Holidays for families with small children

Musical inspiration in Austria If your five-year-old’s enthusiasm for piano practice is flagging, exhort her to emulate the young Mozart – and if that doesn’t do the trick, head to Vienna for an inspirational music-themed break, says Sally Peck in The Daily Telegraph. The city where the great composer worked is “the world’s capital of classical music”, and is often said to be its most “family-friendly” metropolis too. Many of its most glamorous venues host wonderful children’s concerts and, in between, there are plenty of places where children can “blow off steam” (such as the Prater, the “delightfully tacky” amusement park featured in The Third Man). The sailorsuited Vienna Boys’ Choir is unmissable – “children love seeing other children perform” – as is Verblecherbande, a brass quintet that mimes stories, leaving their young audiences “in stitches”. The concerts at the Wiener Musikverein (home of the Vienna Philharmonic) can be tough if they rely on narration in German (check in advance). But the daily puppet performances of The Magic Flute in the Marionette Theatre at the Schönbrunn Palace are spellbinding, and the Haus der Musik, Vienna’s interactive “museum of sound”, is fun too. For further information, see www.events.wien.info/en. Touring India with tiny tots It is the most extraordinary of countries, but for young children coming from the UK, India can seem “too hot, too noisy, just too much”. Enter Tots Too, says Sarfraz Manzoor in The Sunday Times – a travel company that makes things easier for stressed parents, with fast-track security at airports, child-friendly hotels and taxis with child seats. There are still plenty of challenges – tummy bugs, the occasional unsavoury public loo. The things relished by adult visitors to Delhi – the scents of the spice market, the Bollywood music blasting through speakers – can be “overwhelming” for children; and the poverty that often surrounds you can make for some hard conversations. But even five-year-olds will be “transfixed” by ordinary yet unfamiliar sights along the way – roadside peacocks and elephants, an old woman covering a wall with cow dung, the monkeys at Galtaji. If you can, it’s a good idea to wind down with a few days at a beach resort, such as the Leela in Goa: the words “kids’ club” will never have sounded so magical. A 13-night trip starts at £4,000pp, including. flights (020-7284 3344, www.totstoo.com). A laid-back fitness retreat in Ibiza If you’re a single parent, the “formless days” of a family beach holiday can leave you feeling terribly lonely. So try a family fitness retreat instead, says Decca Aitkenhead in The Guardian. With children, “shouty” bootcamps and “ostentatiously spiritual” yoga retreats are probably not the ticket, but Casa Tekne in the north of Ibiza is a joy. Set in a remote stone finca, it has a fully equipped gym, an Olympic-standard trampoline and a pool. Owner Des Aspill is a gymnast turned yogi with years of teaching experience who moved here four years ago with his boyfriend, Jose. A gardener chef, Jose grows and prepares the healthy, mainly plant-based meals, while Des runs down-to-earth yoga sessions and gymnastics, trampolining and boxing sessions that children love. You can hike, or ride, through “breathtakingly beautiful” fields of wild flowers and dense pine forests; and there are great massages too. A one-week retreat costs from £995pp excluding flights (00 34 638 277 231, www.tekne-retreats-ibiza.com).