HOLIDAY GURU
Helping you find the perfect break
Q
I AM a recently single traveller and I love going on cruises. But single occupancy supplements are often high. I have noticed a cruise that says a second person can go free. Could I book this and go alone, telling them the ‘second person’ couldn’t come at the last minute. I know this is naughty. Gillian Saunders, via email
A
PROBABLY not a good idea, as tempting as it may be. Why not simply ask upfront? One way to check for bettervalue cruises is to tick the ‘no single supplement’ box on the search page of the website of Iglu Cruise ( iglucruise.com), a cruise-specialist travel agent.
An 11-night cruise along the coast of Norway from Bergen to Hammerfest and back is from £1,669pp full-board including flights and transfers on Hurtigruten cruise line. Also try rolcruise.co.uk; cruise1st. co.uk; travel.saga.co.uk and ncl.com.
Q
CAN you tell me the easiest way to get from London to Gruyeres in Switzerland by train, please? Lorna Fowkes, via email
A
SWISS Tourism, the tourist board, recommends travelling to Paris by Eurostar and onwards to Lausanne, where you would catch further trains to Gruyeres — famous, of course, for its cheese. The first journey costs from £44 and takes 2h 15m ( eurostar.
You can buy a Paris- Gruyeres ticket from Swiss Federal Railways from £110 ( sbb. ch). This takes five hours and includes a change at Lausanne and two small connections near Lake Geneva. You would also need an hour to get from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon in Paris. So the total trip would be about 8h 30m.
But it’s an adventure, especially in Switzerland as you pass mountains and vineyards and catch sight of Lake Geneva.
Q
WHAT are the duty-free rules when you are travelling from Cyprus into Northern Cyprus? Jo, via email
A
NORTHERN Cyprus is a de facto state that is only recognised by Turkey, and it is difficult to establish its border rules.
Insiders say that taking a reasonable amount of duty-free for personal use — say a bottle of spirits, a bottle of wine and a carton of cigarettes — is quite acceptable.