Me and Mrs MTBTom are looking a taking a holiday in Europe in late April. We’re hoping to do a bit of walking with our 11 month old on my back. I have a LittleLife carrier and we’ve been doing a lot over the winter, actually more than we did pre-baby. We love it and he seems to love the outdoors.

April, a lot of the alpine areas will still be cold and may still have snow cover. We were considering Andalucia (warm, cheap flights, nice food, hills) but having bought a couple of walking guide books, all the routes look very steep and long. We could make our own routes up, but route-marking isn’t the best in Southern Spain.

Anyone have any other recommendations? Thinking rolling hills rather than steep and scrambly would be better for me and the little monster on my back. What are the Italian lakes like at that time of year?

Eastern, French side of the Pyrennees?
My mum lives near Canigou, and you’ve got everything from lovely coastal walks down near the Med, to the some nice but not overly taxing mountain walks the further West you go,

Also very easy to pop over to Spain and there’s loads of amazing countryside around Figueres and Cadaques.

How about the med? Corsica, Mallorca etc all have well regarded hiking. (No hiking experience, but have climbed in Mallorca in April).

Perhaps madiera? We had a hols there with a young child. Get a bus up into the mountains and walk along the levadas. Some nice little villages to explore and get lunch

There are loads of well marked routes in the mountains to the west of Madrid, and at that time of year the weather is perfect. Easily enough for a week of walking.

central massif? Done some lovely walking around the puys du sancy / Park volcanes ( can’t be bothered to check the spelling) Might still be a bit cold and everything will be closed tho