England
Buttermere
A mirror lake ringed by fells so symmetrical the reflection is indistinguishable from the real.
The lake lies so still between Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike that the fells appear twice — once in stone and once in water. Buttermere is the quieter sibling of the central Lakes, a valley where the walking is serious but the mood is gentle.
Buttermere's circuit — four flat miles of lakeside path — ranks with the finest low-level routes in the Lake District, threading ancient oakwood, cascading becks and a rock tunnel cut through the crag in the 1800s to carry the path. The lake sits between the high ridges of Red Pike and Haystacks — Wainwright's favourite fell, where his ashes were scattered by his own instruction — and its water runs startlingly clean, making cold, clear, earned wild swimming. A half-mile of flat meadow separates Buttermere from Crummock Water, which extends the valley's water northward and hides Scale Force, the Lake District's tallest single-drop waterfall at 52 metres, in a ravine off the western shore. The valley's two eighteenth-century inns have fed walkers for generations: wet boots welcome, pretension left at the door.
Solo
Climb Haystacks alone, scatter your thoughts where Wainwright scattered his ashes, and descend knowing why he chose this fell above all others.
Couple
The lakeside circuit is flat, unhurried and intimate — walk it in morning mist when the reflections are at their most perfect and the valley belongs to you.
- Four flat miles circle the lake beneath Wainwright's chosen resting fell.
- The water runs clean enough for cold, clear, earned wild swimming.
- Scale Force, the Lakes' tallest single drop, hides in a ravine nearby.
- Two eighteenth-century inns welcome wet boots and turn away pretension.
A Herdwick burger — the sheep graze the fells you just walked.
Flapjack from the honesty-box stall at the valley-head farm.
Tafraout
Morocco
Pink granite boulders above almond trees that blossom white in February.
Kalpa
India
Apple orchards clinging to steep ridges directly facing the razor-sharp granite of the Kinnaur Kailash.
Iya Valley
Japan
Vine bridges swaying over gorges so deep the river sounds arrive late.
Dades Valley
Morocco
Five tonnes of Damask rose petals disappear into one kilo of perfume.
Craster
England
A smokehouse village where kippers have been oak-cured in the same sheds since 1856.
Staithes
England
Salt-blasted cottages crammed into a ravine so tight the sea is the only way out.
Arnside Knott and Silverdale
England
Rare butterflies float above limestone pavement while quicksand lurks on the shore below.
Robin Hood's Bay
England
Red-roofed cottages tumbling so steeply to the sea even the alleyways need handrails.