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Vancouver Island is roughly the same size as Holland, making it the largest island off the west coast of North America. A patchwork of mountains, rainforest, pastoral hills and spectacular coastal scenery, it features numerous parks and reserves that offer hiking for all abilities.

Long Beach is a tract of wild, windswept sand and rocky headlands backed by mountains that stretches for some 12 miles in the Pacific Rim National Park, close to the town of Tofino.

All of its nine short marked trails (for a total of 7.5 miles) are lovely, but South Beach and Schooner Beach trails, with their rainforest and seascapes, are standouts; longbeachmaps.com has summaries and videos of each of the walks.

At the other extreme, similar but grander scenery can be found on the 47-mile West Coast Trail, one of North America’s more demanding multi-day hikes. For a one-day taste, hike the easy first stage from Bamfield and back.

Tofino; either Duffin Cove Oceanfront Lodging (001 250 725 3448; duffincove.com) close to town, or Crystal Cove Beach Resort (001 250 725 4213; crystalcove.ca) in a lovely setting out of town.

No, but companies such as Ecosummer Expeditions (ecosummer.com) offer escorted trips on the West Coast Trail.

Low for Long Beach, high for the West Coast Trail.

For Long Beach, visit Parks Canada website (pc.gc.ca), which also offers material on the West Coast Trail. Visit hellobc.com and vancouverisland.travel for information on Vancouver Island.