Sep 7, 2007
In two months from now, the trans-Atlantic prices plunge: more November blockbusters
I've repeatedly written about the low-cost autumn Europe that takes form, like an apparition gaining flesh and bones, on November 1 and thereafter. The baseline for all other November packages is the $579 charged by Go-Today (www.go-today.com) for round-trip air from the east coast and six nights of accommodations with breakfast daily in London -- a price that's only $80 more than was charged in November of 2006 (add on charges from other U.S. cities are extremely reasonable). But perhaps even more noteworthy than Go-Today's $579 London package is the surprising $599 it will be charging from November 1 to mid-December, and again in January and February, for round-trip air to Paris and six nights in a modest Parisian hotel (with continental breakfast every morning). Take a look, if you haven't yet, at Go-Today.com and all sorts of interesting travel possibilities will occur to you.
Those values are matched by the indomitable Paul Laifer, who for decades has been offering a fall/winter air-and-land package to Prague for only $699: round-trip air on Czech Airlines (from JFK New York only), six nights' hotel with full buffet breakfast daily, round-trip airport-to-hotel transfers, and half-day sightseeing, from November 1 to December 10 and January 2 to March 31. Considering the distance flown, that's an even better bargain than Go-Today offers, especially because the hotel used is a charming property in the very heart of the city, a five-minute walk from glorious Wenceslas Square. You reach Paul Laifer Tours at www.laifertours.com or tel. 800/346-6314.
Monday: the November bargains to Rome.
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Those values are matched by the indomitable Paul Laifer, who for decades has been offering a fall/winter air-and-land package to Prague for only $699: round-trip air on Czech Airlines (from JFK New York only), six nights' hotel with full buffet breakfast daily, round-trip airport-to-hotel transfers, and half-day sightseeing, from November 1 to December 10 and January 2 to March 31. Considering the distance flown, that's an even better bargain than Go-Today offers, especially because the hotel used is a charming property in the very heart of the city, a five-minute walk from glorious Wenceslas Square. You reach Paul Laifer Tours at www.laifertours.com or tel. 800/346-6314.
Monday: the November bargains to Rome.
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Mobissimo.com is coming on strong, a major player among the airfare search engines
It isn't just my imagination. On several recent instances -- too many to be ignored -- Mobissimo (www.mobissimo.com) has produced the best airfare by far for international itineraries.
Mobissimo.com is an aggregator. It reveals all the many options for reaching a particular destination, but then leaves it to you to access the winning fare, by going directly to the website of the airline or consolidator that has the lowest fare. A search engine with strong European roots (though it maintains a major office in the United States), Mobissimo is obviously best used for international itineraries, not domestic ones, like New York to Zagreb, Croatia. When I recently sought a low airfare for such a trip, departing November 15 and returning November 23, Travelocity revealed a best fare of $722 and Expedia $703, but Mobissimo.com came in at $640 using different carriers! (Orbitz' fare was $650). And all four of the search engines included the same fees and taxes.
The lesson: include Mobissimo when you search for advantageous international airfares.
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Mobissimo.com is an aggregator. It reveals all the many options for reaching a particular destination, but then leaves it to you to access the winning fare, by going directly to the website of the airline or consolidator that has the lowest fare. A search engine with strong European roots (though it maintains a major office in the United States), Mobissimo is obviously best used for international itineraries, not domestic ones, like New York to Zagreb, Croatia. When I recently sought a low airfare for such a trip, departing November 15 and returning November 23, Travelocity revealed a best fare of $722 and Expedia $703, but Mobissimo.com came in at $640 using different carriers! (Orbitz' fare was $650). And all four of the search engines included the same fees and taxes.
The lesson: include Mobissimo when you search for advantageous international airfares.
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Labels: websites
Craigslist has grown into a mighty instrument for engaging in a "home exchange" -- and to do so without expense or financial commitment
If you have recently glanced at the "housing swap" notices in Craigslist (www.craigslist.org), you've seen that there's been a startling increase in the use of these free-of-charge, electronic classified ads for vacation purposes. Though Craigslist will rarely propose "housing swaps" for small towns, it now nearly always offers an impressive number of offers for people living in, say, the hundred largest cities of the United States. Simply pick your home city from the main city page at craigslist.org/about/cities.html then click on "housing swap". Up will come offers from a great many persons in other cities, offering a temporary swap of their home or apartment for yours.
