It’s that time of year when conversations turn once more to summer holidays. At school gates and dinner parties, the same question pops up: “Where are you going this year?” The smug ones will have booked months ago. Good for them. But what about the rest of us? Have we left it too late? Can we even afford a decent holiday this year? As all parents know, prices soar the minute schools break up. A week in the Med for two adults and two children can easily run to £3,000 or £4,000. This is no exaggeration: take the family to a Mark Warner beach club in Greece this summer and you’ll fork out a minimum of £3,312.

But there is an alternative. If you know where to look, you can find plenty of exciting holidays for four people below the £2,000 mark, and many for less than £1,000. And we’re not talking just the one-in-a-million, bargain-basement, lead- in super-specials the operators offered for a couple of minutes way back in December. Oh, no: these bargain holidays actually exist.

To find them, you just need to use some cunning tricks: get your timing right, pick less trampled regions, take the boat, not the plane, where practical (airports aren’t much fun in the summer anyway, are they?). Go rustic, go rural; go to Norway or the Alps or Slovenia or Barbados. Sleep in a tent, share a villa with friends or save on travel altogether and holiday at home. Here is our bag of tricks for a peak family adventure at off-peak prices.

HEAD FOR THE HILLS

France is good value this summer; however, the best deals are not on the beaches, but in the Alps. Many families are tearing themselves away from the congested Medi- terranean beaches and discovering the joys of the mountains: fresh air, lush hills, low humidity and plenty of activities, from water-skiing and white-water rafting to nature walks across fields of flowers.

One of the most appealing options is to stay at a catered chalet where meals are provided and children can run around safely. Esprit Alpine Sun (01252 618300, www.esprit-holidays.co.uk) has a week at La Sapinière, in Chamonix, for £1,296, including ferry crossings, breakfast, dinner with wine, children’s high tea and picnics, with the kids getting their own room.

Hiking, biking, pony-riding and rock-climbing are all included, expert childcare is an optional extra and there is a new Teen Rangers programme (ages 12-15), which costs £159 for a week.

Prices tumble if you go self-catering. With Alp Active (0845 120 9872, www.alpactive.com), a family of four can share a one-bedroom apartment in the pretty village of Les Gets for £725, including ferry crossings; a two-bedroom apartment costs £878. Activities, including guided mountain-biking and rafting, are extra.

In traffic-free Avoriaz, apartments with kitchen, dining room, balcony and use of a heated outdoor pool can be had for £638, including Eurotunnel crossings, with Leisure Direction (0870 442 8930, www.leisuredirection.co.uk). The price also includes activities such as golf, riding, aerobics, sports tournaments and evening entertainment. Circus school, tennis, climbing and skating cost extra.

Peak Retreats (0870 770 0408, www.peakretreats.co.uk) is cheaper still. In Valloire, it has a week’s self-catering at the newly built four-star Chalets du Galibier, which has its own indoor pool, for just £584, including ferry crossings. Valloire, which sits at the foot of the Galibier Pass and features in one of the stages on this year’s Tour de France, has an adventure park, a mountain-bike centre and a supervised children’s club with English-speaking staff (£50 for six half-days).

If you want to combine sunshine with snow, head to Les Deux Alpes, where skiing on Europe’s largest resort glacier is possible until the end of August. A week in a four-star self-catering apartment costs £1,360, also with Peak Retreats.

The price includes six-day lift passes and half-days of guided mountain-biking and white-water rafting.

()

Times recommends

• Bogus websites are conning hundreds out of their holidays
• The complete last minute holiday guide
• Croatia: the flashing blades of Korcula