GO ADVICE: From advice about Morzine to things to do in New York and a value hotel in Monaco, JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions
Places to stay in Morzine
We are a family with two children aged 10 and seven, and have booked flights to Geneva for the week starting March 12th. We intend to ski in Morzine, as we have been told that there are good English-speaking ski classes there. Can you advise on ski schools and accommodation, preferably close to slopes and with a pool – either self-catering or an aparthotel?
AMOB, Tipperary
Morzine is in the Portes du Soleil ski area and has great skiing for all types of skiers. It is popular with English skiers and so there are plenty of English-speaking instructors. You could contact the British Alpine Ski School about lessons. See britishskischool.com/morzine.
I have found the best value for hotels in Morzine on booking.com, where there are three with swimming pools and leisure facilities. They are Le Sporting, Alpen Roc and Hotel Club Le Cret. The cost for a week for the four of you would be from €1,700 to €2,940.
For self-catering, there are a lot of properties in the Morzine area on holiday-rentals.com and some have pools or jacuzzis. Prices range from €1,200 per week upwards. You could also have a look at La Caleche apartments, which are only 250 metres from the lifts – see temp.lacalechemorzinecom.
officelive.com. It has apartments from around €1,000 per week. See also morzine-avoriaz.com for planning your trip.
Some things to do in NY
I have booked a 10-day trip to New York in late February, early March for my daughter’s 21st birthday. I will be travelling with my two daughters – the younger one is 11. I was hoping you could give me some ideas on things to do around Manhattan that would please both girls. I would hope to have one big budget activity for the birthday itself and the rest of time for fun, but more reasonably priced, activities.
CM, Dublin
Ten days is a great amount of time to spend in New York and will give you plenty of opportunity to explore the city and environs. The Plaza Hotel on Central Park has reopened and it might be a nice venue for a birthday lunch or dinner.
Here are some things you might consider doing while in the city. To see the city from a height, a visit to the Empire State Building is a must. The newer Top of the Rock on the Rockefeller Center has fantastic views, particularly at night (rockefellercenter.com). The ice rink at the Rockefeller Center will still be operating in February.
For a view of the city from almost the tip of Manhattan, you cannot beat the lounge at the top of the Standard Hotel at 848 Washington Street. Make sure to visit the bathrooms for some fun. The hotel also has a lovely grill restaurant that is not too expensive for a five-star, and you may spot some celebs (standardhotels.com).
Down at this end of town you will also be able to walk the High Line, a linear park that runs from the Standard for about a mile or two. It used to be a raised railway (thehighline.org).
The following tours are perfect ways to get an overall view of the city. The Big Apple Greeter runs free tours of New York by residents. These tours are the perfect way to explore the city’s neighbourhoods (bigapplegreeter.org). You need to book in advance.
Take a tour of the city by bicycle and you will be led along cycle paths and quiet residential streets to discover the heart of the city (bikethebigapple.com).
If the girls have an interest in Gossip Girlthen they will love the visit to her neighbourhood and favourite places organised by screentours.com. To get out of Manhattan, you can explore Brooklyn with asliceofbrooklyn.com. The Bronx Zoo is also one of the best and penguin feeding time is at 3.30pm each day, bronxzoo.com.
See Manhattan from the water on the Beast, an exhilarating speedboat ride that passes the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge (circleline42.com). The Statue of Liberty is also easily accessible by ferry from Battery Park City, at the end of the island of Manhattan.
When it comes to museums, there are so many it is hard to choose which to visit. One of my favourites is the American Museum of Natural History (ny.com/museums), which the girls will probably be familiar with from the film Night at the Museum. The Metropolitan is also one of the best museums in the world and worth a visit.
Ripley’s Believe it Not! Times Square Odditorium has been freaking out families for years. And also at Times Square is the flagship Toys “R” Us, which you can happily wander around for hours.
While in New York it would be worth going to a Broadway show, maybe for the birthday treat. Shows on at present that would appeal to the girls are Wicked, Billy Elliotand the Lion King. You can buy tickets from ticketmaster.com or queue up on the day at the TKTS office at Times Square for half-price tickets.
When it comes to shopping, the largest Abercrombie and Fitch store is at 720 Fifth Avenue near 57th Street. In recent years the area around West Broadway has become a great location for shopping. It will also take you down into Chinatown and Canal Street. Try some noodles in a Mott Street restaurant. For shopping out of town, many people like to go to Woodbury Common or Jersey Shore. You can take a bus from the Port Authority bus station. It takes just over an hour to get there and you can see what stores are there on premiumoutlets.com. For more information on New York visit nycgo.com.
Value hotel in Monte Carlo
I am planning on spending three/four nights in Monte Carlo at the end of January. It will be mid-week and I will be travelling alone. Can you recommend a reasonably priced hotel (BB basis) close to the centre?
DD, Dublin
Monaco is a tiny city and, with the cost of property, there are no hotel rooms under €100 per night. The least expensive hotel is the Novotel (novotel.com) and I have seen prices per night of around €145. For prices less than this you would need to stay in nearby Beausoleil, Menton or Roquebrune.
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com