Craigslist is not as extensive in its inventory of overseas homes as are the well-established home-exchange clubs, like HomeExchange.com (www.homeexchange.com) or Intervac (www.intervacusa.com) or HomeLink (www.homelink.org). But each of these clubs charges a hefty yearly fee (as much as $100) for the right to use their services, and charges that fee even if you are unsuccessful in your quest for an exchange. Craigslist permits you to see what's offered, and to suggest an exchange, without committing yourself to a penny's expense. As such, it's a major advance in vacation planning, too often overlooked by Americans considering a home exchange -- the single most sensible, logical, intelligent method of vacationing there is.
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Craigslist is not as extensive in its inventory of overseas homes as are the well-established home-exchange clubs, like HomeExchange.com (www.homeexchange.com) or Intervac (www.intervacusa.com) or HomeLink (www.homelink.org). But each of these clubs charges a hefty yearly fee (as much as $100) for the right to use their services, and charges that fee even if you are unsuccessful in your quest for an exchange. Craigslist permits you to see what's offered, and to suggest an exchange, without committing yourself to a penny's expense. As such, it's a major advance in vacation planning, too often overlooked by Americans considering a home exchange -- the single most sensible, logical, intelligent method of vacationing there is.
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Labels: accommodations
Vietnam remains a largely unspoiled and low-cost vacation, and you can enjoy two weeks there for an amazing $945 plus airfare
The decline in American tourism to Vietnam is one of the great mysteries. While nearby China is awash with visitors from the U.S., Vietnam -- with the same low prices and exotic culture -- is a disappointment to most of the tour operators who have ventured to promote it. One of them supplied me with a psychological explanation: that second thoughts about the wisdom of having invaded Iraq are being carried over mentally to Vietnam, where identical doubts prevailed three decades ago. And that the unease over Iraq is therefore affecting travel to Vietnam. Go figure. In the meantime, Canadian tour operators are continuing to offer and sell packages to Vietnam that remain popular and rival the top values of other Asian locations. Gap Adventures, of Toronto (tel. 800/708-7761; www.gapadventures.com), operates a superb two-week itinerary -- 10 nights in hotels, two nights on a sleeper train, one night on an overnight boat -- that begins in Hanoi and Halong Bay and then goes sweeping down that nation's coast along the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea to Hue, Hoi An (custom-made suits here!), Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Departures are every week throughout the fall, winter and spring, in groups limited to 15 persons but averaging 10, and including considerable sightseeing, a tour leader, local guides, and more. These are heavily booked by intellectually-curious Americans. The charge is an amazing $695 per person, plus $250 in local payments; to which you add your own international airfare on Vietnam Airlines, booked through www.mobissimo.com, for about $979, round-trip from Los Angeles.
Vietnam. If you have two weeks free in the months ahead -- what's stopping you?
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Labels: vietnam
Sep 6, 2007
If you can avoid changing planes at London's Heathrow Airport, or if you can avoid flying into there at all, by all means do so
It's sad but necessary to sound an alarm about the virtual breakdown in luggage service at London's Heathrow Airport, largest of the three airfields -- the others are Gatwick and Stansted -- serving the British capital. Baggage-handling has so overwhelmed the staff assigned to it, that even a British publication, The Economist, candidly admits (August 11, 2007, page 11) that "thousands of bags are lost each day". That report is confirmed by numerous persons sounding off in the U.S. press about the nightmares they've encountered at Heathrow.
The notion of scheduling a one-hour connection to another flight at Heathrow has become ludicrous. The prospect that your luggage will be taken from one flight and placed on another within one hour is even less likely. A two-hour connection is still dicey, and only a longer interval is reasonably safe.
It will come as a surprise to some that Heathrow is not owned by the city of London or the British nation, but by a private Spanish firm, which purchased it last year (and borrowed to do so). Since it is highly unlikely that these entrepreneurs have the funds or the will to make major improvements, the crowds, the lines, and the baggage mishandling are all bound to continue. An airport that was designed for 45 million passengers a year is now handling 67 million passengers a year, and things will undoubtedly get worse before they get better. Try to avoid it.
