Ask Joan

My sister and I (both in our 60s) are planning a trip to Puglia in the last week in September. We absolutely do not want to drive, but would like to find a nice base from which to do day trips by public transport. Anyone we have spoken with has said that is impossible, as public transport is useless in that region. Can you give me any advice on this or even on organised day trips and also could could you recommend a base, at the sea preferably? – CA, Dublin

The Ryanair flight to Bari makes it easy to get to Puglia this year. If you're going to be using public transport to get around, then you will probably find it more convenient to stay in one of the bigger towns, Taranto, Lecce or Otranto. The Ionian coast has beautiful sandy beaches and the Adriatic coast is rocky and interesting. The train service in this region is Ferrovia del Sud Est, fseonline.it and I have had a look at some pairs of destinations and it seems easy and reasonably priced. You may have to change some times, but I am sure you will find it easy enough. The walled Baroque inland town of Lecce has train services to places like Alberobello, Bari, Otranto, Gallipoli, Galatina, Taranto and Ugento. It is a university town and is lively. There is a 1st-century Roman arena in the city centre. Uxemtum Tours has a special offer in the lovely five-star Patria Palace Hotel in Lecce for seven nights and it includes collection from Bari Airport, from €540pps. Uxentum can also arrange day tours in the region. It has a deal for a stay in a four-star hotel in Alberobello, the town of trulli - those beehive shaped houses - with three dinners from €545pps, uxentumtour.it. The official tourism site for the region is viaggiareinpuglia.it. There is also a Puglia tour company based in Ireland, run by a couple from the region. They have some very good hotel and tour offers, mainly by car but may have some ideas for bus or boat tours. You can contact them on 01-254 4280 and their website is discoverypuglia.com.

A friend and I are hoping to travel to Tromso in Norway next February or March to catch the Northern Lights. We travelled to the north of Sweden a couple of years ago, but alas the lights didn't show. This time we would like to include a few days' skiing while in Norway. Would this be possible? – IS, Dublin

Tromso is a good location to see the Northern Lights but like any natural phenomenon, there's no guarantee. The city is now embracing the tourism from the Northern Lights and you will find events on in the museum and around the city, see visittromso.no/en. Check closer to the date to see if there will be a midnight concert in the Arctic Cathedral. It is a beautiful experience. Getting to Tromso from Ireland is not too difficult. Norwegian. com has same day arrivals via Oslo. Flights will operate on Sunday and Thursday in the winter and cost from €316 return. SAS also has flights via Copenhagen some days of the week, butthey are a little more expensive. There is alpine skiing in the Tromso area in the suburb of Kroken, see iti.ms/1n56tXg. Cross-country skiing is the most popular type of skiing in this region. You could also ski Lillehammer, just over two hours from Oslo by train. The other most popular ski region in Norway is Trysil, about two-and-half hours from Oslo. See visitnorway.com for more details.

Send your travel queries to jscales@irishtimes.com