Turquoise water at Tulum,Yucatan Peninsula.Credit:iStock
The big attraction in the Yucatan Peninsula is the Mayan city of Chichen Itza,one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. You can either hire a car or take a guided tour from Tulum. Note that it gets crowded soon after opening time so an early morning tour is best,and the site is about a 2½ hour drive from Tulum. Another worthwhile experience of Mayan culture is Coba,largest of all the region’s Mayan cities and a 45-minute drive from Tulum,which sees far fewer visitors than Chichen Itza. If you drive,you could also visit some of the region’s cenotes,limestone sinkholes you can swim in. Of the thousands of cenotes,Suytun Cenotes Tulum,Ik Kil Cenotes Tulum and Cenote Oxman are among the favourites. If you’d prefer to stay close to Tulum,the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is 2000 square kilometres of lush tropical forest,savannas,mangroves,lagoons and coral reefs that provide a habitat for hundreds of wildlife species. Friends of Sian Ka’an (amigosdesiankaan.org) have guided boat tours of the biosphere.
I am thinking of staying in England for three months and travelling around the UK and Europe. How can I find longer-term accommodation,preferably in Hertfordshire?
A. Peterson,Sandringham,Vic
Unless you’re hiring a vehicle you’ll probably want to be close to public transport,possibly one of the larger towns such as Hitchin. But unless you have a strong preference for Hertfordshire,you might also look for accommodation more widely in the Home Counties,towns,many of which offer easy connections to rail terminals and airports. Also,ready access to supermarkets,restaurants and cafes,since you’ll be self-catering.
Airbnb (airbnb.com) has a sector of its website aimed at travellers looking for medium-term accommodation for one month or longer but prices are steep. Booking.com (booking.com) is another option but it’s difficult to find a three-month rental that is going to cost less than $10,000. You might be able to negotiate a better price direct with the owners of self-catering accommodation. In that case,take a look at some of the properties advertised on the Sawdays website (sawdays.co.uk) and Hideaways (hideaways.co.uk).
I will be travelling to Europe for a month later this year and since I will have health/hospital cover as part of my travel insurance policy can I cancel my current private health insurance policy for a month?
M. Murphy,Mornington,Vic
Some private health plans will allow you to suspend your cover. Medibank members with Visitors Cover may suspend their membership if they are overseasfor a continuous period of at least two months. BUPA members can also suspend their membership for the same minimum period while NIB members can suspend their health cover for travel outside Australia for more than four weeks. The reason most private health insurers require a longer overseas stay is to avoid the loss of income that would result from members who are travelling overseas for a short stay,as is commonly the case with Australians.
We are heading to LA in January,how can we book basketball or baseball games? Any other must-see LA attractions with three kids?
S. Gray,Newport Vic
Baseball is a summer game,but there’s plenty of action happening on the basketball courts. Your best bet is to go through one of the ticket agencies such as NBA com (nba.com),Vivid Seats (vividseats.com) or TicketsCenter (tickets-center.com). For younger children,Disneyland (disneyland.disney.go.com) and the Paramount Studio Tour (paramountstudiotour.co) are probably going to be a big hit while for older ones,the J. Paul Getty Museum (getty.edu/museum) and a guided drive-by tour of the houses of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills might be the go.