The much busier capital, Rarotonga, also offers some great snorkelling in its cobalt-coloured lagoon ringed by white beaches.
Head to Muri Lagoon or Aroa Beach for the best snorkelling straight off the beach.
Rarotonga Backpackers has beachfront rooms for $45 for singles (dorm beds cost $20). At the top end of the scale, the stylish hillside cottage at Muri Beach Hideaway is very good value at $180.
Also lovely is Kuras Kabanas, with a china-white beach steps from your front door. Studio prices are $180.
In Vanuatu, just a few kilometres out of Port Vila on Mele Bay, is Hideaway Island Resort with studios from $170. Boats come and go to take divers and snorkellers out to reefs, although you can snorkel right off the beach.
If you really want to get away from it all, then Uoleva in Tonga offers some lovely snorkelling right by the shore.
It is very basic there, with nothing much to do but swim, snorkel and relax in your beachfront room. Daiana Resort (ph 676-60612) charges $4 for single rooms with rudimentary bathrooms. This is a real beach-bum paradise.
Colourful Copenhagen
I am spending 10 days in and around Copenhagen with my husband in late September. How would you suggest we spend our time? Would you recommend organised tours or hiring a car?
- Sue Moore
Copenhagen is a relaxing, appealing and eminently walkable city that deserves a stay of at least a couple of days.
Highlights include the colourful port area at Nyhavn, the Tivoli gardens, the Stroget shopping strip, the views from atop the Rundetarn, Rosenborg Slot, Amalienborg Slot, the National Museum, the Royal Museum of Fine Art, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum of ancient art, strolling around boho Christianshavn and taking a boat tour around the city's canals.
Joining a is a good idea - for example, a Hans Christian Andersen themed walking tour.
You could easily spend the rest of your time tootling around North Zealand in a hire car, focusing on Roskilde and its Viking Ship Museum; the Dutch Renaissance Frederiksborg Slot at Hillerod; the classic northern beaches around Tisvildeleje, Gilleleje and Hornbaek; Hamlet's Kronborg Slot at Helsingor (from where you could take a short ferry trip to Sweden); and driving along the Danish Riviera back to Copenhagen, dropping into the Lousiana modern-art collection at Humlebaek along the way.
Denmark is one of the better places in the world to get around by car, so devising a do-it-yourself itinerary is highly recommended. Car rental is comparatively expensive, with weekly rates for a mid-sized vehicle costing about $790 with the big names such as Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz). Make an online reservation before you leave.
Big apple apartment
I will be meeting my daughter in New York at Christmas. I have seen that renting a sublet furnished apartment can be cheaper than staying in a hotel. How can I organise this?
- Teresa Longbottom
This type of accommodation is known as a vacation rental, and there are many online rental agencies to choose from. Some firms do their bookings entirely online while others might finalise arrangements by phone.
Agencies have studio and one- or two-bedroom apartments in a choice of locations in the five boroughs, starting at $255 a night for a studio and soaring upwards of $3825 a week for a two-bedroom apartment in the swanky Upper West Side.
Try the following: westvillagebb.com, manhattanlodgings.com, sublet.new-york-apartment.com, subletinthecity.com, sublet.com, nyhabitat.com and furnishedquarters.com.
The Gamut Realty Group has a cheaper range, starting at around $3745 per month, and you could also try the popular Craigs List community classifieds service.
Brussels to Dubrovnik
Could you please advise which budget airlines fly between Brussels and Dubrovnik?
- Rhonda Piggott
Jetair has Monday and Friday flights from Brussels to Dubrovnik for as low as $227 one way.
Another option would be to catch a low-cost airline from Brussels to a hub such as Vienna, Prague, Paris, Budapest or Krakow, connecting with another low-cost flight from one of these hubs to Dubrovnik.
Try a budget group such as SkyEurope. If you're lucky, you might also find a bargain with the major airlines flying into Dubrovnik, which include Croatia Airlines (via Zagreb), Lufthansa (via Frankfurt), Austrian Airlines (via Vienna), Alitalia (via Rome) and Malev (via Budapest).
For other ideas, check online agents such as Which Budget, Open Jet and Orbitz.
Central Europe by car
My husband and I are planning a driving trip through Central Europe for four weeks in September-October. How easy is it to get accommodation on arrival or a few days beforehand? What would be a reasonable itinerary that includes Prague, Krakow, Budapest and Vienna, with sidetrips? Would a Sat-Nav device be helpful?
- Margaret Shaw
As you'll be travelling in September/October, you can be confident that finding accommodation as you go won't be a problem. You may not always be able to stay at your first choice so allow yourselves time to look around at various accommodations on offer when you arrive in a place.
Alternatively, you can just book a day or two before you arrive either over the phone or through a discount website. Just ensure you travel with a good guidebook that lists plenty of recommended places.
As for an itinerary, we have the perfect four-weeker for you: After a few days soaking up the culture of Prague, head out for a visit to Plzen where Pilsner Urquell, the world's first lager, was invented in 1842. There is an attractive old town and it's only an hour down the motorway. If this is not to your taste, then visit the beautiful Kutna Hora, just east of Prague.
Next destination Krakow, but make sure you travel via Olomouc in Moravia. This lovely place has an old town square rivalling Prague's and possesses the youthful vivacity of a modern student town.
In Poland spend at least a few days exploring all the charms and the incredible history of Krakow. A side-trip to Auschwitz is a harrowing but recommended experience.
On your way south to Budapest, we suggest you spend a couple of days exploring the beautiful Tatra Mountains. Go to the at Tatra Information Office website or the at Tatra National Park Info Centrum.
As you get close to Hungary's capital you'll find yourselves on the stunning Danube Bend. Allow at least three days, preferably five for the Hungarian capital. You'll be seduced by this city's many cultural influences.
A side trip to Eger, about 100km northeast of Budapest, with its ancient castle and great local wine, should be on your itinerary. Then there's Pecs. It's quite a diversion south, but it's a lovely town with an interesting history and more than a dozen galleries and museums to keep you occupied.
Next your itinerary takes you to Vienna. The quickest way is to go back via Budapest, but if you have time, meander across western Hungary, taking in Lake Balaton and the quaint old towns on its shores, such as Tihany and Keszthely.
Once you've experienced Vienna, with its sumptuous galleries and museums, marzipan-like buildings and wedding-cake palaces, then you'll be on the home stretch back to Prague. As you will have no trouble finding good road maps, either here or there, you won't find it necessary to have a Sat-Nav device.
Lonely Planet experts are available to answer questions from readers. Email them to: travelinfo@lonelyplanet.co.nz. They may not answer all questions and cannot correspond directly with readers or give advice outside the column.
