Maes Tegid

The water sports hub at Maes Tegid sits on the shores of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, and it's where you'll find proper outdoor action if you're sick of sitting in a holiday park cabin. This is Wales's answer to a genuine water sports centre - sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, the lot. The lake itself is enormous and genuinely impressive, with mountains rising up around it, so there's something properly scenic about messing about on the water here rather than on some glorified puddle.

It's brilliant for families with older kids who've got some water confidence, or anyone who fancies trying something new. Beginners can get tuition, which takes the scary out of it. The setting alone - you're surrounded by proper Welsh hill country - makes it feel like an actual adventure rather than just another activity ticked off the list.

Bala town is right there, so you're not stranded in the middle of nowhere if you need a café or a pub. If you're staying at Tyn Cornel Camping just down the road, this is genuinely the sort of thing that makes a week work better than a week of board games and Welsh rain. Allow a few hours if you're doing a lesson, half a day if you're committing to it properly. Worth checking ahead for opening times and whether there are any fees - infrastructure like this usually charges, but I can't pin down exact figures. Summer's obviously prime time, though spring and autumn can be cracking if the wind's right.