Discover Ontario's Highlands

Fourteen nights in a motorhome from Ottawa to Toronto through the Haliburton Highlands, which is cottage country for Ontarians and almost unknown to anyone else.

The Highlands are lakes, forest and granite, the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, and the centrepiece is the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve. Its canopy boardwalk is the longest in the world, running between ten and twenty metres above the forest floor on suspended walkways, which gives a view of the woodland that no amount of hiking provides.

The reserve also has the Wolf Centre, built around an observatory looking into a large enclosure holding a resident pack. It is an education facility rather than a zoo and the emphasis is on behaviour and ecology, including the long argument about wolf reintroduction. Whether the pack is visible on any given visit depends on the animals.

Beyond that the Highlands offer kayaking, fishing, artisan studios and cafes, and the kind of evening where the only thing on the agenda is a campfire. Bancroft follows, Ontario’s mineral capital, sitting on some of the oldest exposed rock on earth, with a mineral museum and good walking. The route then works south towards Toronto. Canadian Affair include the flights, the motorhome and the listed attractions, with campground fees, fuel, insurance and meals separate. The price is per person. This is among the gentlest trips in their range: short distances, plentiful campgrounds and nothing that requires a head for heights beyond the boardwalk itself. For a first motorhome holiday, or for anyone who would rather spend a fortnight on a handful of lakes than cover a thousand miles, it is well judged.