Take me to the waters

Magical escapes on Europe’s rivers and lakes

ROW YOUR BOAT New Forest

Is it a cottage, or is it an oil painting? It would be hard to find a more idyllic location than this thatched and half-timbered hideaway on the banks of the River Avon in the heart of the New Forest. Undercastle Cottage is a place of open fires, burbling waters, and darting kingfishers. French windows open out onto a terrace overlooking the water, with a rowboat bobbing at the end of the lawn. The property has over 1,000m of fishing on the much-prized Avon, with the odd salmon spotted in season. And if you can drag yourself away from the terrace, the hammock and the herbaceous borders, then there’s the whole New Forest lurking to the south and east, from the tea rooms of Lyndhurst to the sequoias of the Tall Trees Trail, by Brockenhurst. THE DETAIL Undercastle Cottage sleeps six. Costs from £1,108 for a long weekend. boutique-retreats.co.uk

GO WITH THE GOTA CANAL Sweden

Cross Sweden on board the world’s oldest cruise ship, the 145-year-old MS Juno – the Orient Express of sweet-water cruising. Snub-nosed and box-shaped for the most efficient use of the lock system, this 29-cabin passenger ship is a thing of rare beauty, featuring mahogany fittings, polished hardwood decks, small but elegant wallpapered cabins and comfortable wicker chairs from which to watch the landscape slip by. The view is of gossamer threads of early-morning mist, of gazebos on summer lawns, and of canal-side reeds bowing deeply at the Juno’s passing. Like her sister ship,

Wilhelm Tham, Juno sets off every week to cross from Gothenburg to Stockholm via a canal system that links lake with lake, including an eight-hour crossing of Sweden’s largest, island-strewn Lake Vänern. Meals are served in the handsome saloon and feature typically Swedish combinations of seasonal fish, fresh local vegetables and mushrooms, ending with a fruit-based dessert. THE DETAIL The Classic Canal Cruise on the Juno takes four days. Costs from £1,093pp, full board. gotakanal.se

Clockwise from top left: glide through the beautiful Swedish countryside in style; the MS Juno navigates a lock in the early-morning haze; escape to the New Forest’s Undercastle Cottage, which makes a great base for fishing expeditions, long woodland rambles or simply basking in the garden