KEY POINTS:
Our family will be holidaying in Innsbruck in early January 2008. All will be skiing, except myself. What are some of the must-do highlights? Any suggestions for accommodation with good access to ski slopes while also being close to the town centre? Also, do you have any suggestions
for accommodation in Vienna, avoiding the hotel chains? Denise Burns
Surrounded by snow-clad mountains to the north and south, Innsbruck's appeal for skiers is hard to top, but the baroque architecture of the provincial capital's inviting old town is a definite highlight for lovers of things more indoors and cultural.
The presence of Austria's third-largest student population also promises a rich range of bars, clubs and shops to keep you occupied.
Highlights include taking a wander through Maria Theresia's grand imperial palace, the Hofburg; entering the adjacent Hofkirche to see the sarcophagus of Maximilian I; sampling Tyrolean folk art at the Volkskunst Museum; seeking out the Klimts and Kokoschkas at the city's main museum, the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum; immersing yourself in Tyrolean history at the Zeughaus; and visiting the Renaissance Schloss Ambras castle.
If the weather permits, you could take a guided walk through the old town; tours leave from the information centre at Burggraben 3, which also organises ski passes and sells a discount sightseeing card that could be worthwhile.
Surrounding towns with good access to both ski slopes and Innsbruck include Rum, Vols, Kematen or Zirl. For details of accommodation in these villages, have a look at Ski Innsbruck (www.innsbruck-tourismus.com).
In Innsbruck itself, the family-run Hotel Schwarzer Bar (www.cityhotel.cc; four-bed rooms $238) will look after you.
Accommodation will be at a premium over the New Year period in Vienna, so book ahead. For personable accommodation try the recently renovated Hotel am Stephansplatz (www.hotelamstephansplatz.at; doubles from $243), with sensational Gothic views, or the older-style Konig von Hungarn (www.kvu.at; four-bed apartment $655).
Lost in translation
We're off to Osaka for seven days. Should we concentrate our energy in the Kinki area (Osaka, Nara and Kyoto) or should we branch out and visit Himeji and Hiroshima? Tom Miles
Kinki (more commonly known as Kansai) is Japan's traditional heart, crammed with enough historical and cultural attractions to easily reward a week-long visit.
Kyoto, the former imperial capital (1794-1868), is the best-known highlight, with more than 2000 temples and shrines, excellent museums, imperial palaces, out-of-the-way gardens and the high likelihood of spotting traditionally dressed geisha.
It's also the place to sample kaiseki, the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine.
The main areas to target for sightseeing are downtown's Nishiki food market and municipal museum; Higashiyama, with fine temples and traditional night entertainment in Gion; and Arashiyama, for natural surroundings and tranquil temples.
More peaceful Nara comes a close second to Kyoto in terms of cultural treasures, with eight Unesco World Heritage sites.
The Nara-koen temples and park are small enough to cover in one day, and Nara is only 35 minutes from Kyoto by direct train.
There are many temples in Nara's vicinity, including Horyu-ji, Yakushi-ji and Toshodai-ji, all of which could be visited in half a day.
Osaka provides a modern contrast to Kyoto and Nara, and will give you a taste of Tokyo if you don't make it to the capital on your trip.
The region's working heart, the city is famous for its down-to-earth locals and neon-lit Blade Runner-esque cityscape.
Highlights include shopping in the Kita area's department stores, scaling the heights of the Umeda Sky Building, visiting the Osaka museum of history and castle, and dining in the Dotombori nightlife precinct.
If you're looking for accommodation in Osaka, try the ritzy riverside Imperial Hotel (www.imperialhotel.co.jp; standard doubles from $360) or the more basic Umeda OS Hotel (www.oshotel.com; doubles $174).
Himeji is only an hour from Osaka by train, so you could easily squeeze in a visit. Japan is a country of castles, but Himeji's is the one to visit, considered the most splendid of them all. A visit to the peace memorial at Hiroshima is also not out of the question, as it's only 1.5 hours from Osaka by shinkansen (bullet train).
The JR West Kansai area rail pass (www.westjr.co.jp/english/travel/jrp/index.html) gives you a choice of one, two, three or four day's travel ($23/46/58/70), not including shinkansen services and not covering Hiroshima.
The countrywide Japan Rail Pass (www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html) gives you seven days' travel in superior/ordinary class for $452/336.
Spanish lullaby
My husband and I are planning a five-week trip to Spain and Portugal in September/October next year. We plan to spend a few weeks in Portugal before meeting our two daughters and one fiance in Andalusia. Can you suggest a two-week itinerary and transportation for our trip from Andalusia to Barcelona? The kids are itching to go clubbing - where would you suggest? Ibiza? They do not have unlimited funds. Are we trying to see too much? Mandy & Peter Long
Five weeks in Portugal and Spain sounds like a lovely amount of time, with perhaps two weeks in Portugal and three weeks in Spain being a good breakdown.
A two-week itinerary for Portugal could begin in the north of the country at Porto, home of the rich tipple of the same name, then head south to Moorish Coimbra and Sintra, the traditional summer resort of Portugal's royalty.
Lisbon is not far away, and you could easily spend five days exploring the tangled alleyways of its old quarter, Alfama, and taking a trip to Belem, 6km away.
Inland there's Unesco-protected medieval Evora and hilltop Monsaraz. In the Algarve, don't miss the historic villages of Lagos, Silves and Tavira, from where the road heads east to Seville in neighbouring Andalusia.
You could meet your daughters and future son-in-law in Algeciras in Andalusia, or in Cadiz or Seville.
The classic Spanish route then wiggles eastwards through Cordoba, Granada, Almagro, Toledo, Madrid, Cuenca, Valencia and Tarragona to Barcelona.
While the kids hunt out some clubs, you could keep exploring Barcelona or continue north along the coast to Girona and Figueres.
Ibiza is still a magnet for clubbers, with scores of bars and clubs congregating there in summer.
Unfortunately, the season officially ends in September, but even in October there's still plenty happening at big clubs such as Pacha (www.pacha.com).
The Spotlight (www.spotlight-forums.com) forum will give your kids the lowdown on what's happening closer to the time.
With five of you to potentially share the driving, hiring a car could be the way to go, though parking is notoriously nightmarish in Spain's larger towns and cities.
Drivers need to be aged 21 or over.
Budget-rate Pepecar (www.pepecar.com) has some compact eight-seaters that would do the job for a little over $1100.
If driving doesn't suit, Spain's train network (www.renfe.es) will take you most places you want to go, including aboard a couple of high-speed services (Seville-Madrid-Barcelona).
A 10-day Spain rail pass costs $843/682 for 1st-/2nd-class travel, used over a period of two months. A 10-day 1st-class Spain-Portugal pass costs $905.
Have a look at Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com.au) for details of other rail passes available, including youth passes.