5. STAND ON A RUINED VOLCANO

ARTHUR’S SEAT

In its peaceful green hills and parklands, Scotland’s ancient capital of Edinburgh hides a violent volcanic past, born in the fury of earth-shaking eruptions. Arthur’s Seat, Calton Hill, Salisbury Crags and the crag on which the castle stands are all the result of volcanic activity during the Carboniferous period, around 350 million years ago.

Robert Louis Stevenson described Arthur’s Seat, a 251m (823ft) summit, as “a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design”. It is actually the eroded stump – or plug – of a long-extinct volcano. The same applies to Castle Rock, across the city, occupied since the Bronze Age and where the castle is now one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions.