I have looked after a relative for seven years. I need a quiet place for four-five nights over Christmas. It must be on or very close to bus or train route, as I don’t drive. Four-star hotel or equivalent. I am not able for merriment so need a hotel that will serve Christmas lunch in my room. AC, Dublin.
It might be nice to stay in Dublin city over Christmas in somewhere like the Westbury Hotel. There is no specific Christmas programme but it will be open for business and the gallery is lovely for afternoon tea or light lunch. You will be able to have room service here, prices per night from €260, doylecollection.com.
In Belfast the Merchant Hotel will be open too, and while you can have room service, it may not be possible to serve a full Christmas dinner in your room. Rooms cost from £210 per night, see themerchanthotel.com. Also in Belfast the Malmaison will be open over Christmas for adults. There may not be room service but you can take meals in the Brasserie. A superior room with breakfast will cost £444 for four nights, see malmaison.com.
Galway is a festive city and the Radisson Hotel has a great Christmas programme. They will serve dinner in your room, as you wish. Three nights including most meals will cost from €565. There is a lovely spa and swimming area too, see radisson.com.
We are a group of 20 scouts, 14-15-year-olds, with five adult chaperones. We are looking to camp for two weeks in a scouting centre (Jambville) around 50km from Paris. We would be aiming to get the ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg, sometime in mid- July. We have a minivan, but would be looking for another vehicle to accommodate around 10 of us.
We would also love to know of some great activities to do in Paris. Can you recommend the best things to do, and a place where one could find a cheap vehicle for two weeks? The average budget of each person would be €600, to include ferries transport, accommodation and food. AK, Dublin.
Even though you already have a minivan, it would actually cost less to fly to Beauvais Paris airport and rent three vehicles than take the ferry. Fares with Ryanair, particularly if you fly midweek, will be as low as €80 return. You can contact the groups department via this link, ryanair.com.
The cheapest return on the ferry for one vehicle and cabins for 10 would be €1,600.
You can rent minivans from Hertz and if you book and pay online the price will be around €700 per vehicle for two weeks. Minivans are only licensed in Europe for up to nine passengers including the driver and the baggage space is limited.
Things to do in Paris include climbing the Eiffel Tower – a must do. Indulge some toilet humour in a visit to museum of the sewers, Musée des Égouts. The entrance is at ground level, in the strip of park between the Quai d’Orsay and the Seine. (Look for the blue-and- white booth east of the Pont de l’Alma on the left bank of the river, in the seventh arrondissement.)
July is also the month of the Paris Plage, when the quayside between Pont Neuf and Pont de Sully are turned into a beach, with sand, deck chairs, water sports and beach entertainment, parisianist.com for information.
Paris has one of the biggest flea markets in the world, Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen, and it may appeal to the scouts.
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