Seeking the winter sun
You might also like to arrange some tours and outings while in the city and will find some great ideas on florencetown.com.
Two nights in Dubrovnik
At the end
of a trip to Medjugorje at October mid-term, myself and my husband have two nights to spend in Dubrovnik. Could you recommend a nice hotel that is close to all the main tourist attractions and sites? Our budget is €100-€150 per night.
– OT, Monaghan
The Grand Villa Argentina Hotel is in a beautiful location near the gate to the Old Town of Dubrovnik, facing the island of Lokum. Rates are around €175 per night and it can be booked directly on gva.hr.
For a hotel with sea view balconies and a 10-minute bus trip to the old town, the Dubrovnik Palace on the peninsula of Lapad has won dozens of awards. Prices are from about €137 per night. You may get some better rates from croatia.ie, based in Dublin.
Winter holidays for one
Could you do a little part of your article on going abroad for month or so in the winter for single people, at medium prices? I am a very active 75-year-old widow. I paint, golf, walk and all the rest of it but I find the winters in the west of Ireland so dark and so wet. I would love to go somewhere mid- January to mid-February and come home then as the days lengthen in Ireland.
– MK, Galway
As you will be travelling on your own, staying in a hotel might be a better option than an apartment, as you would meet other people. Hotels are also good places to find information about things to do in the area.
There are a number of travel companies organising holidays over the winter for longer stays, predominantly in the south of Spain and in Portugal. In most cases the holidays include breakfast and dinner each day and usually some tours during the week. The longer you stay the more reasonable the price is.
You could contact the following agencies, jgt.ietel: 01-207 6555, travelbroker.ietel: 01-833 3921, rathgartravel.ietel: 01-490 9311. Last winter Steintravel.iehad a very good offer for holidays to Portugal for a month, you can contact them on tel: 1890-408 408 to see if they will be doing it again this winter. Fahy Travel Worldchoice in Galway can also advise on long-stay winter holidays, tel: 091-594 747.
Send questions with name and address to jscales@irishtimes.com.
