Q Where would you suggest staying at Niagara Falls? I am taking my family there this summer. Is it best to base ourselves on the American or Canadian side of the falls?

Steven McDougal, Arbroath

A You should definitely stay on the Canadian side, as it has better views, more facilities and easier access to other sights upriver and along the gorge. Niagara town itself has an Imax theatre and the Marineland theme park, but is pretty tacky. Sixteen miles to the north, however, on the shores of Lake Ontario, is a pretty little town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. If you want character, this is where I’d suggest you stay.

A peaceful place, full of early-18th-century clapboard houses, it’s home to the immaculately restored Fort George and the world’s only theatre dedicated to the plays of George Bernard Shaw (www.shawfest.com). The best hotel in town is the grand colonial red-brick Prince of Wales (00 1-888 669 5566, www.vintage-hotels.com), which has doubles from £141. Perhaps better for kids, though, is the Charles Inn (905 468 4588, www.charlesinn.ca), a more modest white clapboard mansion that has been turned into a smart 12-room hotel, with doubles from £105, B&B.

If you don’t have a hire car, worry not: 5-0 Taxi (800 667 0256) runs a minibus shuttle service from hotels in Niagara-on-the-Lake to the falls for £9 return (£5 for children aged 6-12).

Q I read about the Table Mountain cable car coming to a halt in a power cut, leaving people stranded. My husband and I are flying to Cape Town in April, and I’d like to know if this will be a risk when we go to the top of Table Mountain.

Rosemary Holden, Warwick

A There are a lot of bad places to be stuck during a power cut, but it doesn’t get much worse than dangling in a cable car 2,300ft above the ground. It happened, though – on January 21 this year, when several dozen people were trapped for hours in the gondolas and 900 or so tourists were marooned on the top of the mountain. Passengers in a car near the top of the ascent had to climb out through an emergency exit in the roof, then negotiate a 6ft crawl on a horizontal ladder to safety.

While you run the risk of running into a power cut anywhere in South Africa, riding up Table Mountain should once again be trouble-free. The cable-car company and Eskom – the national power firm – have improved procedures, and the backup generator, which failed to function properly, has been overhauled. When Cape Town was hit with another big blackout on February 1, lasting 5½ hours, the cars continued running safely on backup power.

In fact, the January 21 incident was the first of its kind in the cable car’s 78-year history. Don’t let that date worry you, either – the current technology, and the rotating gondolas, were installed in 1997. For more information on the cable car, visit www.tablemountain.net.

Q I have had a pen pal for more than 60 years. We are both in our seventies, and he has invited me to his summer place in Lake Tahoe. He says I need to get to Reno, but how do I get there at a reasonable cost, between July and September, from Manchester?

A Pickles, Burnley

A Reno is less than two hours from Lake Tahoe by car, but there aren’t any direct flights to Reno from the UK, so you’ll have to change planes on the way.

Fares in July and August start at a fraction less than £500, and the most convenient routing for you is with American Airlines (020 7365 0777, www.americanairlines.co.uk ) from Manchester to Chicago, then on to Reno. The total journey takes about 17 hours in each direction.

You will have to collect your checked-through luggage in Chicago, then drop it off at the transfer desk in the arrivals area. It’s a pain, but at least you’ll know that your bag has made it as far as Chicago. You won’t have to do it on the way back – your bags will go straight through to Manchester.

For help with the booking, call Dial a Flight (0870 333 4488, www.dialaflight.com ), Flight Centre (0870 499 0040, www.flightcentre.co.uk ) or Trailfinders (0845 058 5858, www.trailfinders.com ), which all have knowledgeable agents.

Q We have travelled through France on numerous occasions using hotel chains such as Première Classe, Campanile and Formule 1, which are cheap and clean. Are there any similar chains in Italy, as we are driving to Rome in April?

Alister MacDonald, Glasgow

A Italy has far fewer budget chain hotels than France, with no Première Classe or Formule 1, and just three Campaniles – one in Padua and two in Turin. It’s slim pickings with most of the other budget chains, too; Ibis (www.ibishotel.com ) has just 11 hotels, two of which are in Rome (from £75); and Holiday Inn Express (www.ichotels.com ) has 15, five in Rome (from £95).

If these aren’t quite where you want them to be, have a look at specialist websites such as Travelsupermarket (www.travelsupermarket.com ). It has a huge selection of hotels throughout Italy, with Rome starting from £38 for a double.

Other websites to try include www.octopustravel.com , www.hotels.com , www.booking.com and www.hotelsitalyonline.com . Their technology means you can usually look at several pictures of the property, see where it is on a map and sometimes read reviews written by guests.

Q My girlfriend and I are spending two weeks in Tokyo, and we would like to visit Shanghai for a few nights in the middle. Do you think that there will be any problems with entry back into Japan if we do this?

Steven Hughff, Stockton-on-Tees

A You’ll have no problem at all buying flights from Japan to Shanghai or reentering after your visit. Japan has introduced new measures at immigration, which, since November 20, has meant that people arriving will be fingerprinted and photographed. For British passport-holders, however, this is the same procedure no matter where you come from.

For the overseas visitor, it’s not the ease of travel that’s the problem – there are almost 60 flights a day between Shanghai and Tokyo – but the ruinous cost. It may seem crazy, but while it is possible to find fares from Europe to Japan (a 12-hour flight) from about £500, the three-hour flights from Tokyo to Shanghai with Air China, JAL et al start at about £700.

A cheaper alternative is to travel with the US carrier Northwest (0870 507 4074, www.nwa.com ), which has a hub in Tokyo and often undercuts local carriers. Return flights to Shanghai start at £318; book with Opodo (0871 277 0090, www.opodo.co.uk ) or Ebookers (0871 223 5000, www.ebookers.com ).

Do you have a travel query? E-mail your inquiries to quickfixes@sunday-times.co.uk