Even if you are unfamiliar with Nordic walking, its enthusiasts are hard to miss.

They look just like cross-country skiers whose skis, and winter clothing, melted away with the snow while they continued on the trails. It is a more demanding activity than regular hiking, burning up to 40% more calories. The sticks, when used properly, give walkers more power and are the only equipment needed.

Nordic walking trails, and even Nordic parks, have now opened up in many parts of Switzerland, and places like Pontresina or St Moritz are good places to get to grips with a new sport. The Pontresina Bernina Nordic Park contains several routes, colourcoded in blue, red or black according to difficulty. Not far from Pontresina is the Engadine Nordic Park, the largest Nordic walking region in the country, encompassing the towns of St Moritz, Celerina and Samedan. Nearly 200 miles of trails suit walkers of all abilities. A number of places, like the Nordic Walking School in Zuoz, run introductory courses. These are held every Tuesday from 9.30-11am, and cost 13 which includes hire of the sticks.

Most resorts offer a variety of family activities in the summer, although the choice is particularly extensive in Engelberg, which has a summer programme run by companies such as Adventure Engelberg (00 41 41 639 54 50;

www. adventure-engelberg. ch). Activities include glacier walking, ice stick shooting, and abseiling. Grindelwald is another good centre, with a range of sports on offer, from climbing to paragliding. Most activities in Grindelwald are based around the Sports Centre (00 41 33 854 12 30;

www. grindelwald. com).

Adventure parks are another great source of fun for children and adults. Most are based in forests and offer assault courses and a range of other aerial challenges. There are a dozen of these parks around Switzerland, and they include the Foret de l'Aventure at Vercorin (00 41 27 452 29 07; www. foretaventure. ch), a small village in the Valais between Sion and Sierre. It opens from 9am-6pm from June to early September, and then at weekends only until early November. Entrance costs 25.50, with reductions for families.

An active holiday can be a wonderful opportunity to try out something different.

Combining walking with climbing, the 'Via Ferrata' are adapted from the old routes that allowed troops to negotiate parts of the mountains that were inaccessible. Progress involves ladders, cables and hooks that are fixed into the mountains. The courses vary, some requiring steep vertical climbs, while others involve edging along a narrow ridge.

Terrifying though this might sound, it requires little more than an average level of fitness and a good head for heights;

everyone is given a helmet and attached to the Via Ferrata by a harness. Nevertheless, there are varying degrees of difficulty. The Ferrata Videmanette in Rougemont (00 41 26 925 11 66), is ideal for beginners but the Videmanette 3 is far more challenging. Both routes are accessible from the RougemontVidemanette cable car (00 41 925 81 61), which costs 15 for the return trip. These Via Ferrata, like most others, are open from June to October.