Go Advice: Your questions answered.
Q We have three kids aged five, eight and 10, and love to take city breaks in Europe. However, we have yet to find a hotel website which will allow us book more than two kids per family room. We end up with two rooms, which is more expensive and splits us up. Can you recommend suitable hotels? We are currently looking for a hotel in Gerona, Spain.
BK, Roscommon
I have seldom seen hotels with rooms that take more than four. The best option for your family is to consider self-catering properties for your city breaks. There are a lot more properties available nowadays and many are very good value for families. Most apartment owners in cities rent for short breaks, the minimum is usually three nights, which will fit in with your plans. In Gerona, I have seen apartments to rent on www.holiday-rentals. com and on www.self-catering-breaks.com. Expect to pay around €90 to €140 per night. The other option to consider is hostel accommodation. Usually hostels are right in city centres and would work out a good option for the five of you. Have a look at www.hostelworld.com.
Q My husband and I (seniors) intend to spend a week in September in Bath. We have flights booked to arrive at London Heathrow airport. What would be the best and least expensive rail or coach transport for us to use to get to Bath from the airport?
BP, Dublin
You can take the bus from the Central Bus Station in Heathrow airport direct to Bath. The journey takes around two-and-a-half hours, and costs around £23 (€26) return for seniors. You can check out the timetable and prices on www.nationalexpress.com.
Q My parents are interested in travelling to see the Northern Lights but are unsure how to go about doing this.
AK, Wicklow
As the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are a natural phenomenon, there is no guarantee that you will see them. Predicting the Northern Lights is difficult. They usually appear from October to January, but can appear earlier and later. Iceland is a good location for the lights, so they could be lucky here.
Wallace Travel Group (01-8361611, www.wtg.ie) arranges packages to Iceland, on direct flights from Dublin. They have two trips in October - the bank holiday weekend trip is for four days and costs from €559pps and the other trip from October 29th to November 1st, for three nights, costs from €499. WTG also has a selection of tours to avail of while in Iceland.
Other countries where there is a good likelihood of seeing the Northern Lights are Norway, Lapland, Finland, Russia, the US and Canada. If your parents can travel at short notice you can check out the Aurora Alert on www.spaceweather.com
Q We are a party of 10 60-year-old nurses planning a trip to the US in the first week of October. Our first two days are staying with a friend in Long Island .Then we would like to spend three to four nights in New York and three nights in Washington. Can you please suggest accommodation in Manhattan and Washington, that is central and good value for money?
IOS, Dublin
Assuming you will be doubling up in bedrooms the Comfort Inn at 129 West 46th Street is a great location and rooms in October will cost around $225 (€170) per night. If you share double doubles, ie four to a room, the Comfort Inn at 42 West 35th Street will cost from $309 (€233) per night. www.comfortinn.com.
In Washington, Jurys Hotel has been renamed the Dupont and is a great location for exploring the city. Rates for doubles are from $199 (€150) per night and double doubles from $239 (€180) per night. www.doylecollection.com.
Q We want to go to Rhodes in late July this year. We have located a property to rent, but don't know how to get there at a reasonable price. It seems that none of the package operators do Rhodes.
MMc, Dublin
The bad news is that there will be no direct flights to Rhodes this summer. The island was a casualty of the reduction of flights to sun destinations by the tour operators. It is also an expensive location to get to, and flights will cost you in the region of €350-€450. The most direct route is with Easyjet via London Gatwick, www.easyjet. com. There are a selection of flights from Dublin to London Gatwick with Aer Lingus and Ryanair. Aer Lingus flies to Athens on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but this will require a stopover in Athens as the flights arrive late in the evening. Onwards flights to Rhodes are available with Olympic Airlines, www.olympic airlines.com, and Aegean Air, www.aegeanair.com. Check also www.travelsupermarket. com for charter flights from UK airports to Rhodes. However, these may also require a stay over.
Go contact: E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com