Go Ask Joan:From a first visit to New York to a long-term winter rental in Spain or France, Joan Scales answers your holiday questions
We are going to New York for four nights in November, the first time for myself, my husband and our 20-year-old son. Have you any recommendations of where to stay centrally? I hope to get tickets for the Metropolitan Opera and we would like to see the main sights plus the astronomy museum and art galleries, and the best music/record shops.
AMC, Dublin
One of the best ways to see New York City is to buy a New York Pass which allows free entry into various attractions. Some of the busiest ones also offer fast track (line skipping) to Pass holders, which is useful if you are short on time. The three-day pass costs $125 (€99). Places covered in the pass include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the American Museum of Natural History with the Rose Center for Earth and Space, Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, Circle Line Tour. You can buy the New York Pass on newyorkpass.com.
The programme and tickets for the Metropolitan Opera can be seen on metoperafamily.org. You can find all types of music in J & R Music and Computer World at Park Row, between Beekman and Ann Streets, just one block south of City Hall.
For information on what is happening in New York City, a good website to visit is nycgo.com, the official New York City Tourism site which is regularly updated with information about what to do.
Hotels in New York are not cheap and I would advise you to book soon for November as it can be a surprisingly busy month.
We Irish love staying in the Fitzpatrick hotels (fitzpatrickhotels.com) in Manhattan, which have suites suitable for three people sharing.
The Wellington Hotel on 7th Avenue (wellingtonhotel.com) is another good value, central hotel near Times Square. There are three Comfort Inns (comfortinn.com) in the Midtown area that would be well located and a double double room can be reasonable value from $230 (€181) per night.
My son is going solo in Paris
My 19-year-old son is travelling solo to Paris in September for a four-night visit. It is his first time travelling abroad on his own. He flies from Cork to Charles de Gaulle airport. He is looking for cheap, central and safe accommodation. He would prefer to have his own room in a hostel if possible, otherwise a basic hotel would suit.
TL, Cork
If your son is travelling on his own to Paris, I think a hostel would be a good idea as he is likely to meet other young people.
The FIAP Jean Monnet Hostel at 30 rue Cabanis is in a good location and it has single rooms from €34 a night. You can book on hostelworld.com.
The Hotel Audran at 7 rue Audran, in the centre of Montmartre, is a lively area to stay. Single rooms are available from about €75 with hostelbookers.com.
Closer to Gare de Nord is the Comfort Hotel Paris Lafayette (comfortinn.com), a good location for sightseeing with rooms from about €80 per night.
Heading south for the winter
Approaching the retirement stage in life, I would like to rent a villa or apartment in southern Portugal, Spain or France for January to March. Is there a website or specific agencies which offer this type of rental?
PP, Dublin
While there are no specific websites for winter rentals, the usual ones will be able to help. One of the biggest sites is homeaway.com, where rentals are directly from the owners. It also has a rental guarantee in place which secures your booking.
There are thousands of properties available for France, Spain and Portugal and the hardest part will be deciding which one. Any owner will be happy to rent from January to March and you should be able to get a good rate. Be prepared to negotiate.
There is also a website used by Irish people with homes to rent abroad, holidayhomes direct.ie, and it may be possible to narrow down your search by looking at what properties it has to rent.
From time to time you will also see holiday homes to rent advertised in this newspaper.
Wheelchair tour of Rome
I wonder if you are aware of any tours in Rome, particularly of the Vatican, which accommodate and provide wheelchairs we could book in advance?
We are attending my niece’s wedding in Positano in September and we are taking my mother, aged 87, to visit Rome first. She can walk but not around Rome or airports. We arrive in Rome on September 21st and hope to stay for two nights. We also need to locate a central, easily accessible hotel.
PC, Mayo
Nancy Aiello Tours (nancyaiellotours.com) has been taking people around Rome for many years and has a tour called Rome at Your Own Pace, which sounds just the thing for your trip to the city.
It would be a private tour with collection from your hotel by Mercedes, with a driver and English-speaking guide. As it is a private tour, you skip the queues. The tour costs from €903 for up to seven people and lasts about seven hours. The company doesn’t provide wheelchairs, but you can reserve one at the Vatican, or the hotel where you are staying may be able to either provide one or arrange a rental.
Slow Travel (slowtrav.com/ italy) is a website which encourages people to spend more time exploring places they visit. It has a very good section on “Accessible Rome” which would help you plan your mother’s visit.
A hotel that I think would suit your family group is the Lancelot Hotel, Via Capo D’Africa 47, 00-39-06-70450615, lancelothotel.com, which is just a few minutes from the Colosseum.
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com