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The notion of scheduling a one-hour connection to another flight at Heathrow has become ludicrous. The prospect that your luggage will be taken from one flight and placed on another within one hour is even less likely. A two-hour connection is still dicey, and only a longer interval is reasonably safe.
It will come as a surprise to some that Heathrow is not owned by the city of London or the British nation, but by a private Spanish firm, which purchased it last year (and borrowed to do so). Since it is highly unlikely that these entrepreneurs have the funds or the will to make major improvements, the crowds, the lines, and the baggage mishandling are all bound to continue. An airport that was designed for 45 million passengers a year is now handling 67 million passengers a year, and things will undoubtedly get worse before they get better. Try to avoid it.
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A few new hotels with tiny cruiseship-like rooms are presently operating and might suit your cost-conscious needs
Four chains of "tiny hotels" are presently operating in Europe and New York -- easyHotel, YOTEL, Pod Hotels and Qbic -- but they have so few branches at the moment that they are unlikely to provide lodgings to a great many travelers. Still, for that odd occasion when you might stumble across one, I'm attempting this brief survey.EasyHotels, from the people who gave us easyJet and easyCruise, operates three easyHotels in London, one in Basel, Switzerland, and another opening this October in Budapest. Rooms -- which you can reserve only through www.easyhotel.com -- are miniscule and bathrooms have been compared in size to those on airplanes. Cheapest rooms are without windows and rent in winter for £25 (about $50), going up in warmer seasons to $75-$100 a night, all phenomenal bargain rates for high-priced London.
YOTEL, which has its lone property at London's Gatwick airport, rents its compact, seven-square meter "cabins" for as little as four hours at a time (for about $50). A full night costs at least double that. Units are equipped with 20-inch flat screen TVs (no extra charge), iPod docking stations, and work areas. The company has plans to open a dozen more properties, though where and when remains up in the air. Call tel. 011-44-20-7100-1100 or go to www.yotel.com for reservations.
Based in the Netherlands, Qbic opened the first of its futuristic properties in Amsterdam this past July. Rooms are an interesting, cube-shaped design, and the lobby has vending machines for checking in and accessing snacks. Room rates start as low as $53, though the price a guest pays is partly based on when the reservation is made -- the earlier you book, the less you pay. Another Qbic hotel opens later this year in Antwerp, Belgium, and a third is slated for the Netherlands city of Maastricht in 2008. Contact the company at tel. 011-31-43-321-1111 or www.qbichotels.com.
Finally, New York City's Pod Hotel opened earlier this year with rooms -- that yes, many people have compared to ship cabins -- starting at just $89. The least expensive units are singles with shared bathroom, and during peak travel months even those can set the traveler back $159; $89 is a winter rate for the same room. In pricey New York -- and especially at such a great midtown location, on East 51st Street a few blocks from Fifth Avenue -- these rates a bargain (tel. 800/742-5945; www.thepodhotel.com).
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Labels: accommodations
A last three suggested answers to the 10 most frequently asked travel questions
Over the last week, I suggested answers to the first seven of the ten most frequent travel questions put to me in various forums (and on my Sunday travel broadcast). Here are the last three, together with the responses I make:
8) Should I permit my 18-year-old to vacation in Europe? I hedge on that question -- having no way to judge the maturity of the 18-year-old in question -- and suggest that the questioner look up the tour offerings of Contiki Holidays (www.contiki.com), which operates escorted motorcoach tours limited to persons 18 to 35 (and primarily booked by the younger end). Contiki is a solid organization, long in business, and generally regarded as thoroughly reliable for your travel-eager kids.
9) What's there to do in London, Paris, New York or (here they name a large, world-renowned city)? I answer, with barely-disguised dismay, that if they have to ask that question, they haven't done their travel homework. A trip to anywhere should be preceded by a visit to the library, an evening or two in which you bone up about the city or country you're about to visit. A failure to do that dooms you to disappointment.
10) Should I use a travel agent? Only if that agent possesses real knowledge of the destination you're planning to visit. Because use of a travel agent usually costs more than do-it-yourself planning (agents charge an airfare fee, now that they no longer receive commissions from the airlines), they should be able to justify the extra cost with their special familiarity with the details of a particular trip.
