As the summer heat is roaring towards 40 Celsius, many of us want to escape the cities for nature. Luckily, many European cities are surrounded by parks, hill tops and tracks for bicycling or country roads. So take a detour out of your city to find nature an hour by bike or car. Chances are you will be able to find some relaxation not too far from home and without going for a long holiday.
The fun value of a simple picnic
Remember those photos of picnics you see whenever a nature retreat comes up in an ad, movie or magazine? Well, nothing is stopping you from creating a picnic in the vicinity of your city. Chances are that you have parks, meadows and forests just outside of town. Just get that holiday mood going and bring your picnic basket, a couple of badminton rackets or similar and be sporty in a park. If you don’t have a park nearby, then pick a field, a forest or such. Chances are that there are more scenic spots close to your home than you are aware of.
Picnic with watersports at hand – Fancy some paddling?
Yeah, in this stifling heat that is covering Europe, a nature retreat is more welcome than ever. What better way to enjoy some cardio and active fun than close to water?! Especially now with the heatwave in Europe staying with us well into August with degrees close to 40 Celsius.
The heatwave is coming from the south with Spain and south of France being the scorching hot regions. Now is the perfect time to try that new water sport you have been thinking about! Canoeing, kayaking and SUP boarding are easily accessible in many European rivers, lakes and canals.
Got hiking boots or sneakers? Go hiking out of town – Into another town
How many times do we ever think about to go for a long hike out of town? Not often, with all the daily chores, work and lack of time. But you can go exploring closer to home. It is easy to become to miss out on the holiday spots that are avaiable closer to home.
Bring up Google Maps as your day trip assistant and plan a longer hike to get a short nature escape. It’s time to put those walking boots to good use, bring a backpack, a camera and good company.
Combine it with an overnight stay in a neighbouring village or city. European towns and cities are often within walking distance from other towns. European nature is mostly agricultural, some 40% five years ago. When old forests are lost due to forest harvesting, more carbon is released in the atmosphere. That has led to the need of more wood biomass with a biodiversity policy. And this is what the European Commission is working on to improve. Hopefully we can see more wild forests in Europe in the future. You can also read more about Europe and the gap of forests in this Nature article.
