A sublime dip in northern Italy
In the hills above Riva del Garda in Trentino is Lago di Tenno, a beautiful blue-green mountain lake. It’s small enough to walk around in under an hour, enclosed on all sides with lovely mountain views, but it’s the swimming that will bring you back again and again. The clear waters may be a tad chilly at first toe-dangle, but goosebumps are soon forgotten as you swim across the small gap to the grassy island. Relaxing, mountain air, beautiful views. The village of Tenno, with its medieval hilltop castle, has a few hotels and there’s a fine campsite close to the lake.
Ant
We’re on a Spree, Germany
The meandering rivers and 200 canals of the Spreewald, a richly forested Unesco biosphere reserve south-east of Berlin, offer hundreds of miles of navigable waterways. Basing ourselves at Lübbenau, we hired kayaks and glided past wildlife-rich riverbanks spotting coypu and kingfishers. We often saw owners of riverside homes slipping into their own vessels to commute or go shopping. Handcrafted signs on tree trunks guide paddlers: our favourite stop being the Gasthaus Wotschofska – a wonderful beer hall that cannot be reached by car. Tie up your watercraft and step on shore for a stein of beer and a dish featuring the famous Spreewald gherkin pickle. We hired our kayaks from Bootsverleih Franke in Lübbenau from €30 a day or €12 for one hour.
Lauren Jones
Profile
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A Slovenian hiking and paddleboarding haven
We stayed in the Julian Alps at Camp Bohinj (adults from €16 a night) in a tent directly on the shores of Lake Bohinj, the largest permanent lake in Slovenia. The place has marvellous views, great swimming, hammocks and a nice little bar. There’s lots to do on the lake with kayaking and paddleboarding, but you can also easily hike up into the mountains for incredible views. It’s also close to Lake Bled and the Austrian/Italian borders, so a perfect stop-off if touring around.
Dave Gregory
Lakeside camping and sunsets, France
Lac d’Aiguebelette in France’s Savoie Mont Blanc…
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