GO ASK JOAN: All your travel questions answered by JOAN SCALES
First find your picnic spot
My six-year-old daughter has a dream of going for a picnic on a grassy bank by a lovely river. I don’t know where she got the image from but it sounds lovely and I would love to make it come true. However it is proving a difficult wish to fulfil as most rivers tend to have rocky, bushy overgrown banks and are hard to access, I imagine the well tended ones are on private land. Can you help with a few suggestions about how to make this simple dream come true? NL, Clare
That sounds like a dream many people would enjoy and taking into account where you live, somewhere in Clare would be ideal. Also the nature of picnics, packing the basket when the sun shines and taking off, means you don’t want to be travelling too far.
Killaloe/Ballina straddling the banks for the Shannon has a lovely riverbank that has been developed along the old railway line on the Tipperary side.
It is now a nice park with grass and trees overlooking the river. It is also a place to spend a few hours in. See DiscoverKillaloe.ie.
Sunday, April 29th, is going to be Discover Killaloe/Ballina Day and there will be lots of activities and fun. You could add to the day out with a trip on Lough Derg on the Spirit of Killaloe, which operates a pleasure craft on a journey around Lough Derg, SpiritofKillaloe.com.
Boston and Cape Cod
We are a couple in our 50s and hope to travel to Boston and Cape Cod in early July. We intend to stay in Boston for four nights and go on to Cape Cod for 10 nights. Is it possible to travel there by train or bus or will we need car? Just wondering where is the best place to stay, near the beach, bars and restaurants. Could you also recommend hotels both mid-priced and luxurious? – TN, Dublin
Boston and Cape Cod are well worth the visit in summer, with lots to see and do and great weather. The city of Boston is lovely, genteel, easy to enjoy, like a sedate Dublin.
In Boston, I like the Back Bay Hotel, which is owned by the Irish DoyleCollection.com. It is close to Newbury Street and all the shopping. On the Common, the Boston Park Plaza Hotel is a gargantuan landmark and rates are a bit less here, around €150 in July. This month a new hotel is opening on the Common, the Revere, with rates from around €230 per night, RivereHotel.com. See Bostonusa.comfor tourism information.
Cape Cod is a peninsula with hundreds of miles of sandy beaches and 15 towns, each with its own charm. During the summer there is plenty to do from whale watching to cultural events, to outdoor activities or just walking the beaches. It is popular and does get busy. See the following websites for ideas: Capecodchamber.organd Capecodtravelguide.com.
Each town has its own personality; Hyannis would be seen as the main transportation hub and also has the most shops, hotels, restaurants and commercial activity. The JFK Hyannis Museum is here in the Old Town Hall, as Hyannis was the holiday area of the Kennedys and is popular with young people.
Provincetown or P-Town as it is known is very lively and has a lot of good bars and restaurants. It is an old fishing port and where the pilgrims first landed here.
Falmouth is fun, picturesque and with lots of things to do. It is made up of eight villages with a town centre and main street. One of the villages is Woods Hole, home of the famous Oceanographic Institute. There are lots of good hiking and biking trails in this area.
Chatham is midway between Falmouth and Provincetown and a lovely small traditional seaside town, ideal for just winding down, strolling to the beach and feeling part of a small community.
Here are some suggestions of places to stay in Falmouth, the Sea Crest Beach Resort in Seacrestbeachotel.com, and the Inn on the Square, InnontheSquare.com. In Hyannis, the Cape Codder Resort and Spa is worth a look, Capecodderrresort.com.
Chatham has a number of more luxurious properties including the Chatham Bars Inn, Chathambarsinn.comand the Wequassett Resort, Wequassett.com. Accommodation on Cape Cod is not cheap particularly in high season, and there are few budget-type places, look at the reservations sites such as Booking.com, Hotels.comand Hotwire.comfor ideas. A lot of Americans use Priceline.comto find good value accommodation and late deals.
Cape Cod is upwards of hour and half's drive from the city. You can get there by coach – Falmouth with Peterpanbus.comand the towns of Plymouth, Hyannis, Barnstable and Sagamore on the bus operated by P-B.com.
There are fast ferries from Boston to Provincetown operated by BostonHarborcruises.comand Baystatecruisecompany.com. Traffic is busy during the summer. If you intend exploring Cape Cod, you will need a car.
Taking the bus in Bulgaria
Myself and four others are planning a trip to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria in June. We are hoping to save some money on flights by flying to Bucharest instead of Burgas and getting either a train or a bus down to Sunny Beach. I’ve been told that there are plenty of opportunities for such transfers but I’m having a lot of difficulty finding one and deciding on which method of transport would be better. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as we are quite lost. – BC, Dublin
The bus is quicker than the train to Sunny Beach and you can find details of the timetable on Autogari.Ro. There only seems to be one bus a day at 6am and it take almost seven hours and costs €20 each way.
You would have to weigh up the cost of the fare and meals while travelling, and lack of sleep with the airfare to Bourgas.
You can also fly to Bourgas with FalconHolidays.iefor around €329 return.