There’s no way you can avoid it – the Olympics have landed in the UK. You can’t switch on a TV or radio, or look up any news site in the world without some mention of all the sports currently taking place in London. An exciting time for many of us, but what if you’re not really into sport?

Many people, believe it or not, feel the same. A large number of people who live in London predicted travel chaos and decided to book a week or two off to avoid it. For many of those people, the open road has provideda fantastic way to see some of the UK, or the European mainland.

As an antidote to the fervent activity in London and on the telly, why not explore some of the UK’s wildernesses? Scotland boasts the majority of these, with hundreds of square miles of beautiful mountains and lochs to explore. The mountain ranges of Assynt and mid-Sutherland offer a really wild escape – but just make sure you plan where you’re going to stay, as accommodation options are limited.

If you’re based in the south of the UK and don’t fancy going that far north, then England’s very own Dartmoor offers a gentler but equally impressive wildness, with lots of fantastic hiking areas.

But if you want some reliable weather, you might be forgiven for taking your car on a Channel ferry and heading south. There are so many options across southern Europe it might take you a while to decide where to go – but at least it’ll be easy to find European breakdown cover; you can buy some right here with startrescue.co.uk!