A bargain that can make all the difference on your next trip to Britain is the Travelodge chain (www.travelodge.co.uk) of 300 brand-new properties scattered about London and through the rest of the British Isles (including Ireland and Northern Ireland), and charging an average of £60 a night per room (with July/August sales cutting that price in half). £60 feels like $60 to the British, though the current poor exchange rate converts the amount to about $120 for the American visitor. Still, it's an awesomely low price to pay in England for a new room with private bath. Some fifty new Travelodge hotels per year are currently being built, and the recent acquisition of the chain by a rich Dubai investment firm will probably speed up and increase the number of new builds.

I neglected to mention in my recent discussion of Travelodge that the chain is also found in Spain, particularly around Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, where a typical high-season room price is €55 to €59, or about $86.35 to $92.63, an even better price for lodgings in these popular cities. Currently, you go to the same website as for the British properties, but simply insert the name of the Spanish city in which you're interested.

Because this is a highly efficient organization that can confirm bookings through the web, you'd be well advised to seek advance reservations at Travelodge on your next trip to Britain, Ireland or Spain. And though the chain hasn't yet gained too much of a presence elsewhere on the continent, there is the start of a Europe-wide expansion that is currently reflected in five or six Travelodges in the port cities along the English Channel in France. Travelodge is a big budget development, growing more significant with every month, and the name is one to which cost-conscious travelers will pay more and more attention in the years ahead.

(Britain's Travelodge has no connection or association with America's Travelodge chain).

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Labels: accommodations, england, great britain, spain

On the morning of Wednesday, July 9 -- and only on that date -- a train of the Orient Express company will leave London St. Pancras Station on a 2½ hour trip to Leeds, a mid-sized British city about 170 miles to the northwest of London. Passengers will be served brunch en route. Once in Leeds, they will see an outdoor performance of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, and will then get dinner in the train on the return trip to London.

For this they will pay a starting price of £345 ($725) per person. Since the British pound now costs at least $2.10 after five-percent commissions to money-changers are factored in, £345 equals $725.

Now assume that you are the editor of a Sunday newspaper travel section in the United States. Would you run an article on this one-time, one-date travel opportunity? Why would you? How many of your readers would give a second's attention to a July 9 trip to Leeds for $725 per person? Would even one such reader be a potential buyer of an afternoon in Leeds, and dinner on a train, for $725? Would any of your readers consider flying to England for such a dubious reward? Even for readers already in London, how many would consider paying $725 per person for afternoon at the theater -- in Leeds? One person? Two? Or none?

Yet this, dear readers, was the announcement made on page two of the May 11, 2008 edition of the New York Times Sunday travel section. It occupies the number one position in the weekly review of travel developments that appears at the very opening of that newspaper's travel discussion. I have not altered a single fact in a notice headlined "Shakespeare in England, in Luxury," and you can also read the actual notice in the online edition the Times.

What sort of foolish day-dreamer would consider this one-time travel opportunity, to Leeds, no less, as worthy of appearing in a serious U.S. newspaper? How much relevance does such a notice have to the travel plans of the newspaper's readers? Again: to how many persons would such a notice be of interest? One person? Two?

The New York Times travel section has now plumbed such depths of absurdity that I, for one, have concluded that this senselessness can't be accidental. The decision to sprinkle the pages of a travel section with references to sky-high travel offerings can only have come about from a directive from on high to do so. It must be part of an effort to attract advertising from the producers of luxury goods, unaffordable to most of us, from swank companies that want their ads to appear in a congenial environment. In writing as they do, I am now convinced that the travel writers and junior travel editors of the New York Times are attempting to execute a policy consciously set down by the Times.

Only people obeying orders could have run an article about a one-time opportunity, on July 9, to take a train back and forth to Leeds, there to see a show, for $725 per person. Either I am right, or travel journalism has gone haywire.

