GO ASK JOAN:From flights to Kenya, skiing with the kids and classical concerts in Vienna JOAN SCALESanswers your travel queries
Vienna for New Year concert
I would like to attend the New Year’s Day concert in Vienna. Is there a tour company that organises such a trip to include flights, hotel and concert tickets from Ireland? If not, do you have any suggestions? – GB, Galway
The best place to find such a trip is with Keith Prowse Travel ( keithprowseireland.ie) which arranges musical packages for all types of events. For example, a two-night trip with Aer Lingus flights and accommodation in Vienna's five-star Hilton Hotel costs from €499pps plus taxes.
For New Year’s Day concerts in Vienna the travel agent suggests the Vienna Residence Orchestra at the Palais Auersperg with well known opera singers and ballet dancers in historical costume who will perform melodies by Strauss and Mozart – tickets from €45.
The Mozart Ensemble concert at the Mozarthaus will play classic Viennese music in the Sala Terrena at the Convent of the Deutscher Ritter Order, where Mozart used to play – tickets from €45. Or the New Year’s Eve gala dinner, concert, fireworks and dancing at the Kursalon Wien will be a festive evening and a night to remember. VIP seats from €245. See also wien.info.
Best flights to Kenya
I have been asked to be bridesmaid for a friend next year. She is getting married on June 15th at the Sarova White Sands Beach Resort, Bamburi, near Mombasa in Kenya. We live in Belfast and I am having trouble getting prices for flights. Would it be cheaper to travel via London or from Dublin? What are the advantages of booking through a travel agent as opposed to via the internet? We would like to go directly to Mombasa rather than transfer through Nairobi as we will be taking our seven-year-old. We would like to arrive on June 12th for one week. – MOK, Belfast
Mombasa is a popular winter sun destination from this side of the globe and in summer there are fewer flights. It will take three flights: from Belfast or Dublin via a European city; on to Nairobi; and then an internal flight to Mombasa. Most fares are around €850-€950 each.
You could fly via Amsterdam with KLM (klm.com); via London with British Airways ( britishairways.com), Virgin Atlantic ( virgin-atlantic.com) and Kenya Airways ( kenya-airways.com); and via Dubai with Emirates ( emirates.com).
The Sarova White Sands, Bamburi Beach costs €1,089 for a week from June 12th (hotels.com) but the resort’s website is not showing availability for the same date.
You may get a better deal with a travel agent which can combine flights and hotel. Your trip will also be bonded in the event of anything going wrong.
Tropical Sky ( tropicalsky.ie) is offering seven nights at the four-star Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa from €2,999 for two adults and one child. Available for departure on June 11th, the price includes flights from Dublin with KLM (via Amsterdam), accommodation on a half-board basis, resort transfers, taxes and surcharges.
In Belfast, any of the Thomas Cook travel shops should be able to quote for their charter flight via Gatwick to Mombasa. Prices are not on its website yet.
Taking the kids skiing
Our grandchildren (ages five, four, three and one, including two sets of twins) are getting old enough now to contemplate introducing them to skiing. My daughter’s family lives in London and my son’s family in Nantes and we live in west Cork. What and where would you suggest? – JOS, Cork
Kids will have fun in ski school and meet lots of other children. Just this week the resort of Alpe d'Heuz in France was voted the best for children under seven in the TaketheFamily.comski resort awards and it sounds like the perfect place for your family. The skiing at Alpe d'Huez is also very good for experienced skiers.
Crystal Ski ( crystalski.ie) has a package from Dublin to Alpe d'Huez. There is a good selection of accommodation available and your daughter would be able to book with them on crystalski.co.uk.
If you want to make your own arrangements you can book flights with Crystal Ski from €229 (plus transfers from Chambery), and join the family in a hotel, chalet or self-catering accommodation.
Pierre et Vacances (pv-holidays.com), the French hotel group, has an aparthotel in Alpe d'Huez. It's called Les Bergers and is close to the ski lifts and ski school. The chalet hotel Mariandre ( espritski.com) is ideal for families with a variety of rooms and suites. At the Mariandre you can ski back to the hotel which is well organised for small children with activities, nannies and babysitting patrols.
The runner-up resorts in the TaketheFamily.com ski awards for children under seven were Saas-Fee in Switzerland and Lech in Austria.
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com