YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED, BY JOAN SCALES
Q My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Cuba for two weeks in May or June. We would like to see Havana and are thinking of taking in the Cubadisco festival, in mid-May, and then making our way to the coast. Do you know anything abut this festival? Would you know if any travel agent in particular would be better for booking holidays to Cuba? Is it better to go on a package holiday or to travel independently? Is it cheaper to book now or at a particular time in 2009?
AOC, Dublin
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, one and a half times the size of Ireland, with a population of 11 million people. Travelling around is possible, and you will find the country welcoming. Expect to pay about €200 to hire a small car for a week.
This year’s Cubadisco festival, which runs from May 16th to 24th, features the music of Puerto Rico.
You can travel to Cuba as individual visitors or go on a tailor-made package.
Two tour operators in Ireland specialise in this type of travel. Cubatravel has been sending Irish people to the island for many years. You can contact it at 38 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, 01-2412341, info@cubatravel.ie. Beacon South America, in Cork, is at 0818-300123, www.beacon southamerica.com.
You can make travel plans yourself with the help of the Cuba Tourist Office in London, which you can contact through www.travel2cuba.co.uk.
KLM, Air France, Iberia, Virgin Atlantic, Air Europa, Cubana and Cubajet all have regular services to Havana from London, Amsterdam, Paris and Madrid, with prices in May from €500 to €670.
Cuba is a cash economy, so if you are travelling around make sure you have enough to get by. You can change euro for pesos, but there are few, if any, ATMs. You can use credit cards in major hotels only.
Q My wife and I would like to see some parts of France, especially Paris, and would be interested in a trip lasting roughly a week while trying not to break the bank. As we are both non-drivers, I would appreciate greatly if you could suggest some tour or package companies that operate suitable holidays.
GB, Dublin
Slatterys has a lovely tour called Captivating Paris. Its six days includes not only guided tours of the city and free time to explore but also a trip to Versailles. The trip costs from €649 per person sharing, excluding flights (1890-200425, www.slattery.com).
Paris is such a fabulous city you could easily spend a week exploring it yourself. It is easy to get around on foot, by metro, bus or train and even, as my colleague Eithne Shortall describes on the next page, by bicycle. Aer Lingus (www.aer lingus.com), Air France (www. airfrance.ie) and Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) all have good-value flights to Paris if you book well in advance. You should be able to book a reasonably priced hotel with www.accorhotels.com, www.hotels.com or www.1800hotels.com.
A good guide book, such as Fodor’s or Lonely Planet, will be useful, too. For online information, try www.franceguide.com and www.parisinfo.com.
Q I am trying to find well-located four-star family accommodation in Paris for my husband, myself and our two children, aged six and eight, for a three-night stay in March. Lots of nice hotels in good locations, such as the Radisson SAS Ambassador, at Opéra, offer a family room with the child staying free in the parents’ room, but this is for one child only. With two children we are being asked to pay for two interconnecting rooms at 250-300 per room. We would greatly appreciate any suggestions you might have.
DM, Belfast
I had a look at one of the sites I mentioned in my previous answer, www.hotels.com, and it has a number of well-located four-star properties in Paris with rooms for two adults and two children for less than €200 per night. You could also check www.citadines.com, which rents apartments in Paris, some in great locations.
Q We have built a small house in northwest Crete and are trying to find the most economical way of travelling to Crete from Ireland. We would like to fly direct from Dublin, but we are not sure if this is possible since XL.com went out of business. We know we can fly by Aer Lingus to Athens and then on to Crete by Aegean Air, but we were hoping not to have to connect.
OD, Dublin
Crete is accessible from May to September on charter flights to Heraklion with Budget Travel (www.budgettravel.ie) for €389 and with Falcon Holidays (www.falconholidays.ie) for €409. These fares are not cheap, but flights with Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com), which start at €150, involve an overnight stay in Athens. Flights with Aegean Air are good value if you book well in advance; returns from Athens to Crete cost from €78. Another option is flying through the UK. You can check out flights from UK airports on www.cheapflights.co.uk.
E-mail questions, with your name and address to, jscales@irishtimes.com
What’s your advice on the best way to see Cuba?