One of the best aspects of Viennese culture is the wide range of kid-centric things to do. In just 5 days we managed to cover off puppet shows, life as an Imperial child, a zoo, mazes and labyrinths, and a theme park. Not to mention multiple beach trips to combat the sweltering summer heatwave. Vienna always comes pretty near the top of those quality-of-life surveys, and, at least when travelling with kids aged 5 and 7, you can see why. Watching a marionette production of Mozart's magic flute A walrus roars for the crowd — we were jealous of his nice

Centuries as the capital of a huge empire left a remarkably rich legacy in Vienna. Palaces, castles, cathedrals, museums, opera houses: the city has an embarrassment of cultural sites, that are invariably beautiful and (from the perspective of a 5 year-old, mostly) interesting. Particular highlights were the Stephansdom Cathedral, and the Kunsthistoriches Art Museum (which happened to be air conditioned, providing a little added incentive in the 35 degree heat). It's a total treasure-trove. We could have spent weeks without getting bored or running out of options. Fountains in front of Schönbrunn Palace Wandering through Hofburg Palace St. Stephen's Cathedral. The high altar

Zedlitzdorf is a tiny village in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Sam's mother grew up holidaying in the area, and about 20 years ago she decided to build a holiday home here in this village. In the summer, it's a popular destination for hiking around and swimming in mountain lakes; but in January, we came planning to ski. There are three different ski hills within a 25-minute drive and lots more if you're willing to drive for 90 minutes, so we were spoilt for choice. There was a significant snowfall just before we arrived, so we started our ski adventures

View from our window: Zedlitzdorf, Austria. 8:56am, 18 January 2023.

The Old Town of Salzburg, with the Hohensalzburg Castle rising above Neither Susan or I had been to Salzburg before, so we didn't really have a sense of what to expect. All I'd heard were ominous warnings about tourist trap status, and Sound of Music tours. Well, it's really none of that, at least not in mid January. Salzburg was a joy to visit: compact and walkable, with winding cobbled laneways, viewpoints aplenty on the cliffs overlooking the town, and cakes and sausages and schnitzels galore for little boys (and their parents) to gobble. Sure, there's maybe a bit too much