1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The location - in a traffic-free stone village, in a lovely old house where you can even lay in bed and gawp at snow covered mountains! Many evenings we just sat on the balcony - coffee in hand - and gazed at the ever changing view around us. Magical! But there is also so much to do and see within a short distance - most of which is free because its natural! Great for all ages.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Brush up on some basic Italian - this isn't a tourist area like Rome! You can get by easily enough but a few phrases are much appreciated by the locals (even if you are totally lost once they reply!). Hire a SMALL car, preferably an automatic, if you're not familiar with Italian roads. We hired an automatic Corsa or Nova, as we'd been advised the road to the village was quite narrow and consisted of multiple hair-pin bends. We ended up being given a huge Dodge Nitro 2.8 (think larger version of a Range Rover!). It made for some exciting journeys but I would recommend something a bit smaller.

Take some binoculars - you'll use them a lot. If you go for the walking (which is the main attraction along with skiing) do some exercise before you go - preferably lots of cross-trainer etc! Walking to and from the village and elsewhere uses muscles you never knew you had!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

It probably doesn't contribute to the local village very much as you cant spend money there, apart from at a little bar (which we never found!), although a local lady does look after it I believe. Everything is quite eco-friendly, however, and the proposed installation of solar panels will also be beneficial. Main thing however is to limit your carbon footprint and walk rather than drive as much as possible!

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Excellent - one of the few places we would definitely hope to go back to. If you want a get away from it all holiday with opportunities to engage with nature and escape the rat-race it would be hard to find anywhere better.

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

This is quite hard to choose! Driving over the Passo Del Spluga into Chiavenna and then up into Pianazzola, then going into the accommodation and realising that the view from the balcony was ours to see for a whole fortnight. Wonderful.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

We drove over using biodiesel (we use biodiesel made from recycled veg oil, so is 'good'!). That minimised our impact on the environment. We didn't manage to easily find biodiesel on the way, but you can buy it in Bellano (on Lake Como - good swimming and great pizzas). The Passo del Spluga is quite hairy if you are not used to hairpin bends, and we wouldn't recommend it if you are going to drive it for the first time in the dark. This is summer only, Splugen is probably closed for the winter. (We are not winter Alps experts!). Eating out is quite expensive, but we loved shopping locally, and cooking - but part of our holiday was having time to cook together and eat together. Pianazzola is a great centre to explore up into Switzerland and down to the Lakes, and the town of Chiavenna is great for mooching about and shopping for pretty gifts too. The house in Pianazzola is gorgeous, clean, and in lovely condition. The walk down to the house from the car park is down some steep and uneven steps, so you may want to consider how your bags are packed for easy carrying. (I just took my seventeen year old son, who is cast in the heroic mode, who carried a very large heavy suitcase which had about 30% of its contents swapped for some lovely local wine to take home!). This would not be suitable for anyone who has mobility problems!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

I hope so! We tried to shop locally, and bought cheese and butter from local shops which was made by the shop owners brother.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Wonderful. Just waking up to the view was worth every penny. The few days of rain at the end didn't really dampen our spirits, just us! (We got very wet walking the 5km back to Pianazzola after a meal in Chiavenna!)

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The accommodation had great views of the Alps, and the town of Chiavenna. The hikes outlined in the handbook, made by the owners, was the best guide for what to do, and where to go.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

You have to have a car. This place is 90 minutes of uphill climb to walk from the train station. Except for food, you will have all that you need in the way of amenities, and there is even some food there too. The directions to the village are good, but the house id hard to find. The Pianazola locals are really helpful in finding it, but know the place as casa de engleses.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

It definitely minimized the impact on the environment with all manner of energy saving equipment. The electricity shutting off periodically, was annoying, and was the cause for some spoiled food.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

It was okay, but if you were looking for solitude, this would fill the bill.