THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409100057
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
FALL DOESN'T mean just falling leaves. It's also a time for falling prices on vacation deals and air fares. Here are some good deals (a local travel agent can help you with most arrangements):
Colonial Williamsburg is offering a 56-page discount-loaded brochure on its ``Value Season'' packages. Info: (800) 368-6511.
Fall Fantasy at Walt Disney World Resort is a three-night package starting at $149 per person and includes hotel, breakfast, coupon book; theme park admission is extra. Through Nov. 20. Call a travel agent or (407) 827-7200. Radisson Inn Maingate has a $49-per-night rate for a family of up to four, through Dec. 20. Call (800) 333-3333 and ask for the Maingate Great Fall Rate. Free Vacation Guide with coupons: (800) 526-KISS.
Order a la carte. New Frontiers' a la carte hotels in France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, England, Italy, Spain and Portugal have rates starting at $27 per person, per night. Call for Europe Brochure, (800) 366-6387.
Going abroad? Finnway's ``fall special'' packages cut the rates of all tour prices by $100 for September and October departures to Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltic states, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Prices begin at $857 for a six-night trip including round-trip Finnair flights from New York, a choice of hotels, transfers, some meals, service charges and taxes. Info: (800) 526-4927.
``Treasures of London'' offers a week of European treasures, including more than 12 museums and five palaces, all at prices ranging from $619 to $979 a person, including air fare, accommodations, transfers and breakfasts. The price depends on choice of accommodations and time of departure. The deal is good from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 from 18 British Airways gateways in the United States, including Boston. Info: (800) FLY VP BA.
Weekend in Iceland. Icelandair's package includes round-trip air, airport transfers and two nights' hotel with breakfast for $299 per person. Limited departures in November, January, February and March. Info: (800) 223-5500.
Good deals under cover: If your definition of a bargain isn't just low cost but no cost, you might want to seek out a newly revised travel book series called ``For Free.'' The six guides - to Europe, London, Paris, Hawaii, the Southwest and Washington, D.C. - include seemingly every possible way to enjoy these popular destinations gratis.
Only the guide to pricey Paris expands on the series' promise of ``hundreds of free things to do'' by including some activities that are merely ``extremely cheap.'' Otherwise, everything listed in the books costs ``zero, zilch, zip, nada, nothing.''
The ``For Free'' guides aren't. They're $8.95 each, except for the Paris volume, which costs $9.95. FROM HERE TO THERE
Old Dominion University is sponsoring a Discovery Tour of Hawaii, Dec. 11-19, that includes a guided tour of the Big Island of Hawaii and Oahu plus tickets to the University of Hawaii-Nike basketball tournament in which the ODU Monarchs are playing. Price: $1,795 per person, double occupancy, includes airfare, tours, ground transportation and game tickets. Info: 683-5100. CHRISTMAS IN DENMARK
For the first time, Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen's renowned amusement park in the heart of the Danish capital, will be opened from Nov. 18 to Dec. 31 this year, offering a holiday theme with productions of ``Great Expectations'' and a Christmas fair and market. Info: (800) 346-4636. SAS is offering a Weekend Money Saver package to Copenhagen ($395 to $485) for round-trip air from Newark, three days and two nights in a hotel, breakfasts and the Copenhagen Card (entree to more than 60 museums and attractions and public transportation). Departs Thursdays, returns Mondays, Nov. 3 to Dec. 8 and Jan. 12 to March 30. Info: your travel agent or (800) 221-2350. SHOO, FLY
September has plenty of harvest festivals, but not many like one in West Virginia that's inspired by the, er, ``bumper crop'' found along the shoulder of the two-lane hardtop. The annual Roadkill Cookoff in Marlinton, W.Va., will be held Sept. 24 this year and, as usual, the only rule is that the main ingredient be an animal commonly found dead on the side of the road.
Last year's entries included ``Radial Rabbit,'' ``Rabbit in Pickled Onion Sauce,'' ``Jane Doe's Tire-tenderized Stir Fry,'' and ``Failed-to-yield Venison.'' The city of 1,300 in the southeast part of the state (west of Lexington and Warm Springs, Va.) has held the cookoff for several years as part of a larger autumn harvest festival. Info: Pocahontas County Parks & Recreation Department (304) 799-7386. SKI NOW
Look south: It's value season in Argentina and Chile. Info: Any Mountain Tours (800) 296-2000 or Ski Vacation Planners (800) U-CAN-SKI. For Chile info, call the privately owned Ladeco Chilean Airlines (800) 825-2332, or LAN Chile (800) 735-5526. Both airlines serve Santiago from New York. It's a long overnight haul, but one consolation is that the two cities are in the same time zone, which helps to reduce the jet-lag factor appreciably. Aerolineas Argentinas now provides daily service New York-Buenos Aires: four nonstop Airbus flights and three 747 flights via Miami. Info: (800) 333-0276.
Room and snowboard? Snow Country, a ski magazine that touts the top ski resorts around the country and Canada, asked 20 pro snowboarders to pick their favorite spots. The results: Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Squaw Valley, Calif.; Mount Baker, Wash.; Brighton, Utah; and Stratton, Vt. MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The American Bus Association's Top 100 Events calendar for 1995 includes the 23rd annual Hang-Gliding Spectacular May 12-14 at Nags Head on the North Carolina Outer Banks, the Virginia Highlands Festival July 29-Aug. 13 at Abingdon in southwest Virginia, and the 52nd annual Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit Oct. 6-8 at Waterford in Northern Virginia. You can still make it to this year's event at Waterford, Oct. 7-9; info: (800) 752-6118. For a complete listing of Top 100 Events across the nation write the association at 1100 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20005-3934. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases, trade
journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the writer's
mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The
Virginian-Pilot/The Ledger-Star, P.O. Box 449, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449. by CNB