Hi Everyone -
The short version: I am looking for recommendations about where to find some beautiful nature for walking/hiking between Paris and another more culturally oriented and metropolitan destination, probably Belgium and the Netherlands, late this May/early this June.
The long version: I will be in Paris in the middle and end of this month, about 10 days total. Before that I will have been in Ireland for a few days and the Loire. Before heading back to the states, I'd like to have a few days in nature, as a refresher, before ending with a final week or so a more urban and culturally oriented place. (In the past, for instance, I've enjoyed walk/hike days in the Scottish highlands, in the Cotswolds and Lakes Districts, in the mountains of Granada or Basque country, etc.) At this point, due to some operas I'd like to see, that probably means Antwerp and the Netherlands, but I'm open to someplace quite different, say, Vienna. I am open to flying but I want my nature and urban destinations to be relatively close, e.g. no huge drive times between the nature place and the urban place.
By nature, here, I mean something either quite rural or wild, and some place I can go for long walks or hikes. Here's what I've considered:
I love mountains, and have thought about the Alps (too early for many of the hikes) as well as the Pyrenees (too far and don't want to see Spain / southern France after) and the Dolomite (too far and have been to Italy lots)
The Mosel looks charming, but I don't think it is what I am looking for to break up Paris and other cultural places: too cutesy/charming
England or Scotland, but have been many places there, so looking for something new
Alsace and surrounds: very beautiful but have already done it
Brittany: looks beautiful, but a bit far to any metropolitan destination, and perhaps a little too similar in terms of landscape to Ireland (?)
Central Southern France like the Dore Mountains, but don't want to go to Lyon or Marseilles/Nice after
Normandy - not finding any nature here I'm particularly excited about, and also worried that it will be packed the weekend of May 29 (Ascension Day)
I appreciate any thoughts about what I may be missing.