Five days, three children and the Julian Alps

The Petersens arrived in Bled with three children aged six, nine and twelve, and a fair amount of worry. Would the walks be too long? Would the youngest manage? Would anyone want to do it again? By the third day the questions were very different, mostly about where we would swim next.

Short days, big rewards

On family trips we never walk more than about eight kilometres a day, and every day ends somewhere worth reaching: a waterfall, a lake, a hut that serves pancakes. Children walk happily when there is a reason to.

The things that worked

• Giving each child a job: map reader, snack keeper, wildlife spotter
• Stopping often and long, especially by water
• Letting the children carry their own small packs
• Stories about the mountains, the old shepherds and the bears that very rarely visit

The highlight

On the fourth day we walked up to a high pasture where the cows wear bells and the cheese is made in a wooden hut. The six-year-old, who had needed a lot of encouragement on day one, ran the last two hundred metres to be first.

Would they do it again?

On the last evening, by Lake Bohinj, the nine-year-old asked if next year could be Norway. I took that as a yes.