…as summer sets in, we’re offering a fine array of excuses to step outside. In Northern Italy, our Great Escape charts a course between the open expanses of Lake Como and the timeworn canalside palaces of Venice (p39). Swapping gondolas for dustshrouded 4x4s, we go in search of gold rush legends and exotic beasts in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province (p52). Four hikes carry us between groves of date palms and black-sand beaches on the most mysterious island in the Canaries, La Gomera (p68). And rounding our theme off, we recommend 15 British outdoor activities, topped in my personal wishlist by snoozing in a cosy cabin in the woods of Pembrokeshire (p88).