Incidentally, if you're not in one of the hundred-and-five-or-so cities where my program is heard, you can nevertheless listen to it on the internet. Go to www.wor710.com, click on "listen live" (Sundays noon-2pm) or "podcasting", and you'll hear the program either live or delayed.
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8) Should I permit my 18-year-old to vacation in Europe? I hedge on that question -- having no way to judge the maturity of the 18-year-old in question -- and suggest that the questioner look up the tour offerings of Contiki Holidays (www.contiki.com), which operates escorted motorcoach tours limited to persons 18 to 35 (and primarily booked by the younger end). Contiki is a solid organization, long in business, and generally regarded as thoroughly reliable for your travel-eager kids.
9) What's there to do in London, Paris, New York or (here they name a large, world-renowned city)? I answer, with barely-disguised dismay, that if they have to ask that question, they haven't done their travel homework. A trip to anywhere should be preceded by a visit to the library, an evening or two in which you bone up about the city or country you're about to visit. A failure to do that dooms you to disappointment.
10) Should I use a travel agent? Only if that agent possesses real knowledge of the destination you're planning to visit. Because use of a travel agent usually costs more than do-it-yourself planning (agents charge an airfare fee, now that they no longer receive commissions from the airlines), they should be able to justify the extra cost with their special familiarity with the details of a particular trip.
Incidentally, if you're not in one of the hundred-and-five-or-so cities where my program is heard, you can nevertheless listen to it on the internet. Go to www.wor710.com, click on "listen live" (Sundays noon-2pm) or "podcasting", and you'll hear the program either live or delayed.
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Labels: tips
Three giant economy motels provide some 1,900 rooms a night in Orlando at $50 a room
With admission prices soaring to those legendary theme parks, it's more important than ever that you economize on the cost of your Orlando lodgings. Three immense budget hotels will almost always have vacancies at $50 a night, and each is located close to the best mealtime bargains in Orlando. Using these properties -- whose comfort and amenities will match those of any low-cost property to be found on the Disney grounds -- is an effective first step in keeping your total costs to a reasonable level.
Quality Inn Plaza International Drive (tel. 800/999-8585; www.qualityinnorlando.com) has no fewer than 1,020 rooms, so it's usually ready to deal in order to fill them. While $50 is a typical price, it often rents them for $10 less, and rates drop the more nights you stay. And it operates like a tropical resort for scrimpers, with multiple pools, a lobby bar with nightly entertainment, and a free shuttle to Universal Orlando and SeaWorld. Rooms sleep four in two double beds, and there are lots of cheap chain restaurants out the front door. Downsides: the hotel abuts noisy Interstate 4, and its A Building is beside a tourist helicopter pad (so ask for the F Building).
Rodeway Inn at International Drive (tel. 800/999-6327; www.rodewayinnorlando.com), the largest Rodeway in America (315 rooms), is well-worn but clean, and at $40 in low season/$65 in high, it's all you could want in a budget motel. It's also close to Universal and Wet 'n Wild, within walking distance of cheap restaurants, and equipped with a heated pool and in-room fridges and microwaves. Across the street, a Ponderosa serves $4 all-you-can-eat breakfasts. And a cheap I-Ride Trolley ($1 a trip) stops out front and heads across town, including to SeaWorld.
Seralago Hotel & Suites (tel. 800/366-5437; www.seralagohotel.com), which sprawls around two giant pool areas about three miles east of Disney, has a cheerful personality despite its low tariff. The basic motel-style place is so big (614 rooms -- it was once the area's most important Holiday Inn) that staff gets around by electric cart. A $50 double rate is common, and its two-room "suites" (really, two conjoined rooms) have microwaves and fridges for $35 more. And its van-shuttles to the Disney parks are free.
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Quality Inn Plaza International Drive (tel. 800/999-8585; www.qualityinnorlando.com) has no fewer than 1,020 rooms, so it's usually ready to deal in order to fill them. While $50 is a typical price, it often rents them for $10 less, and rates drop the more nights you stay. And it operates like a tropical resort for scrimpers, with multiple pools, a lobby bar with nightly entertainment, and a free shuttle to Universal Orlando and SeaWorld. Rooms sleep four in two double beds, and there are lots of cheap chain restaurants out the front door. Downsides: the hotel abuts noisy Interstate 4, and its A Building is beside a tourist helicopter pad (so ask for the F Building).