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Labels: england, new york times

It's a totally unexpected one-week interlude for Oxford addicts. Probably because there's a short, early-April recess at England's famous university, opening up student residences for occupancy by foreign tourists, the authorities there have announced a week-long program called "Insider's Oxford" for the period from March 30 to April 5, 2008. (Attendees will undoubtedly be fierce Anglophiles or readers/viewers of Brideshead Revisited or Inspector Morse.) The instruction will be all about Oxford and its famous colleges.

Mornings, participants will hear lectures by Oxford teaching staff on the history of Oxford; Oxford writers; art, music and religion at Oxford; and Oxford's unique teaching system and future development. Afternoons will be devoted to tours of colleges and gardens; the Bodleian Library; the Oxford University Press; and "hidden beauties" of the university -- all places that are usually out-of-bounds to tourists.

The price: £980, or approximately $1,946, including six nights of accommodations in Worcester College (in a single with private bath), three meals daily (with a closing reception and dinner), 10 lectures, and 5 afternoon tours of Oxford. The Oxford Bus Company has frequent service from London's Heathrow Airport to and from Oxford.

Registration deadline: February 15, 2008. And complete information on "Insider's Oxford" can be downloaded from the website. Or else it can be obtained from Insider's Oxford, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Sauare, Oxford, OX1 2JA, U.K. The e-mail address is oxprog@conted.ox.ac.uk, and the telephone number is tel. 011-44-1865-280763.

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Labels: education, england

Because of a ditsy rumor that the British Pound has "crashed" against the U.S. dollar, it's appropriate to update our earlier posts about the plight of the U.S. dollar. Nothing really has changed, and the Dollar is still at its weakest level in years.

It's true that the Dollar has strengthened in recent weeks against the Pound, but not to the extent that would matter on your own trip. Because financial experts feel that British banks are about to suffer the same write-downs that U.S. banks were forced to make as a result of their investments in securities backed by sub-prime mortgages, the British Pound has recently fallen to a level of One Pound = $1.99, from an earlier level of One Pound=$2.07. But by the time you pay commissions and fees to the money changers when you actually exchange your dollars into pounds, you will still end up paying about $2.10 for a Pound. And that's a disastrous exchange. When you see a price in Britain, you must still multiply by two to get the approximate U.S. dollar equivalent.

As for all other European currencies, the Dollar remains unchanged from its dismal, dreary levels of late. The best website for the actual figures is www.xe.com. There you'll discover that a Euro costs $1.47. Meaning, that when you add the commissions and fees you incur in changing your money at a "Change" kiosk or bank, you are paying considerably more than $1.50 for one Euro. And thus you need add 50% to every Euro price to obtain the dollar equivalent. A twin-bedded room in a European guesthouse priced at 130 Euros is costing you about $200.

So there it is. When there is better news to report, I'll rush to do so.

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Labels: england, money

Although I have earlier mentioned (briefly, in passing) the possibility of an early-booking discount on the Oxford Experience, the "experience" itself is so outstanding that the discount should be emphasized and discussed again at greater length.

To repeat an earlier blog post: there are two Oxford-operated summer schools: the fearsome Oxford University Summer School (advance reading, and a paper prepared for critical analysis by your "Don") and the just-for-fun Oxford Experience (you simply sit in lecture halls and listen, without having to participate or work). Both cost about $1,960 per person per week (classes are taught for a single week at a time) for all tuition, accommodations, three meals daily, and much else). This is perhaps the supreme learning experience of travel.

Last summer, I received a press release on another subject from Barbara Gillam, a longtime press agent in the world of travel, and needed to ask her a few questions. I called her office, left my number, and shortly afterwards received a call that she had placed from Oxford. She was herself attending the Oxford Experience.

Well, when a press agent herself experiences the subject about which she is writing press releases, the job is likely to be exceptionally well done. I can't improve on Barbara's recent follow-up press release about the discount on the Oxford Experience and set it forth here, verbatim:

The one-week summer course at England's oldest university -- called The Oxford Experience -- is offering an early booking discount of $100 (£50) per week on weeks 1 to 4 and $200 (£100) on week 5. This priority booking scheme enables prospective students to save money while making their course selection and reserving accommodation for the program, which runs from June 29 to August 2, 2008.

