ON THE WATER

From swimming to standup paddleboarding, boating to biking, here's how to have the ultimate adventure on and around six of world's most beautiful lakes.

- Kerry Walker

Boosted by a growing awareness of the mental and physical health benefits of wild swimming, lakeside adventures have captured the imaginations of people keen to take the plunge. From glacial Alpine tarns to tropical jungle-wreathed lagoons, lakes can boost moods, reconnect us with the elements and help us to press the reset button. They also offer a wealth of options for intrepid travellers. Whether it’s canoeing across a mountain-clasped lake in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, diving down to a ghostly petrified forest in Kazakhstan, fishing in Finland’s Lakeland as ospreys soar overhead or hiking up to the world’s clearest lake in New Zealand, these activities and excursions promise adventure while simultaneously soothing the soul.

BEST FOR CANOEING:

LAKE LOUISE, CANADA

For a taste of Canadian wilderness, few places rival Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains, where grizzly bears amble through pine and spruce forests, mountains loom overhead and jewel-like lakes dot the landscape — the most scenic of which must be Lake Louise. Hemmed in by rugged, snow-cloaked mountains, this glacier lake sits at 5,200ft, just below Mount Victoria and right on Alberta’s border with British Columbia.

While you can admire the lake’s brilliance from its shores, you’ll get a wholly different perspective by grabbing a paddle and canoeing in silent wonder across its waters, your gaze forced upwards to the parade of towering peaks and pearly shimmer of the hanging Victoria Glacier. The startling azure colour of the water can be attributed to light reflecting off small particles of ‘rock flour’ (glacial silt) carried down from glaciers above.