Rodeway Inn at International Drive (tel. 800/999-6327; www.rodewayinnorlando.com), the largest Rodeway in America (315 rooms), is well-worn but clean, and at $40 in low season/$65 in high, it's all you could want in a budget motel. It's also close to Universal and Wet 'n Wild, within walking distance of cheap restaurants, and equipped with a heated pool and in-room fridges and microwaves. Across the street, a Ponderosa serves $4 all-you-can-eat breakfasts. And a cheap I-Ride Trolley ($1 a trip) stops out front and heads across town, including to SeaWorld.
Seralago Hotel & Suites (tel. 800/366-5437; www.seralagohotel.com), which sprawls around two giant pool areas about three miles east of Disney, has a cheerful personality despite its low tariff. The basic motel-style place is so big (614 rooms -- it was once the area's most important Holiday Inn) that staff gets around by electric cart. A $50 double rate is common, and its two-room "suites" (really, two conjoined rooms) have microwaves and fridges for $35 more. And its van-shuttles to the Disney parks are free.
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Labels: accommodations, orlando
Sep 5, 2007
Here's another of the many devices for cutting hotel costs in London
If you're planning a trip to London, you'll want to take advantage of two British websites I've already mentioned on this blog: LateRooms (www.laterooms.com) and lastminute.com (www.lastminute.com). Both websites find hotels that have gaping vacancies and are therefore willing to slash their prices for certain imminent dates.A typical recent gimmick of lastminute.com is a collection of "Top Secret Hotels" offering 75% discounts at four-star properties that can't be named until after you have made the booking ("In order for us to bring you these exclusive deals we are not allowed to tell you the name of the hotel, until you've completed your booking," the site reads). Since the hotel is guaranteed to be of four-star quality, this involves no great risk and results in a price of only £46 ($92) per double room at a hotel normally charging four times as much. Typical recent offer on Laterooms.com: a single room with bath at the exclusive Kensington Close Hotel & Health Spa, normally charging £158.63 ($317), for £69.33 ($140, a discount of nearly 60%).
Incidentally, both Laterooms.com and Lastminute.com also supply discount rates at Irish and Scottish hotels and in key capitals on the continent. Using them can go far toward making your next European vacation entirely affordable.
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Chewers of the world, awake! Inexpensive gooey bars can stave off travel hunger
In a recent post, I briefly wrote that some travelers spend $1.50 for Power Bars to toss into their carry-on luggage for when they're hungry -- like on a train or a long flight. To my surprise, that passing mention attracted a major response, as dozens of readers wrote in to describe a multitude of these portable comfort foods, from small jars of peanut butter to Zone Bars, Jaybars, Quaker Oats Granola Bars, Slim Fast Granola Bars, Banana Balance Bars, and Clif Bars purchased at Trader Joe's. One reader insisted that a bagel thrown into his carry-on is only slightly larger than a bar and serves the same purpose for only 65¢. Like the tobacco chewers in baseball, granola crunchers are apparently dominating the world of travel.
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Labels: diet
A program known as "AirTran U" permits young people aged 18 to 22 to fly for as little as $69 to $89 anywhere in the United States
In a few days, it's back to school (an out-of-town school) for many young people aged 18 to 22. And they should know that Air Tran permits them to stand-by for $69 to $89 per flight, depending on the length of the trip. The program is known as AirTran U (www.airtranu.com); it will be operated until December 15 of 2007; and all the young person need do is show up at the ticket counter with a carry-on bag two hours before a flight. If there's still a seat available by a half hour before departure, the seat is theirs for the cut rate. Naturally, there's some risk involved, since if a flight is full, they'll have to hope for space on the next one. For that reason, trying this on lower traffic days such as Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday is a good idea. And don't try "standing-by" twice in a row, as for a connecting flight, which involves just too much luck. Finally, keep in mind that there are black-out dates: November 21, 22 and 25-27.Write and read comments about this post.
Four more suggested answers to the most frequently asked travel questions
Ten questions account for the overwhelming percentage of all travel questions put to me in various forums and on my weekly radio program. I discussed three of them on Friday, and am turning to four more today, along with the responses I usually make to each.
