass dominating the eastern horizon. The village itself is modest - a railway station, a golf course, and not much else - but that's rather the point. This is where you come to walk the hills, not browse shops.

Walking here is cracking. Beinn Phlacaig and Beinn Duirinnis offer decent scrambles without being too taxing, while Ceann Creige gives you views right down Loch Awe on a clear day. The ancient dun sites at Dun Bhugan and Dun na Cuaiche hint at much older settlements - these hills have been home for millennia.

Getting here couldn't be easier. The West Highland Line stops right at Taynuilt station, making it one of the few Highland villages you can reach without a car. Oban's just 20 minutes down the road if you need proper facilities or ferry connections to the islands.

With Loch Awe Holiday Park and several other sites dotted around the area, camping makes perfect sense here. You're close enough to Oban for supplies but far enough out to feel like you're properly in the Highlands. The surrounding countryside begs for exploration - whether that's pottering around the loch shore or tackling the bigger peaks further into the Argyll Forest Park.