The Oxford Experience is a residential program that offers a choice of about a dozen courses each week over a period of five weeks. It is open to anyone who would enjoy "auditing" such courses as A History of the English Language, An Introduction to Opera, Enjoying the Cotswolds, The Roman Imperial Army, Romantic Jane Austen, Creative Writing, The Play's the Thing, Castles in Britain and The Garden in Art. There are no tests, no papers, just a lot of lively discussion. Classes, with a maximum of 12 students, are made up of Anglophiles from all over the world, with the youngest students in their thirties, the oldest in their nineties.

The program takes place at Christ Church -- the most prestigious and beautiful of all Oxford colleges -- which was founded by Cardinal Wolsey almost five centuries ago. This means students stay in buildings that date from the 18th to the 20th centuries (though rooms with private bath are available) and dine in the magnificent Hall made famous by the Harry Potter films. Three meals daily are included in the cost of the program. Once a week each student is invited to dine at the High Table and, on the final night, everyone gets dressed up for champagne in the Cathedral Garden and a celebratory farewell dinner in the Hall.

During the week there are tours of Christ Church, the city of Oxford and other colleges, as well as excursions to castles, stately homes, Roman villas, cities, towns, villages and museums. In the evening there might be a pub crawl, a special lecture, croquet and wine in the Masters Garden and Evensong in the college chapel, which is also the Oxford Cathedral. At other times participants can enjoy Oxford's concerts and theater, the college picture gallery, riverside walks in Christ Church Meadow and boating on the Isis (as the Thames is called in Oxford).

The price of a one-week course -- including tuition, accommodations and all meals (except those on excursions) is £980, or approximately $1,960. There are additional charges for excursions and rooms with private bath. Participants who stay over Saturday night between courses also pay a supplement. The registration deadline is April 1, 2008, but early application is recommended and even encouraged with the early-bird discount.

A brochure with complete information about all aspects of the program and an application form is available online or from The Oxford Experience, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA, U.K.

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Labels: education, england

One British pound now costs more than two American dollars, so for Yanks on vacation in the U.K., even hotels that were once passably affordable are now excruciatingly expensive. Even family-run bed and breakfasts, which were once the most reliable low-cost standby for cheap travel to Great Britain, can cost upwards of $175 a night under the current exchange.

The solution? One of them is to base yourself, in Britain, at a Travelodge (which has no connection with our own Travelodge chain) -- they are now the cheapest standard accommodation in the U.K. The company's policy is to keep its room prices low as long as its properties aren't full. So if you book online far in advance, or if you make reservations at one of its business-oriented properties on a quiet weekend, you can find some of the lowest prices in town.

With a healthy advance purchase, room rates at Travelodge properties across the country cost as little as £26 a night. (Typical last-minute rates shoot up to around £80 in London, which is a market rate.) A friend was recently in a bind for Sunday night accommodation in London, and by turning to a Travelodge that is quiet on the weekends, he was able to secure a perfectly comfortable business-class motel-style room in the center of the City, by Liverpool Street train station, for just £50 ($100) a night. Meanwhile, rival hotels in the same district were charging three times that.

If you're planning a U.K. vacation anytime next year, book now at a Travelodge while the pickings are lush and the advance-purchase deals are available, and you're likely to pay prices as low as £26 -- or $52--a night. What you'll miss in style and coziness, you'll gain in savings. Just go to www.travelodge.co.uk.

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Labels: accommodations, england

I've written before about spending a summer week at Oxford, in the adult version of a child's "let's pretend." As an adult summer student, using every facility of this hallowed British institution other than a black gown (you aren't allowed to wear one), you enjoy the fantasy of Brideshead Revisited, in the settings you've seen described in scores of famous novels, in this city (Oxford) of "dreaming spires" and in a fifteenth century Gothic hall where you take meals in a Harry Potter-like dining hall.

There are numerous programs for attending Oxford in summer, and some of them are quite rigorous, requiring advance reading and the preparation of a weekly paper that you read to your "don," a teaching master. The contrast to those intensive bouts of study is a program called "The Oxford Experience," which is all pleasure. You attend exhilarating lectures, but aren't required to take a single test or prepare a single essay. As you'd expect, applications are heavy for "The Oxford Experience," and courses are often booked out by Christmas, long before the formal April deadline for submitting applications.