4) Can I, a single person without a companion, travel pleasurably on group tours? If the tours you're considering are the standard if-it's-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belgium sort, then the chances are overwhelming that you'll be among couples, families, and other conventional types, and that you might feel alone. The answer is to book a specialty tour that focuses on a cause or special interest outside of yourself. In that intensely-focused activity, people mix and mingle without references to whether they are couples or singles -- and a great many other single persons are usually found. Go to www.specialtytravel.com, where you'll find hundreds of special interest tours departing each month.
5) Should an unaccompanied woman travel alone? This is a variant to question #4. The answer is flatly yes. The world has grown far more sophisticated and no longer looks askance at the unaccompanied woman or subjects them to discrimination. Indeed, a great many feminists will argue that it is preferable to travel alone, becoming more sensitive in that fashion to the local culture, having a greater chance to meet local residents.
6) Is it safe to visit (here, they name a destination)? No one other than yourself is able to answer that question. Terrorism and/or crime is now a statistically possible risk (though a small one) almost everywhere (like in Egypt, Morocco, Bali), and in the last analysis, only you can decide whether you're determined to live your life free from fear or whether you'll avoid every place where an incident might conceivably occur.
7) For a cruise I am about to take, should I buy shore excursions in advance? Absolutely not. Wait until the cruise is underway to determine whether or not you feel on a particular day like joining a busload of your fellow passengers, or whether you've met other people with whom to share a taxi, or whether you'd prefer to simply wander the port city free of charge.
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4) Can I, a single person without a companion, travel pleasurably on group tours? If the tours you're considering are the standard if-it's-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belgium sort, then the chances are overwhelming that you'll be among couples, families, and other conventional types, and that you might feel alone. The answer is to book a specialty tour that focuses on a cause or special interest outside of yourself. In that intensely-focused activity, people mix and mingle without references to whether they are couples or singles -- and a great many other single persons are usually found. Go to www.specialtytravel.com, where you'll find hundreds of special interest tours departing each month.
5) Should an unaccompanied woman travel alone? This is a variant to question #4. The answer is flatly yes. The world has grown far more sophisticated and no longer looks askance at the unaccompanied woman or subjects them to discrimination. Indeed, a great many feminists will argue that it is preferable to travel alone, becoming more sensitive in that fashion to the local culture, having a greater chance to meet local residents.
6) Is it safe to visit (here, they name a destination)? No one other than yourself is able to answer that question. Terrorism and/or crime is now a statistically possible risk (though a small one) almost everywhere (like in Egypt, Morocco, Bali), and in the last analysis, only you can decide whether you're determined to live your life free from fear or whether you'll avoid every place where an incident might conceivably occur.
7) For a cruise I am about to take, should I buy shore excursions in advance? Absolutely not. Wait until the cruise is underway to determine whether or not you feel on a particular day like joining a busload of your fellow passengers, or whether you've met other people with whom to share a taxi, or whether you'd prefer to simply wander the port city free of charge.
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Labels: tips
Sep 4, 2007
A breakthrough in travel to Israel, as tour companies return to an under-$1,000 per person price for air-and-land packages
At long last, one of the major tour operators to Israel has created an air-and-land package for travel there costing under a thousand dollars per person -- the kind of promotional pricing that used to prevail prior to a sharp drop-off (caused by concerns of personal safety) in travel to that nation. The tour operator is Gate1 Travel, and on five dates in November and December (and only then) it will be charging only $999 per person for round-trip air between New York and Tel Aviv and six nights of hotel accommodations split three nights in Tel Aviv and three nights in Jerusalem, including transportation between the two cities. Although sightseeing and airport transfers aren't included, the new price may be an indication that travel to Israel is normalizing; and certainly if this one, limited, under-$1,000 promotion proves to be popular, more will follow. Go to www.gate1travel.com or phone 800/682-3333.
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How generally do you pull off an RV-based air-and-camping trip to New Zealand? Here's how:
I wrote on Friday about the unique contribution of New Zealand to the world of camping, consisting of an ultra-small RV that costs only a couple of dollars more per day than a normal rental car. It's called a "Spaceship" and you can learn more about it at www.spaceships.tv.
