Renting a car? At delivery take a good look for any unrecorded damage. If you take delivery in an undercover car park, stop at the nearest petrol station, take a walk around your vehicle and head straight back to the hire depot if you see anything worrying.
AFTER A MONTH IN SPAIN IN JUNE WE HAVE 4-5 NIGHTS IN ENGLAND. ANY SUGGESTIONS HOW TO SPEND THE TIME, BUT CASTLES, MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES MIGHT BE OFF THE AGENDA. HIRE A CAR OR RELY ON TRAINS? P. KARIOTIS, PARKDALE
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What you could do is pick up a hire car, head west to Bath which is about a two-hour drive away and stay there. Bath is a glorious, pocket-sized city packed with outstanding architecture. Practically on your doorstep you've got the storybook villages of the Cotswolds with Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Stratford-upon-Avon in easy reach. If the weather turns sour, Bath has plenty of indoor attractions to keep you entertained, including the Roman Baths, No.1 Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey and Sally Lunn's Historic Eating House and Museum. Take a look at the Visit Bath website https://visitbath.co.uk/ for a detailed look at what the city has to offer.
OUR FAMILY OF SIX AGED 20 TO 50 ARE VISITING ITALY FOR THREE WEEKS. PLAN ON BOOKING AIRBNB AND HIRING A VAN, STAYING FOUR NIGHTS IN EACH LOCATION. WHERE TO STAY AND WHAT TO SEE? K. WINNING, CASTLE HILL
Assuming you're first-time visitors, if you're flying into Rome don't pick up your van straight away but spend the first four nights there, it's a superb city and there's much to enjoy. Pick a location to stay close to the city centre, public transport is not great. From there pick up your van and drive north to Florence to explore the city and some of the glories of Tuscany, then Lake Como, and base yourselves somewhere on the western side of the lake, around Tremezzina, followed by Bolzano to experience a very different side of Italy that still likes to pretend it's part of Austria, and finally Venice. With four nights in each that accounts for your jaunt through Italy. As for what to see, Italy is a rich feast and it depends on where your interests lie – churches, galleries, markets, food or fashion just for starters. A guidebook will help you sort it out, and one from Lonely Planet would be a great choice.
MY WIFE AND I ARE VISITING VIETNAM AND I'M CONFUSED REGARDING VISAS. VIETNAM AIRLINES SAYS BEWARE OF SCAM VISA WEBSITES. THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE REQUIRES THAT YOU SEND YOUR PASSPORT TO CANBERRA WHICH SEEMS RISKY. G. ABRAM, MALVERN
The official website of the Vietnam Embassy in Canberra is http://vietnamembassy.org.au. On its visa and consular services page is a fairly long list of scam visa application sites, beware. The site also advises "the Vietnamese Embassies and Consular Offices are the ONLY Competent Government Agencies who are authorised to issue visas abroad."
You need to obtain a visa before you will be allowed to enter Vietnam, or even allowed to board the aircraft to get there. There is no consular office in Victoria and your only practical option is to apply via post to the Vietnam Embassy in Canberra. You can download the application form from the embassy's website. Sending your passport via the post is not particularly risky. Many visa applicants including me send their passports through the mail in an Express Post envelope and this is should be safe enough. If you're concerned send your passports via registered or certified mail.
TRAVELLING OVERSEAS WITH MY HUSBAND IN LATE NOVEMBER TO CELEBRATE TURNING 60. WE ARE VERY EXPERIENCED TRAVELLERS, INTERESTED IN EXPLORING DIFFERENT CULTURES. WE THOUGHT OF SRI LANKA OR CUBA BUT IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO GO? ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS, AND IS THERE A WONDERFUL PLACE TO CELEBRATE THE OCCASION THERE? S. BURGESS, MOUNT WAVERLEY
November is not great in Sri Lanka from the point of view of weather. In the west and along the southern coast, rainfall is starting to decline as the south-west monsoon decreases and there's plenty of sunshine, although in the hill country and in the cultural triangle you can expect rain and cool evenings.
November is the end of the wet season in Cuba and also the hurricane season but you could still encounter heavy downpours.
November is a great time to visit most parts of India, and in particular the desert state of Rajasthan. This is a wonderful part of the country, still ruled by traditions that decree flaming saris for women and curly moustaches and crimson turbans for men, but you need to venture beyond Jaipur to see the very best of it.
Another part of the country you might include in a two to three-week itinerary is Kerala. You're heading into the tourist season there as well but Kerala is a calmer, less chaotic version of the spirited subcontinent, with Fort Cochin as a standout. Cambodia, Laos, most of Vietnam and Myanmar are all fine from the point of view of weather in November.
As for where to celebrate the big event, in Sri Lanka, somewhere in Galle would be perfect, in India possibly one of the Oberoi group of hotels, anywhere else one of the Banyan Tree hotels, http://www.banyantree.com, you can't go wrong there.
In Rajasthan, one of the finds from a trip in 2014 was Rawla Narlai, http://rawlanarlai.com/, a gorgeous country retreat that belongs to the Maharaja of Jodhpur, now a heritage hotel packed with charm and character, set in a photogenic village. Go for one of the new rooms, very special.
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