Escape the city for a weekend of exploring quaint towns and celebrating nature’s bounty.

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We can’t recall when we last pulled in for fuel at a full-serve station, but it wasn’t this decade, and it might not have been the one before it either.

We did so recently in Bayfield, Ont., which checks out considering this Huron County village is a throwback. With its heritage-designated main street, the place feels frozen in time in the best ways.

Eat ice cream under a willow tree, stroll through parks overlooking the shores of Lake Huron, poke around independent shops, cozy up inside a small eatery, and do it all for as long as you’d like because parking is free.

The decidedly laid-back vibes are as bountiful as the harvest in Huron County, an area in the southwestern part of the province highlighted by thriving agritourism, beaches and nature. In some respects, this county known as “Ontario’s West Coast” could be considered a less crowded version of eastern Ontario’s Prince Edward County, with a burgeoning wine scene, waterfronts and similar distance from the Greater Toronto Area.

It’s a stress-free 2.5-hour drive from Toronto, even closer from the Waterloo Region, London and Sarnia, and we wish we could gate-keep the whole area including wildly underrated Bayfield.

While a day trip is certainly doable from the GTA, we’d recommend an overnight or spending a weekend, allowing the opportunity to see and do a bit more, whether it be spending time at the beach in summertime, or checking out the many homestead offerings. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well here along the main roads and the side roads, where many of Huron County’s gems can be found.

Here’s a sample itinerary to help visitors make the most of 48 hours in the county:

SATURDAY

9 a.m.: Hit the road!

SUNDAY