But while these special new vehicles are great for couples, the best value for families and larger groups remains a package that comes with airfare and a much larger, multi-person RV. Companies such as Sunspots International (tel. 800/266-6115; www.sunspotsintl.com) sell packages for New Zealand's springtime starting at around $1,400 per person that include flights from Los Angeles and an RV for seven nights, though taxes are extra.
Camping in New Zealand is remarkably easy -- and rewarding. Campgrounds are strewn about the country, though they're generally not called campgrounds. They're instead known as "holiday parks" because they offer much more than a simple place to sleep, often with pools, hot tubs, private cabins, restaurants, and shops. A night's stay at a holiday park costs about $23, about one-third the price of a basic motel. You can scout out possible holiday parks and plan an itinerary through sources such as Top 10 Holiday Parks (www.topparks.co.nz), which actually works with closer to 50 campgrounds, and Holiday Accommodation Parks of New Zealand, (www.holidayparks.co.nz), which has nearly 300 members.
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But while these special new vehicles are great for couples, the best value for families and larger groups remains a package that comes with airfare and a much larger, multi-person RV. Companies such as Sunspots International (tel. 800/266-6115; www.sunspotsintl.com) sell packages for New Zealand's springtime starting at around $1,400 per person that include flights from Los Angeles and an RV for seven nights, though taxes are extra.
Camping in New Zealand is remarkably easy -- and rewarding. Campgrounds are strewn about the country, though they're generally not called campgrounds. They're instead known as "holiday parks" because they offer much more than a simple place to sleep, often with pools, hot tubs, private cabins, restaurants, and shops. A night's stay at a holiday park costs about $23, about one-third the price of a basic motel. You can scout out possible holiday parks and plan an itinerary through sources such as Top 10 Holiday Parks (www.topparks.co.nz), which actually works with closer to 50 campgrounds, and Holiday Accommodation Parks of New Zealand, (www.holidayparks.co.nz), which has nearly 300 members.
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Labels: car rental, new zealand
Antarctica on a budget? Well, sort of ...
The average cruise in the waters of Antarctica costs $4,500 to $6,000 per person, not including round-trip airfare to the Argentinian port from which the ship leaves. That makes an Antarctica cruise costing only $2,899 a big value.
But... The cruise selling at that price (on the 350-passenger ice-breaker MS Fram) is a rather cut-down version that lasts for only eight nights aboard ship, from the time it leaves its Argentinian port until it returns to port. Nevertheless, you do see penguins, icebergs and the land mass of Antarctica, and the entire trip is of twelve nights' duration, including three nights before and one night after the cruise at a first-class hotel in Santiago, Chile (from which you're flown to an Argentinian port city). And, of course, you receive all meals aboard ship, a complimentary expedition parka, air fare from Santiago to the embarkation point in Argentina, a sightseeing tour of Santiago, and buffet breakfast daily at your hotel.
Those elements cost $2,899 per person for the departure of November 19, and $2,999 per person for the departures of November 27 and December 5, plus $240 per person for taxes and fuel surcharges. Airfare from Miami is $799 more, $849 more from either Los Angeles or New York, $899 more from such cities as Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco or Washington, D.C.
The tour operator is Vantage World Travel of Boston (tel. 800/322-6677; www.vantagetravel.com), but the $2,799 is a special promotional offer (Promotional Code: EM1336) that isn't listed in Vantage's normal tour literature or on its website. As for Vantage itself, I have no experience of that company, but was intrigued by the unprecedented low cost of this normally quite expensive Antarctic voyage, and am bringing it to your attention for that reason only.
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But... The cruise selling at that price (on the 350-passenger ice-breaker MS Fram) is a rather cut-down version that lasts for only eight nights aboard ship, from the time it leaves its Argentinian port until it returns to port. Nevertheless, you do see penguins, icebergs and the land mass of Antarctica, and the entire trip is of twelve nights' duration, including three nights before and one night after the cruise at a first-class hotel in Santiago, Chile (from which you're flown to an Argentinian port city). And, of course, you receive all meals aboard ship, a complimentary expedition parka, air fare from Santiago to the embarkation point in Argentina, a sightseeing tour of Santiago, and buffet breakfast daily at your hotel.
