Gorges du Verdon

The water is turquoise. Not blue, not green — turquoise, the kind of colour you assume has been filtered until you see it in person. The Gorges du Verdon cut hundreds of metres down through white limestone between the high plateaux of Haute-Provence in south-east France, the cliffs so sheer and close that paddlers crane their necks straight up to find sky, and it is called Europe's grand canyon with reason.

The Verdon has carved the largest canyon in Europe through the Provençal limestone, and it ends in the Lac de Sainte-Croix, where the same turquoise water spreads into a lake with beaches. From the lake you can paddle a kayak or a pedalo up into the mouth of the gorge itself, between walls that close overhead; from above, the Route des Crêtes follows the north rim with belvederes that overhang the void, and the Point Sublime looks straight down the canyon. The Sentier Blanc-Martel drops walkers into the bottom of the gorge for a full day between the cliffs, with a shuttle bus to bring them back, and the rock faces carry climbing routes from single pitches to multi-day walls. Summer brings fire restrictions on the plateaux and closures when the wind is up, which is the one thing to check before you set off.