TRAVEL CLINIC

Your questions answered by our panel of travel experts, including a doctor and a lawyer

ME AND MY (LITTLE) GIRL

"I am a single parent with a two-year-old daughter. I'd love to go somewhere sunny, where there is childcare available, and that isn't heavily aimed at couples. Can you suggest any companies who might help?"

Kirstie McLachlan

London

Jill Crawshaw replies: Travelling as a single parent isn't easy, as most tour companies gear their holidays towards couples, and base their discounts on children sharing bedrooms with two full fare paying adults (they do offer childcare arrangements; Thomson Holidays, for example, offer the yuk-sounding but useful Tiny T's Club for 0-3s, and activities for older children, but any childcare discounts are also dependent on two full fare paying adults).

Your best bet is to get hold of the brochure of One Parent Family Holidays (OPFH), based at Kildonan Courtyard, Barhill, Girvan, Ayrshire KA26 OPS, (01465 821288 on Mondays and evenings and 01776 889500 Tuesdays-Saturdays, 9.30am to 5.30 pm).

This non-profit-making organisation was formed in 1975 by lone parents, to offer the chance of continental holidays with others in a similar position. They started in Mallorca in 1976, and have since been able to increase the destinations including Barbados and Belgium, Morocco and the USA. The organisation claims a guaranteed minimum 50 per cent discount for children to most places in Europe and 40 per cent in America, where traditionally families with only one adult have to pay adult fares or only slightly less for the first child.

Travelling as part of a small group, parents will not be on their own, and although there are no social pressures to link people together other than for the benefits of a party booking, teaming up with other adults can have spin-offs such as shared baby-sitting and childcare.

This year, OPFH's sunny destinations include a 15-day holiday to Playa Es Cana, Ibiza, which costs pounds 374-pounds 484 for a two-person family. Accommodation is in pre-erected tents, cabins or caravans on a site with a restaurant and pool, just 300 yards from the beach. The staff are said to be excellent with children. Es Cana is a popular resort with a safe beach and Ibiza town, 12 miles away, is always a delight.

In France the organisation runs its own camping holiday costing pounds 169- pounds 199 for 15 days for adults, pounds 79-pounds 99 for children. The site is on the Ile d'Or, an island in the middle of the River Loire at Amboise, with optional excursions to the Loire Chateaux, Paris, Disneyland and Futuroscope.

The most ambitious 14-day holiday to Florida, with eight days in Orlando, has the great advantage that you are staying right on the starting blocks for hitting Disney World and the other theme parks. This is followed by six days at Fort Lauderdale, which also has excellent beaches. Accommodation is in motels, and there are supplements of pounds 49 where only two are sharing bedrooms, though OPFH recommend that two families sharing can avoid excess supplements.

The cost is pounds 599-pounds 649 per adult, and children under 12 cost pounds 399-pounds 429.

Jill Crawshaw is a travel expert, writer and broadcaster.

WHAT'S THE BEST RADIO FOR BBC WORLD SERVICE RECEPTION

I shall be backpacking in Europe this summer and I am in the market for a small lightweight radio in order to keep in touch with the BBC World Service.

I have looked in shops and catalogues and am now totally bemused: can you provide some light on this matter - which features are significant and which merely cosmetic?

It is possible to pay less than pounds 20 and up to several hundreds. Do you have any personal recommendations or at least independent advice on types (for example, analogue versus digital tuning)?

John Henson

York

Geoff Spells, Senior Engineer, BBC World Service, replies: The features to look out for when buying a radio receiver to listen to the BBC World Service are:

LF (LW): 148-284kHz (not essential but useful for BBC on 198kHz).

MF (MW): 527 - 1606kHz.

HF (SW): 3950 - 17900kHz.

VHF/FM: 88-108mHz.

Tuning: Digital tuning with continuous coverage across HF bands.

And: Provision for external antenna;

Headphone socket;

Good battery life.

We are not able to recommend any one receiver but manufacturers such as Sony, Sangean, Brother, Grundig, Philips and National Panasonic all have good models.

Expect to pay between pounds 50 and pounds 100. Many provide features that are not strictly necessary. Digital tuning, however, is a must.

TURKEY RASH WITH

CREAM SOURCE?

Are there any particular health risks associated with the use of sun- tan creams? We all know it is unhealthy to lie in the sun unprotected, but I have heard that too much suntan oil may be bad for you as well. A friend came back from Turkey last year with a rash all over his body, caused by suncream. What kind of risks are there? What precautions should I take?

Rachel Potten

Guildford

Dr Larry Goodyer replies: Sunscreens do not in themselves cause any problems for the majority of people and can be applied regularly over long periods of time with confidence. Of course people can be allergic to certain constituents of creams and I imagine that this is the case with your friend. The allergy may be due to one of the active ingredients in the cream or some other chemical used in its formulation. Either way he may find that simply swapping to another brand, perhaps trying one labelled as "hypoallergenic" will solve the problem.

You refer to the product in question as a suntan oil, although I assume you mean a sunscreen. There are products which will enhance the tanning process, but these should generally be avoided as the object is to block out the harmful rays of the sun which can cause burning, skin ageing and cancer.

The system used to classify the effectiveness of sunscreens is based on the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) for blocking UVB radiation and a star system for ability to block UVA. People sometimes use these preparations to develop a slow tan. Unfortunately the depressing message is that the only sure way to prevent the dangers of skin ageing or cancer is to not develop a tan at all. Therefore in addition to using creams avoiding exposure to the sun as much as possible is also encouraged. So if you want to avoid a tan use a high factor cream, applied liberally and regularly to exposed skin, cover up as much as is practical and stay in the shade.

t Dr Larry Goodyer is superintendent of the Nomad Pharmacy (3-4 Turnpike Lane, London N8, tel 0181-889 7014) which specialises in travellers' medical needs.

Write to the Travel Editor, Independent on Sunday, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL (Fax: 0171 293 2043)