The Oxford Experience for 2008 has just been scheduled and announced, and I can't think of a better way to describe it than by quoting verbatim from its press release:

The Oxford Experience means studying, living and dining at Christ Church, one of the most prestigious and beautiful of Oxford colleges, which was founded by Cardinal Wolsey almost five centuries ago. The residential program, which takes place from June 29 to August 2, 2008, offers one-week courses designed for those who would enjoy such varied subjects as A History of the English Language, Jane Austen, Enjoying the Cotswolds, William the Conqueror, The Oxford Movement, An Introduction to Philosophy, Monasteries and Cathedrals, The Making of England and Romantic Poetry. A choice of some 50 subjects is offered during the five week program.

Participants in The Oxford Experience stay in student accommodations -- though rooms with private bath are available -- and dine in the magnificent Hall, lined with portraits of famous figures of British history. Three meals daily are included in the cost of the program: a full English breakfast, a buffet lunch and a served three-course dinner. Once a week each student is invited to dine at the High Table and, on the final night, everyone gathers for champagne in the Cathedral Garden and a celebratory farewell dinner in the Hall.

Throughout the week there are optional daytime excursions to stately homes such as Blenheim Palace and Kelmscott Manor, tours of Christ Church, Oxford and the Bodleian Library. Evening events include pub walks, whisky tastings, Morris Dancers, croquet and wine in the Masters Garden, special lectures and Evensong in the college chapel, which is also the Oxford Cathedral.

The price of a one-week course -- including tuition, accommodations and all meals (except those on excursions) is £980, or approximately $1,960. There are additional charges for excursions and rooms with private bath. The registration deadline is April 1, 2008, but early application is recommended and even encouraged: Those who register by December 1, 2007 receive an early booking discount of £50 per week for weeks 1 to 4 and £100 per week for week 5.

A complete descriptive brochure is available online at www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/international/oxfordexperience.asp.

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Labels: education, england, student travel

It's still too early to discuss all the rock-bottom trans-Atlantic fares that nearly every big airline will be offering as of early October. But already, the Scottish airline FlyGlobeSpan (tel. 718-473-0699 in New York, 617-379-0888 in Boston, 407-965-5499 in Orlando; www.flyglobespan.com) has announced spectacular off-season rates to an ever-growing list of Irish and British cities. Starting late September, FlyGlobeSpan's roundtrip flights from Boston to Glasgow, Scotland, will start at $318, or you can fly round-trip from Boston to Ireland West Airport Knock, gateway to the glories of Western Ireland, from $303. Round-trip fares from New York's JFK to Liverpool, England begin (at that time) at $348, to Ireland at $361. Taxes on most of these routes run just $149.

These are opening salvos in what undoubtedly will be a violent trans-Atlantic fare war this coming autumn and winter. As other airlines announce their bargain rates, FlyGlobeSpan and other carriers (like the new, Canadian-owned Zoom Airways flying for $199 each way from JFK New York to Gatwick, London) will undoubtedly respond with even lower rates. If you can postpone your trip to the autumn months, you'll save a great deal.

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Labels: airlines, england, scotland

A "luxury B&B" may sound like an oxymoron, but that's exactly what's offered by a British company called Wolsey Lodges that puts you up in assorted mansions, small palaces, and amazingly lavish carriage houses. And there you'll meet a remarkable range of English and Scottish "home owners:" a retired don of Oxford University; a real estate broker who once served with the Tenth Hussars Regiment of the British Army; the business manager for a renowned duchess; an intensely contemporary theatrical agent spending weekdays in London's West End, but weekends at his Dorset home.

Most of these people are land rich but cash poor, which is why they take paying guests into their homes. Whatever the reason, they regard their own
company and conversation as part of the quid pro quo for your payment, and nearly all of them also offer you the extra-charge option of taking dinner in their homes.

