JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions =
Do you have any advice for solo adventurers?
Q We are three retired men who would like to join a group for a week’s holiday where the emphasis would be on a comfortable hotel, good food, wine and visits to places of cultural and historical interest. We have in mind September or early October, with France the preferred destination.
SH, Dublin
Q I am a 61-year-old woman who travels alone. I was a member of People Alone Travelling Together (PATT) for the past few years, which suited me very well. Sadly the club has gone into liquidation. I would be grateful if you could advise of any similar organisations.
PG, Dublin
The questions from these readers will be familiar to many people who, for various reasons, travel alone or without a partner. PATT will be missed. It was operated by Driftaway Travel, which ceased trading earlier this year.
Friendship Travel (048-94462211, www.friendshiptravel.com), based in Belfast, is a similar agency. It offers all-inclusive package trips, city breaks, long-haul holidays and activity breaks, such as walking, yoga and golf. Holidays usually include breakfast and dinner and are priced in sterling. You can fly from your local airport. Friendship Travel will book flights for you, or you can book your own.
Solo’s Holidays (www.solosholidays.co.uk), another UK agency, has an extensive range of holidays for lone travellers, including sports travel and special interests. It also runs balls and dances in the UK, which are ideal for those who want to get dressed.
Budget Travel (www.budgettravel.ie) has a variety of holidays without single supplements for May, including to the Costa del Sol, Majorca, Crete, the Algarve, Zakynthos, Corfu and Ibiza.
Primera Escorted Tours (www.primeratours.ie), a division of Budget Travel, arranges escorted city breaks and cultural tours to Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. Some of its trips do not have a single supplement.
The Irish Timestravel service arranges holidays and breaks with a number of established operators. We find our trips – which include city breaks, music and historical tours, cruises, and golf and horse-riding holidays – attract a percentage of lone travellers. They are advertised in the newspaper most days.
Alan Lynch of Citiescapes (www.citiescapes.ie), one of our partners, recommends a Berlin city break from €475, a Spanish bridge week from €1,009, a tour of France, Germany and Switzerland from €1,259 and a tour of Cracow (including a visit to Auschwitz) from €459.
At home, Renvyle House Hotel (www.renvyle.com) and the Abbeyglen Castle Hotel (www.abbeyglen.ie), both in
Co Galway, have single-supplement-free offers.
Q It is my last year in college, and about 15 of us want to go away together. We would love to rent a villa, or even two beside each other, instead of separate apartments. Our priorities are sun, beaches, restaurants and nice sights.
ED, Dublin
I have found some properties that should fit the bill on www.holiday-rentals.com.
Benalmadena, a lively resort on Spain’s Costa del Sol has everything you are looking for. A duplex apartment there (property ID number: 65848), in a complex with a swimming pool and restaurant, has six bedrooms and costs €1,000-€1,500 per week.
In Nice – a lively city with great nightlife – a modern villa(property ID: 25350), five minutes from the beach, with a pool and jacuzzi, costs €4,490-€6,190.
In Majorca, a chalet (property ID: 37505) that sleeps up to 16 people, with a large pool and garden, near the sea, costs €3,290 per week. This is six kilometres from Palma, which has great nightlife and is good for eating out.
Go contact
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com