Your Questions Answered
Q I am travelling to Islington, in London, about 10 times this year, for two days each trip. I do not want to pay for an expensive hotel. I just want somewhere clean and well maintained for about £50-£60 (55-66).
GC, Cork
Good-value accommodation is not always easy to find in London. You could stay in Highbury, not far from Islington, at the Foreign Missions Club, a Christian guest house (20-26 Aberdeen Park, N5, 00-44-20-72262663, thehighburycentre.org). En-suite rooms cost £44 (€49) per night for lay people.
Jurys Inn Islington, which has sales from time to time, might be very convenient, so keep an eye on jurysinns.com and book when you see a special offer. The lovely Hoxton Hotel (hoxtonhotel.com), not too far away, also runs sales from time to time, with rates of £59 (€65) per night.
The easiest way to find out about upcoming sales is to sign up for hotels’ mailing lists. You could also look for accommodation on visitlondon.com.
Q We are a family with young children, aged four and two, who will be travelling to France for eight days with our car on the ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg. Can you recommend any toddler-friendly four-star campsites near the sea within an hour’s drive of Cherbourg?
AP, Sligo
The Normandy region of France has a range of lovely family campsites. Many are on or near the beach, and most have excellent facilities for children, with pools, clubs and supervised activities.
The four-star L’Anse du Brick (ansedubrick.com), between Cherbourg and Barfleur, is on a lovely site overlooking the sea. It has supervised children’s activities in July and August, plus a heated pool, a restaurant and bicycle hire. In July, pitches cost from €220 a week; mobile homes or chalets start at €700.
Q My family, including our eight-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son, needs help. Our most successful holiday to date has been a week’s self-catering on a farm in the Netherlands. It was so successful, in fact, that we did it four years in a row. We have outgrown this, however, so are looking for something new. School confines us to July and August, and, like most people, our income is seriously down this year, so we need to be mindful of costs. We have considered family-friendly caravan parks, such as those offered by Keycamp, but these seem to be quite expensive. We are currently looking into Trabolgan and Butlins. Have you any other suggestions for a good-value but cheerful, family-friendly holiday?
EM, Meath
If you go to Britain you could take advantage of the fact that its schools close later than ours, so its high-season rates don’t start until the second or even third week of July.
Bluestone Resort (bluestonewales.com), which opened in south Wales a year or two ago, could be a perfect family destination. Offering lodges and cottages, it has a tropical indoor pool, lots of activities and good facilities for adults. A week in July, including car ferry, costs from €829 for the family. Or you could leave the car at home and travel by ferry and coach to the Pontin’s at Prestatyn Sands (pontins-prestatynsands.com), in north Wales. A week in a mobile home starts at €539 for the family. You can book both holidays through Stena Line (01-2047733, stenaline.ie).
Irish Ferries (0818-300400, irishferries.com) also has a good selection of family packages to England and Wales. A week at Haven’s Kiln Park resort (haven.com), near the sandy beaches of Tenby, in south Wales, costs from €986, including ferry and accommodation.
If you decide you like the look of Trabolgan (021-4661551, trabolgan.com), it is marking its 25th anniversary with 25 per cent off holidays in July if you book by March 19th.
Q We bought an apartment in Carcassonne, in France, when Ryanair flew there from Shannon. As it has stopped, we are looking for another route from Shannon, maybe with a stopover. We know we can go from Cork and Dublin, but we want to support our local airport, as so many flights have been pulled recently.
GN Limerick
You could fly to London Stansted with Ryanair and then go on to Carcassonne. Alternatively, fly to Paris with Ryanair, then take a train. You’ll find railway timetables at sncf.com and raileurope.com.
- E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com