There’s no end to the great British adventures you can enjoy, and we’ve teamed up with the new MINI Countryman to find some of the UK’s standout destinations and inspiring activities to help you supersize your next staycation with friends or family.
With room for five, up to 1390 litres of versatile luggage space, and plenty of ways to customise your MINI to make it even more stylish or even more practical, the new family-size MINI Countryman SUV is a real all-rounder. Add in the option of ALL4 all-wheel-drive or an efficient Plug-in Hybrid with 26 miles of low-impact electric range, and you’ve got true go-anywhere ability.
So, whether you’re wild swimming with friends, or getting wet and wild with the kids, the new MINI Countryman offers more room to pack more in – with plenty of versatile luggage space and even more roof rail storage up top for canoes, rafts or water skis. Whatever floats your boat, really.
For more inspiring big British adventures or to find out more about the new MINI Countryman, head to minicountryman.whatcar.com
Go wild swimming in the great outdoors
Swimming pools are great. Open air pools are even better. But there’s nothing like the rush of plunging into a giant freshwater lake or magical blue lagoon with a stunning vista. Wild swimming needs more consideration than a dip in your gym’s 25m pool, so read up before you dive in. But, once you know the ins and outs, you’re set for an exhilarating experience.
With up to 1390 litres of luggage space, there’s lots of room in the new MINI Countryman, for wetsuits and all the other gear you need. And, when you’re done, crank up the air-con and heated seats to warm up again.
As you’d expect, the Lake District is packed with great places to sample wild swimming. Ullswater, Windermere, and Buttermere are three of the sport’s hotspots, while Rydal Water has the awe-inspiring backdrop of ‘Wordsworth’s Seat’, supposedly the poet’s favourite viewing spot. Galleny Force at Stonethwaite offers a more secluded mix of pools and waterfall cascades.
In Scotland, the waterfall of Rob Roy’s Bathtub near Stirling, and the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye – with its vivid crystal clear azure water and a trail of waterfalls, pools and underwater archways – or offer two distinctly wild ways to start swimming in open water. If an open lake is more your thing, Dores Beach on the shores of Loch Ness, or Loch Morlich in the Cairngorms are also wild swimming hotspots. It’s also worth hunting out the nearby An Lochan Uaine (‘The Green Loch’) for a truly secluded experience.