GO ADVICE:From a road trip around Wales to a visit to Washington and Oregon, JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions
A 10-day car tour of Wales
My husband and I would like to go to Wales and spend 10 days travelling from Fishguard to Holyhead. We would like to visit gardens and or local garden shows. We don’t want to spend too much time in the car.
AS, Wexford
A journey through Wales over 10 days will see you driving about 500-700km. I suggest you pick three or four places to stay and explore each area/region.
Arriving in Fishguard you will be in Pembrokeshire and it has a great coastline with lovely beaches at Tenby. Pembrokeshire National Park is almost all coastal and has great walks, and places to visit including the Colby Woodland Gardens. See visitpembrokeshire.com.
Staying in Carmarthen, the town of Llandeilo is a good location for visiting the National Botanic Gardens of Wales. The centerpiece is the Great Glasshouse and the gardens are in the former parklands of Middleton Hall. During the summer there will be a series of events on, see gardenofwales.org.uk.
Cardiff is a small city that has been given a makeover in recent years. The Vale of Glamorgan is known as the Garden of Cardiff and you can see gardens and country parks to visit on gardenofcardiff.com.
Cardiff Bay, which used to be the biggest coal exporting port in the UK, has been turned into a freshwater lake. The area has good hotels, a lively restaurant scene and water activities including boat tours. See cardiffbay.co.uk.
Heading north from Cardiff will take you through the valleys and here you will find sites of Wales’s industrial heritage, old ironworks and mines. The Brecon Beacons National Park in mid-Wales has many hills and lakes, and events are held there through the summer.
The Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth is devoted to sustainable living, alternative technologies and organic gardening. There is also a water-balanced cliff railway.
If you are interested in books and literature, then visit Hay-on-Wye, the centre of the secondhand book market and the well-known Hay Festival.
In north Wales, Snowdonia National Park has spectacular scenery from mountain peaks to rugged coastlines, shale hills and dozens of lakes. Betws-y-Coed is a pretty mountain village that is popular with walkers.
The house at Plas Newydd was the home of the Ladies of Llangollen, who scandalised Georgian society when they ran away from their families in Ireland to live there together. The house has lots of literary memories from their extensive correspondence and visits by literary figures, and a nice garden too. See nationaltrust.org.uk.
There are dozens of gardens to visit in Wales and you can see them on the Royal Horticultural Society website, rhs.org.uk. Some I have visited are Bodnant, with spectacular woodland settings, Aberglasney, with its fine borders with unusual plantings, and Gwaenynog Hall in Denbigh, the inspiration for Beatrix Potter’s Flopsy Bunnies stories. No visit to north Wales should miss the Italianate village of Portmeirion, designed by architect Clough Williams-Ellis. This medley of buildings and gardens is charming and runs down to a tiny cove and the Portmeirion Hotel.
All through Wales there are fabulous castles. Some to watch out for are Caerphilly, Conwy, Caernarfon, Llansteffan, and Narberth. See castlewales.com.
You can see details of events and activities on during the summer and also tourism information about accommodation and places to see on visitwales.com.
Mount St Helens awaits
I am heading to Canada and the US this summer and plan to visit Oregon and Washington State as I want to see Mount St Helens. I have accommodation booked in Portland for one night on Thursday July 21st, but am I am unsure whether reasonably priced and located accommodation in available near Mount St Helens for the weekend of July 22nd-24th. I will have to rely on local public transportation during my trip. Can you advise on any tours available from Portland to Mount St Helens or if staying at the National Park is an option.
JF, Donegal
You can visit Mount St Helen’s on a day trip from Portland with Eco Tours of Oregon. It has a daily schedule of tours and the day trip costs about round $75 (€52). You can see details and make a booking on ecotours-of-oregon.com. If you wish, the company can also arrange a private tour for you.
There are a number of hotels, motels and guesthouses with a range of prices in the Mount St Helen’s area and you can see them on the tourism website, mountsthelens.com. For more details about the places you are visiting, see also gonorthwest.com.
Car rental with no credit card
I want to hire a car at Girona airport in Spain through Hertz. I have a Visa debit card and a Laser card, but I note on its small print that they may not accept a debit card. Why is this when I’m prepared to have the required amount of money on the debit card? Or I would be prepared to pay whatever amount they require in cash.
AC, Offaly
It is virtually impossible to rent a car without a credit card in Spain or most other countries. Hertz requires you to have a credit card, as do almost every other car hire firm. It is principally because the cost of a car is so high, anything from €15,000 upwards. Argus Car Hire has one company in Spain that will rent with a debit card and it has cars at Girona. Argus Car Hire is on 023-8883002.
Go ask Joan:E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com