In a week you can pootle from near Abergavenny to Brecon and back by narrowboat, via the wooded Usk Valley, canal-side cafes and the looming Black Mountains. Moor up to walk to Blaen y Glyn waterfalls, a perfect swim and picnic spot.
Stay: One-week Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal trip aboard Red Billed Finch (sleeping five) from £1,330 in August (0344 984 0322; drifters.co.uk).
16. Refreshing ride: Scotland
The rush of pine-fresh air in your face, the shadows of mighty trees, the ripple of brisk, peak-hugged waters… Even with a few wee climbs involved, a leisurely cycle around Scotland’s lochs and glens is a cool way to spend summer. Saddle Skedaddle’s trip links Balloch and Perth via Loch Lomond and Achray Forest, the rivers Tay and Tummel, country lanes and disused railways, folk heroes and leaping salmon, wooded hills and a whisky distillery or two.
Stay: Five-day Scotland Lochs & Glens self-guided cycle from £635pp including B&B accommodation (0191 265 1110; skedaddle.com).
17. Sacred streams: Northamptonshire
The Nene is a gentle, bucolic river, ideal for exploring by canoe. Canoe 2, based at bustling Rushden Lakes, offers a range of adventures. But coolest is its Canoeing & Champing short break, from Thrapston to Oundle, taking in a sylvan stretch of river and the quiet, shaded backwater of Harper’s Brook. Overnight you’ll sleep within the cool, stone walls of Aldwincle’s historic church, now a “champsite” run by the Churches Conservation Trust. Breakfast is delivered by local farmers.
Stay: Two-day Canoeing & Champing break from £198pp including accommodation; 31 August. B&B breaks also available, from £178pp (01933 522223; canoe2.co.uk).
18. Tree therapy: Derbyshire
The National Forest project, which has been re-greening a swathe of previously industrialised Midlands since 1995, is playing host to perhaps the ultimate shady experience. Within the straw-bale roundhouse and community-owned woodland at Whistlewood Common in south Derbyshire, you can learn to Think like a Tree. This enlightening three-day programme will explore the principles often associated with forests and nature – such as resilience and harmony – and help you learn to apply them to your own life, in inspiring surrounds.
Stay: Three-day course from £240pp including lunch; off-grid camping pitches £18pn, yurt £60pn; 9-11 August (thinklikeatree.co.uk).
19. Go below: North Wales
In north Wales it’s easy to escape the sun entirely – the region’s mining heritage has left a legacy of underground attractions. Follow in the boot-prints of Victorian slate miners on Corris Mine Explorers’ Adventurer expedition (£37pp; corrismineexplorers.co.uk).