Tips & advice: The Tripologist

WE ARE A FAMILY OF FOUR VISITING JAPAN EITHER DECEMBER OR EARLY JANUARY. WOULD YOU RECOMMEND HOTEL OR APARTMENT-STYLE ACCOMMODATION? IT'S HARD TO FIND FAMILY ROOMS TO FIT ALL FOUR OF US, OR TO FIND A HOTEL WITH TWO INTERCONNECTING ROOMS FOR THE KIDS, 13 AND 15. ANY SUGGESTIONS? WE NEED ACCOMMODATION IN TOKYO AND OSAKA. SHOULD WE BOOK NOW OR LOOK FOR SALES AND SPECIALS OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS? S MORRIS, BALWYN NORTH

The best and simplest solution to your accommodation is Airbnb airbnb.com.au. I used Airbnb in Tokyo last August and it was a great solution, and there are plenty of two-bedroom apartments that will cost you heaps less than two hotel rooms, with more space and the ability to prepare some of your own meals. 
In  Tokyo you might look in the Ebisu district. This is one of the areas where I stayed and it's a great neighbourhood with lots of places to eat right on your doorstep and convenience stores that sell milk and other Western-style necessities that are not a major part of the Japanese diet. Above Ebisu Station is a shopping mall where you can pick up pre-prepared meals and salads and they're fantastic and great value. Ebisu Station is on the Yamanote Line, the circular metro line that loops central Tokyo and it's handy for sightseeing. Be brave, the Tokyo metro system is not for faint hearts but there are always station attendants who will help you out. 
Ebisu is fairly bustling and if you want somewhere quieter, just to the north is Daikanyama​, a high-class residential district and a really lovely area with proper sidewalks and funky shops and cool cafes. The only negative is Daikanyama Station, which is not on the Yamanote Line but it's not exactly a punishing walk to get to Ebisu Station. Both these areas are convenient for the N'EX express train service from Narita Airport, which will get you to Shibuya Station from where it's just a short taxi ride.
In Osaka, the Tennoji or Namba districts have been recommended as good areas to look for accommodation. 
New Year's Day is a big event in Japan, when many visit Shinto shrines to offer prayers for the year ahead but apart from that, there's really not too much to choose between your departure dates. 
Book ASAP, prices will not go down, unlike our dollar. 

THERE ARE FOUR OF US 70+ YEARS OF AGE SPENDING TWO DAYS IN BORDEAUX FOLLOWING A SCENIC RIVER CRUISE. WE WOULD LIKE TO DO A DAY TOUR TO SAN SEBASTIAN VISITING THE SIGHTS AND A LEISURELY LUNCHEON AT ONE OF ITS MANY FINE RESTAURANTS. IS THERE A LOCAL OPERATOR THAT OFFERS THIS? P. WONG, EASTWOOD

I can't find a tour that will take you from Bordeaux to San Sebastian. The only way to do this would be to take a train to San Sebastian and although it's just over 200 kilometres between the two cities the journey takes more than three hours on the fastest train, which is astonishing for Europe. If you were to travel by train you could then do a tour with San Sebastian Food sansebastianfood.com, which operates English-speaking tours of the city's markets and bars, and they're sensational. However it would be an exhausting day and it could well be that your schedule doesn't give you enough time for an overnight stop in San Sebastian, which would be ideal. Bordeaux itself is no slouch in the food and wine department and your time there should give plenty to fill your plate if food is the focus of your visit. If you want to experience Basque cooking, and seafood in particular, what you could do is take a train to Biarritz​, just over two hours away, a handsome city in its own right, with a regional cuisine that owes much to the Basque kitchen.

MY HUSBAND AND I ARE THINKING OF SPENDING TWO WEEKS DRIVING AROUND TASMANIA. I WOULD LOVE TO STAY IN OLD PUBS OR INNS, IS THERE A WEBSITE THAT WOULD GIVE ME MORE INFORMATION? WE WOULD LIKE TO SPEND A FEW DAYS AT FREYCINET AND A ROOM WITH A VIEW WOULD BE GREAT. L. JONES, NEWCASTLE

The official Discover Tasmania website discovertasmania.com.au looks great but when you try and find accommodation – or anything else to help plan your journey – it shunts you into the hands of local specialists, another name for commercial operators, and suggests you contact them. For an island that derives so much from tourism it's highly unsatisfactory. As a starting point, the website does have self-drive itineraries that might help you work out where to go but the information on these routes is sketchy. What you might do is see which of these touring routes appeal, work out where you're likely to stay overnight and look for accommodation in each stop. 
In Freycinet​, you have luxurious accommodation at Saffire​ saffire-freycinet.com.au, set on the edge of Coles Bay with majestic views across the Hazards, which dominate the Freycinet Peninsula. Another much cheaper alternative is Freycinet Lodge freycinetlodge.com.au. This is set at the base of the Hazards and the accommodation is surrounded by bushland so you don't get the same views, but the sunsets from here will blow your socks off. In the meantime, Tasmania Tourism pull your own socks up, your island deserves better. 

CONVERSATION
OVER TO YOU… 

The question was "Whenever I book a hire car over the internet it seems to end up costing more than the quote. What's your experience?"

J. Dand writes "We have booked with Europcar several times and earlier this year we booked a car for a month. When we returned the car we asked the lovely girl that had dealt with us if everything was OK and fully paid for. She confirmed that was the case. On our return to Australia Europcar emailed to say we owed for one day hire. I rang the UK branch and they said we didn't owe any money. Europcar head office then deducted a day's hire from our card. I  was most upset and told them I wouldn't hire from them again and would not recommend them either."

From O. Enright, "We rented cars on the internet for travelling in France and Italy on three occasions with good results. The bookings were all made well in advance with Rentalcars.com. The only time we hit a snag was in Avignon when we booked a specific automatic and discovered that its arrival was delayed. We cancelled the booking on the spot and used the refund to pay for an auto car from another car hire company next door. Ever since we call in advance to confirm that the booked car would be available."

G. and R. Reid write "I have experienced a shonky operator in the UK who only supplied vehicles on an empty-to-empty basis and he had a team of guys siphoning fuel in to an on-site storage container as vehicles were returned because nobody ever returned a vehicle that was really empty. The same company demanded a cash only bond and a charge card for the rental cost. Stick with the reputable well-known agencies and you can't go wrong. I have had great service from Thrifty, Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz."


Next question: The airline seat armrest thief is a menace, and some travellers don't seem to get it that the armrest is there to share. Do you have a strategy to deal with this? 

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