You'll find all the information at www.wolseylodges.com, which runs long lists with photos and descriptions of the stately homes in which lodging is available through their auspices and in every major area of the British Isles. As you scan them, you'll occasionally find a particularly grand mansion whose charges are higher than £40 ($80) per person per night, but the great majority are exactly that much and occasionally a little less, always including a colossal, traditional English breakfast. You can make your bookings by phoning Wolsey Lodges at tel. 011-44-1473-822058 or by phoning the individual stately homes at the numbers listed for each one.

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Labels: accommodations, england

Because all the most interesting courses are now sold out, it's really too late to apply for what may be the finest learning vacation in all of travel, a program known as the Oxford Experience, a week spent on the campus of Britain's famous university an hour and a half from London. But make a note to send in your request almost immediately after the beginning of next year for the 2008 summer session, which always sells out by the end of March (it covers any of the five weeks from July 1 through the first week of August in 2008). Here's an adventure of the mind for adults from all over the world, who attend Oxford without tests, examinations or grades, living in the ancient Christ Church College and taking meals in a 15th century Gothic dining hall, while they pursue courses like "The Public and Private Lives of British Prime Ministers," or the "Tyranny of Henry VIII, to name just two. The total cost averages 980 british pounds, around $1900, for tuition, a single room, and all meals. If you're at all interested, go to Google on January 1, 2008, and type in the words "The Oxford Experience."

(I should also point out that Oxford operates a separate program called the Oxford University Summer School for Adults, primarily intended for British residents but also open to Americans. This one is a great deal more serious than the Oxford Experience; it requires preparatory readings, a 1,500 word essay before classes begin, and a 1,000 word essay at the end of the week, in addition to dealing with far more serious subjects of philosophy and history. The cost is £ 850, about $1,700 for a fully-inclusive week.)

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Labels: education, england

The New York Review of Books, which appears 20 times a year, is one of the most erudite publications in America, devoting itself to the most serious questions of literature and politics. But it is also a superb source of short-term apartment rentals in London, Paris, Rome, Provence, Tuscany, the Hamptons and the Berkshires. Its classified ads are full of listings of vacation properties offered by various academics for short-term rentals, and since its readership are mainly professors without much money, the properties it offers are quite sensibly-priced and furnished with large supplies of books, comfortable reading chairs, and lamps. Next time you're in the market for a vacation apartment or villa, go to a newsstand and pick up the New York Review of Books.

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Labels: accommodations, berkshires, england, france, hamptons, italy

I'm not sure that the full impact of recent exchange rates -- $2 for a British pound, $1.35 for a single Euro -- has yet sunk into the psyche of Americans planning a European trip. Or that they've considered the radical new tactics that a cost-conscious trip there will require.

Because the average guesthouse room -- I'm talking a modest guesthouse and a double room -- is currently renting for £100 in London and for at least 100 € on the continent, the cost for lodgings is therefore $200 a night per couple in London and nearly $150 in Europe. Multiply those costs by 14 nights, and for a pair of Americans traveling together, the average two-week trip can start off with a $3,000 tab for lodgings alone.

So what's to be done? It's clear to me that the cost-conscious American must, from now on, seek out not hotel accommodations, not even guesthouse accommodations, but so-called "private homestays" -- a low-cost, $40-per-person room in a residence whose owners are simply supplementing their income by renting out an occasional room. If you'll go to www.happy-homes.com or www.athomeinlondon.co.uk, you'll find such $40 per person accommodations in London. You'll find the same for Paris at www.goodmorningparis.fr or www.bed-and-breakfast-in-paris.com; and in Rome at www.b-b.rm.it.

For years, many of our Frommer's travel guides to Europe have laid a heavy stress on alternative, non-hotel accommodations, and my daughter's recent series (Pauline Frommer's London, Pauline Frommer's Paris and Pauline Frommer's Italy) is especially full of internet services for private homestays, university accommodations, hostels, and guest-accepting convents and monasteries. And you can bet that I'll be returning to the private homestay in future issues of this daily blog.

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Labels: accommodations, budget, england, france, guesthouse, italy, london, paris