Is it safe to visit flooded Venice? How can I travel from Cheltenham to Cadiz by train? The Holiday Guru answers traveller queries
The Holiday Guru is always on call to answer your questions.
This week tips on visiting Carcassonne in France and buying an open-dated ticket from Heathrow to tour Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are also on the agenda…
Q. We would like to visit Carcassonne next May for four days. We are not seasoned travellers and speak limited French. Any advice?
Andrea Morrice, via email.
Charming: The Chateau Comtal in Carcassonne. Ryanair has Stansted to Carcassonne returns from £61 in May
A. Ryanair has Stansted to Carcassonne returns from £61 in May (ryanair.com). A 20-minute shuttle bus to the medieval citadel costs £5. The charming Best Western Plus Hotel Le Donjon makes a good base and costs about £350 for four nights (bestwestern.com). Tours in English lasting 75 minutes cost £8 (tourism-carcassonne.co.uk).
Q. My wife would love to cruise to Australia, but she is a very light sleeper and I have been known to snore after a good meal and a few drinks. Separate rooms are costly. Can you help?
Steve Gill, via email.
A. While a 48-night Southampton to Sydney cruise on P&O Cruises’ Arcadia with adjoining single cabins costs from £8,149 pp (iglucruise.com), perhaps it would be best to try out a ‘mandibular advancement device’ beforehand.
This mouthpiece adjusts the jaw for more regular breathing (£44.99, snorewizard.com). Anti-snore pillows are £55.99. If these options work, share a cabin from £4,749 pp, including three nights in Sydney.
Q. Is it possible to buy an open-dated ticket from Heathrow to tour Australia, New Zealand and Singapore?
Stephen Thomas, via email.
A. Trailfinders offers fully flexible tickets from Heathrow to Singapore, with travel onwards to New Zealand and Australia and back, from £2,060 with Qantas (020 7368 1200, trailfinders.com).
Q. We are due to travel to Venice in December on a holiday bought from a tour operator. Is it safe after the flooding? Could we cancel and get our money back?
Peter Cambell, via email.
The Italian city of Venice has recently been hit by floods. Pictured is a person wading through the water in St Mark’s Square
A. Yes it is safe (you can check at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy). Tour operators are not currently offering refunds.
Q. How could I travel from Cheltenham to Cadiz, in Spain, by train?
Nick Dolan, Cheltenham.
A. It would be best to break up this journey. From London, take the Eurostar to Paris in the morning (from £44, raileurope.co.uk), then catch a five-and-a-half-hour train to Figueres in Catalonia (£115) and stay the night there.
The next day, take the four-hour morning train to Madrid (£78, renfe.com), then an afternoon train to Cadiz, also four hours (£52).
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Send your questions to holidayplanner@dailymail.co.uk or write to Daily Mail Travel, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry St, London, W8 5TT.