JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions
We want an extra special Christmas family sun holiday
Q We are planning to have a wonderful family holiday at Christmas to celebrate our youngest son’s finally beating cancer (he was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2007). We have three boys, who by then will be 10, seven and five. We plan to go somewhere for between 10 and 14 days, travelling from St Stephen’s Day onwards. We’d like somewhere with sun, sand, sea, snorkelling, dolphins and self-catering (or semi self-catering) accommodation attached to a hotel, all within about six hours’ direct flying time. Is Florida our only option?
JC, Galway
That’s great news about your son and well worth celebrating. Heading to the sun in winter in six hours or under limits the places you can go. The flying time to Orlando, in Florida, from Dublin is about nine hours, putting this out of your criteria.
If you are prepared to make the journey, then it would be worthwhile doing it as a two-centre holiday, with a week in Orlando and a week on the Gulf of Mexico coast. It will have all the things you are looking for: sun, sand, sea and dolphins. The theme park Discovery Cove is the best place to experience dolphins, and you can swim with them, too (www.discoverycove.com).
These tour operators can help you plan a holiday to Florida: www.touramerica.ie, www.americanholidays.ie and www.americansky.ie. See also www.visitflorida.com and www.attractionticketsdirect.ie.
The nearest places under and around six hours’ flying time for sun in winter are the Canary Islands, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. The winter timetables are not firmed up yet for all the tour operators, and I expect there will be few flights from Shannon for sun destinations. From Dublin it will be possible to fly to all the places I mentioned.
Your best choices would be Lanzarote, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, or the Red Sea resorts in Egypt. All of these places have good accommodation, winter sun, plenty of sand and easily arranged snorkelling and dolphin watching. Accommodation in Egypt is in hotels; you can book a package through www.falconholidays.ie and www.budgettravel.ie.
Two weeks at the Falcon Red Sea Holiday Village will cost from €1,035 each and includes half board. It is located on the beachfront and ideal for snorkelling. You can also take day trips to the desert, eat in Bedouin encampments, ride camels and go on boat rides to watch dolphins.
Aer Lingus will be flying to the four Canary Islands mentioned, and Ryanair will be flying to Tenerife. If you are going to make separate arrangements for flights and accommodation, you can see a selection of places to rent on www.self-catering-breaks.com, www.ownersdirect.co.uk and www.lascasascanarias.co.uk. Some properties are located on full-service resorts with pools and restaurants.
Each island is different and offers some unique outings. Tenerife has Loro Parque, the big zoo towards the north of the island, where they have a great dolphin show and a huge collection of parrots (www.loroparque.com). Lanzarote has the volcano Timanfaya. Fuerteventura has fantastic beaches and water sports, and Gran Canaria has long sandy beaches with great dunes and an almost subtropical climate.
Tour-operator sites with holidays to the Canary Islands include www.falconholidays.ie, www.budgettravel.ie, www.panoramaholidays.ie, www.sunworld.ie and www.directholidays.ie.
Q I plan to travel to Russia in September, probably visiting St Petersburg and Moscow. What do you and your readers recommend in terms of approach to such a trip? Would it be advisable to go as part of an organised tour or is it possible to choose one’s own itinerary? Is it easy to book hotels and arrange travel within the country and engage in sightseeing on one’s own initiative? Are there tour operators with English-speaking guides that you can recommend? Any other advice will be appreciated.
AL, Dublin
To get the best from the trip you are planning, joining a group would ensure that you see a lot, keep costs down and have few worries about safety. Citiescapes has a 10-day tour planned for September that may be just the thing for you.
It is a river cruise from St Petersburg to Moscow and allows for extensive touring and visiting of sites and places of interest. Two days at each end of the cruise are spent touring St Petersburg and Moscow. It costs from €1,769 per person sharing. See www.citiescapes.ie or call 01-2942200.
Slattery’s Escorted Tours has four tours in September to Russia. The tours will give you an opportunity to see both Moscow and St Petersburg. Some of these tours are fully escorted; another can be a mixture of independent travel and guided tours. The company also has a tour that will visit Novgarod and cities of the Baltic states. Prices are from €1,469 for eight days. See www.slatterys.com or call 1890-200625.
Go contact
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com