Summit by Supper: Six British Hills You Can Climb and Still Make Last Orders

There's a particular type of hill day that doesn't get enough credit. Not the alpine start. Not the twelve-hour epic with the 4am porridge. I mean the sneaky summit — the one you knock off on a Tuesday evening, or tuck into the middle of a long drive north, and still end up in a pub with a packet of pork scratchings by eight.

The two-hour summit is an underrated art form. Done right, it's the best value in British hillwalking: maximum tick, minimum faff. Here are six of our favourites, with the all-important post-walk refreshment sorted too.

Roseberry Topping, North Yorkshire

Barely 1,000 feet, but with a shorn-off summit ridge that makes it look like someone dropped a mini Matterhorn into the North York Moors. From the car park at Newton-under-Roseberry, you're up and down in about an hour, even with a pause at the top to admire the whole of Teesside spread out below.

Parking: Newton-under-Roseberry car park, pay and display, fills up on sunny weekends — go midweek. Drive time: 25 minutes from Middlesbrough, 40 from Whitby.

The reward: The King's Head in Newton-under-Roseberry is a two-minute stumble from the trailhead and does a proper pint of Black Sheep.

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

Yes, it's in a city. No, that doesn't make it less of a summit. An extinct volcano in the middle of the capital, climbed by joggers, tourists and proper hillwalkers alike, and it hands you a 360-degree panorama of Edinburgh's rooftops and the Firth of Forth for around 45 minutes of effort from Holyrood.

Parking: St Margaret's Loch area, or just take the bus — it's Edinburgh, you daftie. Drive time: Irrelevant. That's the point.

The reward: The Sheep Heid Inn in Duddingston claims to be Scotland's oldest pub, and the walk down the eastern slope drops you practically at its door.

The Wrekin, Shropshire

The M54's finest landmark. Locals will tell you nobody's counted how many times they've climbed it, and at roughly an hour and a quarter up via the main path, you can see why it becomes a habit. Forest tracks give way to a rocky little pull that feels far bigger than the numbers suggest.

Parking: The Wrekin Forest car park off the B5069 — a fiver in the machine, honest value. Drive time: 15 minutes from Telford, right off the M54 if you're passing through.

The reward: The Halfway House on the edge of the Ercall — a proper old-school boozer with its own brewery.

Mam Tor, Derbyshire

The Shivering Mountain lives up to its name in a wind, but the path from Mam Nick car park is mercifully short — twenty minutes of climbing and you're standing on a rampart above the Hope Valley, with the Great Ridge unrolling towards Hollins Cross.

Parking: Mam Nick National Trust car park, small and popular, so have a Castleton backup plan. Drive time: 10 minutes from Castleton, 30 from Sheffield.

The reward: The Cheshire Cheese in Castleton — candlelit, cosy and the kind of place where wet boots are a uniform.

Conic Hill, Loch Lomond

Don't be fooled by the 358 metres. Conic Hill sits on the Highland Boundary Fault and hands you arguably the best view-per-step ratio in Scotland: the full length of Loch Lomond split by its islands, laid out like a postcard. An hour up from Balmaha, tops.

Parking: Balmaha car park, right on the eastern shore. Drive time: 40 minutes from Glasgow — which makes this the definitive after-work tick.

The reward: The Oak Tree Inn in Balmather — sorry, Balmaha — does beer, whisky and food until late. You've earned all three.

Caerphilly Mountain, South Wales

A grassy lump north of Cardiff that punches well above its weight. From the car park above Caerphilly, it's a steady 30–40 minute haul to the trig point, where the whole of the Welsh capital and beyond unfurls on a clear day.

Parking: The mountain car park on Thornhill Road. Drive time: 20 minutes from Cardiff centre.

The reward: Descend into Caerphilly itself and grab a slab of proper Caerphilly cheese from a local deli, or head to the Castle pub in the town centre.

The Rules of the Quick Tick

A few things worth remembering before you go chasing summits in the dying light:

• Check sunset, not just opening hours. A two-hour walk started at 7pm in January is a headtorch walk, full stop.
• Still pack the basics. Quick ticks catch people out — a shortcut on kit is how an evening stroll becomes a mountain rescue callout.
• Park smart. Some of these car parks lock or close; leave the vehicle somewhere legal and overnight-friendly.

The hills will still be there at the weekend. But the ones you can climb on a whim, between work and tea? Those are the ones that keep the fire lit. Get up there.