TRAVEL - DRIVING IN AUSTRIA'S TIROL REGION

Motoring across the mountains of Austria's Tirol region wasn't the obvious choice for a family summer holiday. Jonathan Crouch tried it just the same - and won't forget the experience.

Summer in the Alps. So often it seems to pass the British by, quite literally as our tourists fly over the mountain tops on their way to the coastal resorts of Southern Europe. And on arrival? Well, they don't tend to find too many Austrians sharing the crowded beaches. Their wild, rugged yet perfectly formed country has too many charms of its own, in warm as well as colder months. And as a visitor, if you've a car, an adventurous spirit and just a few days to spare, it doesn't take long to discover them.

But an adventurous spirit isn't something we tend to want to take on holiday with us is it? Particularly, if like me, you've a family with three growing children along with you, all wanting different things, few of which contribute much to the relaxing break you've been looking forward to all year. So unless you're one of those annoyingly active biking, hiking and fishing families, the easiest option is to book a beach hotel, sign up for the kids club you know they'll hate and stay put by the pool until work on Monday morning beckons.

This year though, we'd decided would be different. Austria was a place I'd travelled through but never properly visited. And for my kids, mountain tops in summer were merely places waiting for the first dusting of winter snow. Hiring a car and taking to the roads of the country's picturesque Tirolean region would, I thought, change both our perspectives on this hidden kingdom of middle Europe.

A place that these days is plenty more accessible than it used to be thanks to the introduction of low cost carrier flights into the pretty city of Innsbruck, not much than ninety minutes flight from the UK. It's a place that connects you q...