JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions
We want to round off our exams with a great holiday
Q I am currently attempting to organise a Leaving Certificate holiday for a small group of high-maintenance girls. We are trying to avoid the typical teenage holiday destination, however sun, sea and a good nightlife are essential. We are considering the south of France, any suggestions?
EB, Dublin
I think the south of France would be perfect for a small group of girls. It has all the requisites for a great holiday: sun, sea and shopping. The only thing about the south of France is it can be expensive in high season. You will probably need to think about booking accommodation soon.
The flights are not too much of a problem as Aer Lingus and Ryanair will be flying into Nice every day and you can watch out for sales or deals.
Nice city is a great town with good nightlife and shopping. It is also a good transport hub for getting around the coast, with rail and bus services to anywhere you would want to go. No need for a car.
There are also beaches in the city and it is less expensive then places like St Tropez and Cannes. As Nice is a student town there is great nightlife with live bands and clubs.
Have a look at homeaway.com, which has a selection of self-catering accommodation in Nice to rent. They also have a variety of properties all along the south of France.
If you wanted to stay in a hotel then I can suggest the Mercure Marché aux Fleurs (mercure.com) which is on the Promenade des Anglais and close to the Cours Saleya area and the old town. Rates in August are around €79 per room per night at the moment.
Q My wife and I are going to a wedding in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in April. We would like to make a two-week holiday of the trip. Besides Chicago and Milwaukee, where we intend to visit for a couple of days each, have you any other suggestions of what we might do and where we might go.
We are both in our early 60s and enjoy historic sites, walking and the outdoors, music and military history. I understand that it may still be cold in that part of the US at that time.
PPM, Dublin
The one thing not to miss in Milwaukee is the Art Museum (mam.org). It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and is an amazing building, looking like a white bird about to take off over the lake. It also has the best Georgia O’Keeffe collection in the States. Other than that Milwaukee is famous for Miller Beer and Harley Davidson.
If you are going to stay in Chicago, the Essex Inn (essexinn.com) is a good value hotel and is well located for seeing the city. There is plenty to occupy three or four days in Chicago. The river tour is interesting to take as it weaves through the skyscrapers; see choosechicago.com.
Take the famous Route 66 (historic66.com) out of Chicago and head down to Springfield, Illinois, the state capital and the birth place of Abraham Lincoln. There are lots of museums including Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library; see visit-springfieldillinois.com/ and alplm.org
On the way you could stop off at Alton, where three great American rivers meet: the Mississippi, the Illinois and the Missouri. This River Bend region is picturesque with stunning bluffs, historic sites, and quaint villages and lots of historical sites and museums; see visitalton.com.
Onwards to visit Hannibal, the home town of the writer Mark Twain. There are a number of Twain landmarks next year such as the centenary of his death and it has been denoted “the Year of Twain”. There will be various activities surrounding these anniversaries. Check out the following websites: visithannibal.com, marktwainmuseum.org, twain2010.org
You could then continue to St Louis, gateway city to the west, and the Arch, tallest man-made monument in US. At the base of the arch you have the Museum of Westward Expansion, which tells the story of president Thomas Jefferson’s dream of a USA stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
It is also the home of Blueberry Hill (Chuck Berry still plays there occasionally!) the Anheuser Busch Budweiser Museum and the
St Louis Zoo is famous. You can also take a Tom Sawyer paddleboat steamer cruise down the Mississippi River; see explorestlouis.com and gatewayarch.com
Depending on the length of stay, Branson or Kansas City are great places to visit. Branson, surprisingly for somewhere in the midwest, has the world’s largest Titanic museum (titanicbranson.com) and Kansas City is famous for jazz and is home of the American Jazz Museum (americanjazzmuseum.com).
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com.
