Getting the flavour of…

Canoeing in the wilds of Ontario

Stretching across 600 square miles on the northeast shore of Lake Superior, Ontario’s Lake Superior Provincial Park is “Canada at its most Canadian”, says Sarah Baxter in The Daily Telegraph. It’s worth simply driving through it, along the Trans-Canada Highway from the nearby city of Sault Ste Marie – the views of boreal forest, lakes and ancient rock formations are “spectacular”. And it’s a great place for a camping and canoeing trip with a local tour operator such as Forest the Canoe. On one of its adventures, you might pitch your tent by the shores of Mijinemungshing Lake, where there’s a fire pit, a picnic table and even a thunderbox (bush loo). The lake swimming is “verging-ontranscendent”, even in the rain. The trip costs from £393pp (forestthecanoe.ca).

A charming Dutch city

With its handsome medieval centre, gabled merchants’ houses and tree-lined canals, Utrecht is a beautiful and lively place to while away a long weekend, says Mike MacEacheran in The Sunday Times. For a fabulous overview, climb the 465 steps of the 14th century Dom Tower – the city’s pride and joy, and the tallest bell tower in the Netherlands. Visit the Rietveld Schröder House, Gerrit Rietveld’s pioneering modernist masterpiece, designed according to the principles of De Stijl, the Dutch artistic movement of which Piet Mondrian was another leading member. And, if visiting with children, don’t miss the colourful Nijntje Museum, which celebrates the work of the author and artist Dick Bruna, creator of the “cutesy” rabbit Miffy (“a local treasure”). Utrecht is one of the world’s most bicycle-friendly cities – “the best way to get around the stag-do-free streets” – and is also great for kayaking, with vessels to hire for £7 an hour from Kayak Utrecht.

A Cornish pilgrimage

Among England’s loveliest pilgrims’ paths is St Michael’s Way in Cornwall, says Phoebe Smith in The Guardian. At only 14 miles long, it can be walked in a day – but, approached in the right spirit, such short pilgrimages can yield as deep a sense of meaning as much longer routes. Crossing the county near its western tip – from Lelant, on the north coast, to St Michael’s Mount, on the south – it forms part of the Camino de Santiago, and was used in the Middle Ages by Welsh and Irish pilgrims keen to avoid the perilous seas around Land’s End. There’s much to see along the way, including the medieval church of St Uny and the pirate’s grave (“with skull and crossbones”) at Gulval – and St Michael’s Mount (pictured), a tidal island crowned by a medieval castle and chapel, makes for a spectacular finale.