From a family holiday to South Africa to the Christmas markets in Vienna, JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions
Christmas in Cape Town
I would like advice on a family trip to Cape Town for Christmas. We are travelling with two adult children in their early 20s and a young teenager. We are booked to arrive on December 21st, depart December 31st (significant difference in cost flying home on New Year’s Eve). We would like to experience a safari and wonder how to make the most of the short time we have. Our budget excluding flights is €8,000.
PJB, Dublin
December is high season in South Africa and safaris can be expensive. Looking at prices, I think that you would be best to do the safari just after Christmas. Two nights should be enough to see some amazing wildlife. Plan to go on early morning and night game drives, to get the best of the experience.
Kruger Park is the best place to see wildlife, and accommodation ranges from open-sky camping to fabulous luxury lodges and everything in between. However, the flights to Kruger are also pricey at this time. The airport for Kruger is Nelspruit and served from Cape Town by flysaa.com and flyairlink.com. Flights cost about €450 at this time of the year, so it is going to stretch your budget a bit. You can see availability and the selection of accommodation on krugerpark.co.za. Or better still call central reservations on 00-27-21-422-3111 and they will be able to tell you what is available.
I have seen what appear to be good value trips with companies such as Intrepid Travel (intrepidtravel.com) and African Budget Safaris (africanbudgetsafaris.com). However, these are from Johannesburg and involve a long drive and also getting to Johannesburg.
You could consider some safari camps on the Eastern Cape. They lack the wide open spaces of the Kruger and, in some cases, are fenced camps, though they do cover thousands of hectares. In some camps, there are conservation activities that are interesting to see.
You could drive or fly to Port Elizabeth which would be cheaper. If you drive, you may even travel via the Western Cape and get a chance to go whale watching, as there are whales cruising by almost all year round. It is also a lovely drive along the Eastern Cape with hundreds of kilometres of beaches along the coast.
Your best bet to find a reasonably-priced camp is with the South African National Parks Service (sanparks.org). It operates a number of parks in the Eastern Cape and, if you stay in more modest accommodation, the prices are more reasonable. One of the more famous is Addo Elephant Park.
It may be worth talking to a travel agent that specialises in trips to South Africa. Sunway.ie has a programme, as do Travelfocus.ie. They may be able to combine a package of accommodation, flights and safari for you within your budget.
Festive fun in Vienna
A friend and I would like to visit the Christmas market in Vienna in December, flying from Cork if at all possible. We would like to stay for two to three nights – ideally Thursday-Sunday. We would not mind a package, but would be willing to go it alone also.
JW, Cork
There are no direct services from Cork to Vienna, so you will have to either fly via Dublin or another gateway city such as London or Amsterdam. The Aer Lingus direct service from Dublin is the cheapest, if you book soon, about €150 return.
Citiescapes (citiescapes.ie) arranges visits to the Christmas markets all over Europe every season and will have trips to Vienna too. There are more than 10 Christmas markets in Vienna, so you will have a busy three days. A package including flights, transfers, accommodation in a four-star hotel, and guided walking tour will cost from €469pps, including taxes.
If you decide to go it alone, see wien.info/en where you can get tourism information and book four-star hotels from about €95 per night.
Where to stay for Olympics
My husband and I have been lucky enough to get tickets for five equestrian events at the London Olympics. We’ll be staying with relatives in Brighton for most of the time, but would like to stay in London for two nights to enjoy the atmosphere. We’re not sure whether it would be better to stay in Greenwich (where the events will be on) or in the centre of London, or even whether getting a hotel room at this stage is possible or affordable. Help!
SF, Kildare
I love Greenwich and would immediately say you should stay there. It has a lot to offer, with good markets, restaurants, museums, parks and the Docklands Light Rail will get you into central London quickly.
However, it looks like there is little available for the dates of the equestrian events. Looking at prices for the city centre, there will be little change out of €300 per night and many hotels are showing full already. The Olympics website (london2012.com) has an accommodation booking area. There is always the chance that for big events such as this hotels have blocked off the dates and are drip-feeding rooms at the highest rates and may release more closer to the date if they are not selling. However, as it is London, I think a lot more people are going to go and the likelihood of a flood of rooms coming on to the market is remote.
Better to book now to get the best value. The following hotel websites are taking bookings, hotels.com, booking.com, roomex.com, visitlondon.com and venere.com. Or if you phone the hotels directly, you may be lucky and get a better rate.
GO ASK JOAN:E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com