Top 5 activity and adventur in traveling : europe

Our guide to adventure travel offers ideas for activity-based holidays at home and abroad, including hiking breaks, camping holidays, gap year advice and safari tours.

Mountain biking in Finale, Italy

  You think Italy and you think warm nights spent strolling around an ancient town, sipping Barolo and relishing the good life. This is all true but it overlooks the country's burgeoning reputation as an extreme sports destination. One of the most perfect places to head if you want to combine beautiful beaches and culture with white knuckle experiences is Finale Ligure, a mecca for both rock climbers and mountain bikers. The Mountain Bike Lodge in San Filippo has trails running right up to its front door and offers guiding and bike hire as well as affordable accommodation. With 150 trails, routes for beginners as well as advanced and the town of Finale a pedal away, you can ride as hard or as soft as you like.

Rock climbing in Corscia, France

Sardinia has a justified reputation for its rock climbing but its oft-overlooked neighbour, Corsica, also puts on a good show, especially for people new to the sport. Based in the town of Corte in the centre of the island, Altiplani has a week-long guided rock climbing course designed to take you from confident beginner to completer of one of Corsica's multi-pitch routes. The course is limited to six people to maximise coaching time and participants will climb at a number of sites in the centre of the island as well as on its coast.

Triathlon training in Morzine, France

There are activity holidays and there are holidays that will make you more active than you thought possible. Triathlon training in the French Alps with a crew of professional athletes falls into the second category. The D-Squad, including athletes Jodi Stimpson and Aileen Reid, are a group of Olympic and World Championship medallists who use Morzine as their European summer training base. For one week you can join them for structured coaching and training sessions picking up invaluable tips and advice as you slog your way through inspiring Alpine scenery and their incredible training schedule.

Pack rafting in Finland

Travel light, travel far. It's a mantra Hendrik Morkel takes very much to heart in his work taking people backpacking around his adopted home country of Finland (he's half-German, half-Dutch). This year he is running two beginner courses in pack rafting to help service your escapist fantasties. Pack rafts are lightweight boats that can fold into your backpack, so you can really explore the wilderness, by using them to navigate rivers, rapids and lakes instead of doing everything on foot. Hendrik's three-day course will take you from learning the fundamentals of pac krafting and wild camping to paddling class II whitewater. He is also running seven-day expeditions in August for more experienced rafters.

Yoga in Puglia, Italy

The great thing about most yoga retreats, if you're going on one to shed a few pounds, is that the prices will shock your body into dropping a stone automatically. However yogaonashoestring.co.uk aims to make them more affordable by gathering a variety of teachers in a host of locations running yoga holidays throughout the summer. Its September trip to Masseria della Zingara (the house of the gypsy) in Puglia houses you in a beautiful and restful 18th-century building surrounded by olive groves and cherry trees and offers two yoga classes a day as well as opportunities for bike rides, beach time and the chance to explore the area. To keep the price down even more you can also camp.