Your questions answered by
JOAN SCALES
Q We are three families with six children between us (under the age of six) looking for separate self-catering accommodation in the west of Ireland for the first two weeks of August. Ideally we need the accommodation to be on the grounds of a hotel which has facilities (swimming pool, bar food, etc) that are family orientated to cater for our different needs.
SS, Meath
There are a lot more places like this nowadays and I can suggest a few with self-catering accommodation and good facilities. The Clifden Station House Hotel (1850-377000, clifdenstation house.com) is built around the former railway station and has good facilities and nice apartments. During the summer it will be operating the Railway Children’s club and there will be movies and entertainment in the theatre.
Further north in Mulranny, Co Mayo is the Mulranny Park Hotel (098-36000, mulrannypark hotel.com) with on-site self-catering accommodation for families. It is a great location for beaches and for exploring Achill Island and Co Mayo.
Another choice would be the Harbour Mill apartments (098- 28555, theharbourmill.com) in Westport, which, while not a hotel, is less expensive and has a restaurant and a babysitting service. Guests also have complimentary access to Westport Leisure Park, which has a swimming pool and leisure centre.
Q My wife and I speak good Spanish. We have 14- and 17-year-old children who have an interest in surfing and might like to learn how to kite surf. We want to go to an interesting part of Spain with a good beach, but not with loads of tourists, rather with Spanish holidaymakers. We would like to self-cater and plan to go mid-July. Have you any ideas that might help us?
PC, Dublin
The best destination in Spain to learn to kite-surf is Tarifa, Cadiz, right at the very southern tip. It has amazing beaches, is windy and underwhelmed by mass tourism. The town itself is medieval with narrow cobbled streets and dominated by the castle of Guzman el Bueno and the ferry port. It is also lively and cool, with many Spanish and other European visitors.
There are interesting places to see in this region, such as Baelo Claudia, a 2,000-year-old Roman town, the Parque Nacional se Doñana, a Unesco- recognised wildlife park, and whale watching at Zahara de los Atunes. Inland you can explore the white villages of Andalusia and Seville, about a two-hour drive away.
You could consider a holiday with Tarifa Highflyers (highflyerstarifa.com), a small company run by Kevin and Lisa Mitchem. Kevin is an experienced kite-flying teacher and could take the kids off to learn each day. The company has BB accommodation in town with self-catering facilities.
There are plenty of houses and apartments to rent in Tarifa, look on tarifa.net and gotarifa.com. See also livingtarifa.com, an agency that rents accommodation in the area.
Q I want to book a holiday, flight only preferably, to Paphos in Cyprus for the week before Easter, starting March 27th or 28th. It is difficult to find availability on flight only or even a package holiday there from Ireland. Is it necessary to fly from the UK?
SMcM, Dublin
Unfortunately, there are fewer flights to Cyprus this year from Ireland. The only flights will be charters and most of them will begin in May. For Easter, you will have to travel via another country, preferably the UK for the best prices.
The most attractive fare I have found is with Easyjet (easyjet.com) from Gatwick to Paphos, costing from £210 (€240). Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) and Ryanair (ryanair.com) operate services to Gatwick. British Airways (ba.com) has flights to Paphos from Gatwick too, but the prices are higher and they may be affected by industrial action.
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com