Those elements cost $2,899 per person for the departure of November 19, and $2,999 per person for the departures of November 27 and December 5, plus $240 per person for taxes and fuel surcharges. Airfare from Miami is $799 more, $849 more from either Los Angeles or New York, $899 more from such cities as Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco or Washington, D.C.
The tour operator is Vantage World Travel of Boston (tel. 800/322-6677; www.vantagetravel.com), but the $2,799 is a special promotional offer (Promotional Code: EM1336) that isn't listed in Vantage's normal tour literature or on its website. As for Vantage itself, I have no experience of that company, but was intrigued by the unprecedented low cost of this normally quite expensive Antarctic voyage, and am bringing it to your attention for that reason only.
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Labels: antarctica, cruise
To Burgundy, Provence and the Dordogne, self-guided (non-group, non-escorted) bicycle tours cost $175 to $190 a day
First-time bicyclists are often astonished to learn of prices averaging $400 to $600 a day per person for a tour in which you personally (that is, your feet and legs) provide the means of locomotion. Despite that, the presence of two group leaders (who ride at the front and back of the line of cyclists), the use of a "sag wagon" driven by a paid employee (which carries everyone's luggage from town to town, and also carries participants who have grown too tired to cycle), and the tendency of many bicycle tour companies to make use of exquisite countryside lodgings and high-quality restaurants, drives the price to those levels.
A properly planned self-guided bicycle tour avoids those costs. You, as a cyclist, together with a friend or companion, ride your bikes from town to town following an itinerary that's been provided to you by the tour company. You have a confirmed reservation for a modest guest house each night, your luggage is sent by car from one town to the next, and you receive a stipulated number of meals in the price, which generally averages between $175 and $190 per person per day.
France -- especially its provinces of Burgundy, Dordogne and Provence -- is the classic nation for self-guided, independent bicycling, and is an area so well supplied with B&B accommodations that your total costs can easily be kept within the $175 to $190 a day limits. For all the arrangements, you go a long-experienced firm called Randonée Tours (tel. 800/242-1825 or 604/730-1247; www.randonneetours.com.
A Canadian company with a loyal following for their independent, non-group biking tours, Randonée gives you a predesigned itinerary through France which you follow entirely on your own, without guide or escort, but with your luggage carted for you by Randonée from town to town. Prices include accommodations at B&Bs, all breakfasts, some dinners, and high-quality bikes. Averaging about 8 to 11 days in length, tours run year around (but mainly between May and October).
Randonée also offers self-guided bike tours in Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the United States; but because they make use of good quality hotels in those countries, not B&Bs (for a reason I've never determined), their prices creep towards $300 and even $400 per day in non-French locations. For the lower rates, confine your trip to France's Burgundy, the Dordogne, or Provence, where Randonée's long relationship with outstanding B&Bs enable a price that no one else in the industry seems to match.
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A properly planned self-guided bicycle tour avoids those costs. You, as a cyclist, together with a friend or companion, ride your bikes from town to town following an itinerary that's been provided to you by the tour company. You have a confirmed reservation for a modest guest house each night, your luggage is sent by car from one town to the next, and you receive a stipulated number of meals in the price, which generally averages between $175 and $190 per person per day.
France -- especially its provinces of Burgundy, Dordogne and Provence -- is the classic nation for self-guided, independent bicycling, and is an area so well supplied with B&B accommodations that your total costs can easily be kept within the $175 to $190 a day limits. For all the arrangements, you go a long-experienced firm called Randonée Tours (tel. 800/242-1825 or 604/730-1247; www.randonneetours.com.
A Canadian company with a loyal following for their independent, non-group biking tours, Randonée gives you a predesigned itinerary through France which you follow entirely on your own, without guide or escort, but with your luggage carted for you by Randonée from town to town. Prices include accommodations at B&Bs, all breakfasts, some dinners, and high-quality bikes. Averaging about 8 to 11 days in length, tours run year around (but mainly between May and October).
Randonée also offers self-guided bike tours in Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the United States; but because they make use of good quality hotels in those countries, not B&Bs (for a reason I've never determined), their prices creep towards $300 and even $400 per day in non-French locations. For the lower rates, confine your trip to France's Burgundy, the Dordogne, or Provence, where Randonée's long relationship with outstanding B&Bs enable a price that no one else in the industry seems to match.
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Labels: active, cycling, europe
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
