windows offering stunning views of the mountains. From £1,089 per person for seven nights. Visit www.vip-chalets.comOur Ski and activity section and Europe section have more travel suggestions that will delight your family.

A holiday to the Swiss village of Gstaad conjures up images of skiing on snow-coated mountains. But visiting in summertime has its own charms, particularly if you stay at the luxe Gstaad Palace. There’s a host of top-class restaurants, a hamman

, were a hit, especially the lollies called Bum-bum. Our first beach-free family holiday was a gamble that paid off. It was, as the Austrian’s would say, a very gute fahrte (good journey). One foreign expression – like the holiday – that my children

beautiful resort with exceptional family facilities. Alpaga is an idyllically located luxury lodge, with mesmerising valley views and interiors that evoke all that’s charming about Alpine decor, without a hint of flouncy gingham to ruin the view. Rooms

that your children are more likely to say that milk comes from a carton than a cow, then a holiday in the Austrian Tirol will put your fears to rest with a week in a family-run gasthof or hotel, where the hausfrau is likely to wear a traditional dirndl