KEY POINTS:
We are travelling to Hong Kong en route to Vietnam. We anticipate spending four to five nights in Hong Kong. I am trying to find accommodation for two adults and three children, however, there do not appear to be any hotels that cater to families this size. We would consider an apartment but most apartments are for long stays only. Can you recommend any accommodation that would suit our needs? Meredith Meeves
Serviced apartments are rented out by the month or by the week at the very least. Your stay of only four or five nights precludes this as an option.
Even the few hotels that offer family suites are only able to accommodate two adults and two children in the one room. It seems you will need to book two adjoining hotel rooms.
The following hotels have rooms that can accommodate two adults and one child: the Eaton Hotel (hongkong.eatonhotels.com) is well situated in Kowloon and The Park Lane (www.parklane.com.hk) on Hong Kong Island has a rooftop restaurant and great views.
At the higher end of the budget, the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel (www.renaissancehotels.com) in Wan Chai has a kiddies' pool and a huge outdoor pool for adults overlooking the harbour. The Excelsior (www.mandarinoriental.com) is located on the waterfront at Victoria Harbour and opposite an MTR station, and the Sheraton (www.sheraton.com/hongkong) in Kowloon has a whirlpool the kids will love. You'll find rates for all these hotels on their websites, but first check the discount websites, such as tripadvisor.com, www.wotif.com and zuji.com.
There are lots of things to do with the kids in Hong Kong: a visit to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens; a ride up to Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram; a day at Disneyland; ice-skating at Cityplaza; jumping on the world's longest escalator, Central Escalator; island-hopping on any number of ferries; a visit to the Goldfish Market; a roller-coaster ride or a walk through the Shark Aquarium at Ocean Park; big screen entertainment at the Space Museum and Theatre; a visit to the aviary or Kung Fu Corner at Kowloon Park; and the interactive displays at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
We suggest you arm yourself with a good guidebook and download a copy of the Hong Kong Tourist Board's Hong Kong Family Fun Guide from discoverhongkong.com (click on "Meeting Your Needs").
If, after having heard all there is for kids to enjoy in Hong Kong, you decide to stay longer, we can recommend a few hotels offering weekly packages.
Most are located on Hong Kong Island, in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. The Wharney Guangdong Hotel Hong Kong (gdhhotels.com) has weekly packages beginning at $560. It has a rooftop pool and an outdoor whirlpool. The Empire Hotel Hong Kong (www.empirehotel.com.hk) has rooms from $658 per week; the rooms are pleasant and there is a swimming pool. Rosedale on the Park (www.rosedale.com.hk) is opposite Victoria Park and has weekly packages from $730.
Basque in the glory
I am intending to spend a week in July in the Pyrenees/Basque area of France and Spain. I recently spent 10 days cycling along the roof of the Pyrenees from the Atlantic (St Jean de Luz) to the Med, so I am familiar with the area. We intend to visit St Jean Pied de Port and avoid Lourdes. Can you please suggest other places of interest and/or a route, this time with a car. Ian Breeze
The Pyrenees/Basque areas of France and Spain have so much to offer it is almost impossible to specify just one route that you might follow. However, July is peak season so some planning ahead and booking of accommodation might be wise.
The French Basque country is best known for Biarritz seaside glam and glitz, the spa town of St Jean de Luz and the Basque countryside, a great alternative to the coastal attractions.
The scenic driving loop along the D918 from Bayonne, north of Biarritz, to inland St Jean Pied de Port is an attraction in itself, with delightful villages dotted among a succession of rolling hills, forests and meadows.
A possible day or two round trip that more or less follows this route would take you through the quintessential Basque villages of St Etienne-de-Baigorri, Bidarray, Itxassou, Larressore, Espelette, Ainhoa, Sare and Ascain.
The walled town of St Jean Pied de Port is the departure point for hikers and bikers taking on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrim trail. It can be extremely overcrowded in the summer months so a better option could be to find accommodation in the smaller villages mentioned above. Espelette is famous for the dark red peppers that are essential to Basque cuisine. The Hotel Euzkadi (http://en.federal-hotel.com; doubles $126) has a cheerful restaurant attached that serves local dishes such as piperade, a spicy blend of peppers and vegetables that's often served with eggs.
Having explored Bayonne, the cultural and economic capital of the French Basque country, you could drive down the coast to St Jean de Luz and the bright lights of San Sebastian, less than an hour's drive across the border. It has wonderful architecture and beautiful beaches, and is hailed as the food capital of Spain, so it would be a disservice not to bed down for at least one night here. You could also easily spend a few lazy hours at Hondarribia, a traditional Basque fishing village.
If you can, squeeze in a couple of days delving a little deeper into the towns of the northern Basque country (Euskadi); the Basque Country website (www.turismoa.euskadi.net/s11-18805/en) has plenty of information on short trips around the region.
My Spanish lullaby
I am going to Morocco on a tour and then travelling to Spain on my own for 15 days in October. I would like to visit Seville, Caceres, Toledo, Cuenca, Granada, Valencia and Madrid. What's the best means of travelling to these places? Can you tell me how long it will take to travel from Marrakech to Tangier and which Spanish port I should arrive in to start my itinerary? Sandra Lee
The overnight train from Marrakech to Tangier (www.oncf.ma; 1st-class couchette $58, 10 hours) arrives in good time for you to catch a morning ferry to Spain. It's a popular service, so book ahead through a local travel agency such as Travel Link (www.travellink.ma).
Tarifa is the most attractive Spanish port with links to Morocco. FRS (www.frs.es; $58, 35 minutes) runs a fast ferry between Tangier and Tarifa several times a day. Tarifa is a relaxed and lovely old coastal town so you might want to spend a night there and catch a breath of Spanish sea air before starting your tour of the country.
There is no train service between Tarifa and Seville but TG Comes (tgcomes.es/horarios-33-english.htm; $29, three hours) buses run between the two cities several times a day.
The easiest way to get around in Spain is with the RENFE (http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html) network of trains. The destinations you have chosen have regular train connections, and most journeys should take about three hours. You'll need to take the overnight train from Granada to Valencia.
You could consider the following itinerary. After a night in Tarifa, give yourself the more leisurely option of spending two or three nights each in Seville, the Andalucian capital and home of flamenco; Granada, with its not-to-be-missed Moorish fortress (www.alhambradegranada.org; book ahead online to avoid a long queue for a ticket); Valencia, with its cutting-edge cultural centre, lovely old city and lively nightlife; and then on to World Heritage-listed Cuenca, whose hanging houses perch above the deep gorges that surround the town.
Using Madrid as a base for three or four days you could relax into the vibrant city life and soak up some culture at the Museo del Prado before taking a day trip to Toledo, with its mix of mosques, synagogues, churches and museums. If you have time to visit Caceres at the end of your holiday you'll be bowled over by its impressive old cobblestone streets lined with 16th-century mansions. It's four hours by train from Madrid, so do-able but perhaps tiring as a day trip.
