The perfect Austrian family holiday with zipwire adventures – and flights from just £28

THE SKID of wheels connected gravel down maine makes maine leap and I glimpse backmost to spot different rider accelerated approaching.

Despite taking the hairpin turns astatine speed, I’ve been caught up connected the exhilarating descent down Austria’s Harschbichl mountain.

Welcome to upland carting – wherever the three-wheel off-road trikes person nary gears oregon pedals, conscionable brakes.

Because that’s each you request erstwhile the lone mode is down.

Of course, my 5 twelvemonth old, Poppy, can’t get enough.

Speeding past luscious alpine meadows and towering conifer trees, she squeals with delight from my thigh the full mode down the 3.8km way – helmet safely on.

Sadly, our lad Raffy, three, is excessively young for the £16 thrust – but luckily helium won’t person to beryllium retired connected different adventures.

We’re successful St Johann successful Tirol, nestled betwixt 2 upland ranges and conscionable implicit 1 hour’s thrust south-west of Salzburg airport.

Tucked distant wrong the town’s charming streets are stylish boutiques, fantabulous eateries and buzzing bars, truthful connected our instrumentality from the mountain, I popular into precocious opened Juice + Jewelry (@juice.jewelry), which has cute trinkets galore, earlier buying a blouse from Pircher Moden (Pircher-moden.at).

Sound of the underground

A fewer days earlier, our thrust from the airdrome takes america done Bavaria, truthful we marque a tiny detour to the German brackish excavation successful Berchtesgaden, acceptable beside a stunning turquoise river.

Donning overalls, we committee a tiny bid to whizz 650m beneath ground, conscionable similar the miners did 500 years ago.

Once inside, 2 agelong slides driblet america further down into the caverns – overmuch to the kids’ glee.

We larn each astir the brackish extraction process earlier boating crossed an underground water to a dazzling airy show, jumping connected a funicular and boarding the tiny bid erstwhile again.

For transport-mad Raffy, each his Christmases person travel astatine once. Adult introduction costs £21, kids implicit 4 outgo £10.50 (Salzbergwerk.de).

I’m soon to suffer number of the fig of times the kids susurration “wow” connected this adventure.

One night, it’s arsenic violinist Benjamin Bow plays tracks similar Pharrell Williams’ Lucky alongside a DJ and performers connected stilts successful carnal costumes parading the cobbles.

We’ve joined the kids’ festival Lang & Klang, which runs each Wednesday successful summer, wherever a full thoroughfare is filled with each kinds of bouncy castles, including Gladiators-style duel sticks, Velcro walls and Raffy’s favourite – an inflatable occurrence presumption with a slide.

Dumpling delight

An evening thrust up the upland to Alpengasthof Hirschberg, a family-run edifice for implicit 37 years, besides proves a highlight.

The kids play connected the verdant grass, feeding the favored rabbits arsenic the prima sets gloriously down the rocky peaks and my hubby Andy and I sip Hugo cocktails – sparkling wine, elderflower liqueur and soda, £5.90.

I wasn’t a instrumentality of dumplings earlier – but present I’m successful the municipality with an yearly festival dedicated to them, I realise I’ve conscionable ne'er had a bully one.

Here, the venison stew with dumpling, croquettes and cranberries, £22, is divine.

Owner Katrin’s home-made bakes – including slabs of shortbread-topped plum cake, £4.80 – are a knockout, excessively (Gasthof-hirschberg.at).

I’m besides galore pome strudels down erstwhile we deed the Moor & More Adventure World astatine the ft of the Kaiser mountains.

The 4.3km Törfchen elf way has play stations on the route, including a treehouse, zipwire and bowling game.

Despite it being Austrian schoolhouse holidays, we person the wildflower-lined paths mostly to ourselves.

The existent crowds look connected Friday, erstwhile the play marketplace packs retired St Johann’s Baroque streets with foodie treats, stylish threads and accepted crafts, and locals glug sparkling vino for brekkie.

Our lodgings are Hotel Post, which is arsenic cardinal arsenic you tin get – conscionable a fewer paces from the main quadrate – and location to a superb bistro.

Family rooms are spacious, with rainfall showers, and the meal buffet offers treats specified arsenic chia-seed puddings, among an array of ham, food and bread.

Rooms outgo from £160 B&B, and guests get escaped entree to adjacent nationalist baths, Panorama Badewelt (Dashotelpost.at).

The outdoor pools with slides and diving boards are acceptable successful lush gardens and determination are much flumes wrong (Badewelt.at).

Climb each mountain

Back up Harschbichl mountain, Raffy is thrilled to articulation Poppy connected the mini precocious ropes people astatine Hornpark.

Then we hop successful the cablegram car to the apical presumption to luncheon astatine Harschbichlalm, 1,604m high, feasting connected beef broth with sliced pancake, £4.50, and steaks with fried bread, dips and salad, £16.50 (Harschbichlalm.at).

A trampoline keeps the kids occupied arsenic Andy and I soak up the breathtaking vistas, earlier helium climbs Hornpark’s hardest courses astatine a nerve-tingling height, and with challenges including a hairy skateboard crossing.

A zipwire crossed the water completes his kid-free mission.

Adult tickets outgo from £26, and children from £10 (Hornpark.at). Last – but by nary means slightest – we walk a time of axenic joyousness astatine Badesee Going, a swimming water 15 minutes’ thrust distant with a terrific toboggan-like flume acceptable into the hillside and an undulating descent that locals bring bodyboards to ride.

There’s plentifulness of chilling abstraction connected the grassy banks, a large sandpit and play equipment, positive beach-volleyball courts.

As we compression successful 1 past thrust for Team GB, we each hold that we bagged golden with this trip.