Highs and lows

The Pyrenees in summer are the perfect place to release your inner daredevil, says Jeremy Laurance in the Independent on Sunday. These "dramatic peaks and plunging valleys" are both majestic and anarchic. More "unruly" than the Alps, they offer an unregulated and "gloriously safety-averse" walking experience along towering chasms and narrow precipices.

If you're looking for "adventure of the unfenced variety", you will find it here. In the Pyrenees, no organisation is necessary: you can take "pot luck" on finding a room each night, or simply camp wild under the stars.

However there is no shame in booking in advance, and walking "from hotel to charming hotel, lured by the promise of a comfy bed at each day's end". In high summer, the sun is full, the views are dazzling, and the air is "as fresh and invigorating as any on earth".

In this landscape of pine forests, "spires and spines", you might spot Europe's largest bird, the griffon vulture, soaring "lazily" overhead, or wild horses grazing in the meadows. Can there be "any place better designed to make the spirits soar" than on top of a mountain on a sunny day? Headwater (01606 720 199) can arrange self-guided walks with bag transfers and maps. ·