Central London Traffic May Slow This Summer

Visitors driving or taking buses or taxis in London this summer would do well to avoid the central part of the city on weekends. The Hyde Park underpass, a major thoroughfare (which leads under Hyde Park Corner from Knightsbridge into Piccadilly, the street that leads to Piccadilly Circus), will be closed in both directions for maintenance work from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a variety of weekends throughout the summer. This is likely to produce congestion and slow-moving traffic around Knightsbridge, Piccadilly and Hyde Park Corner near Buckingham Palace, according to the British Tourist Authority.

Travel Quiz: What American city is home to the largest collection of roller coasters in the world?

Pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia: The Department of State is advising U.S. citizens traveling to Saudi Arabia during the hajj period--the traditional time for Muslims to make pilgrimages to Mecca--that Saudi immigration authorities are requiring travelers to show proof of meningitis vaccination, now through June 20. These steps have been taken to prevent an outbreak of meningitis, which has occurred in the past and is considered a particular danger during this religious holiday, when thousands of the faithful arrive from around the world. Travelers unable to present such proof will be vaccinated and/or held in quarantine at port-of-entry airports. Saudi immigration authorities recognize and accept the standard vaccination record of the World Health Organization as proof of inoculation.

Training Guides: Beginning this week and continuing through most of the summer, some Amtrak trains will feature on-board guides who will lecture on such things as American mythology, geology and Indian culture while rolling through some areas of the United States. In the West, train passengers will find guides on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Portland (between Klamath Falls and Eugene, Ore., July 1-Sept 7); on the California Zephyr from San Francisco to Chicago (between Sacramento and Sparks, Nev., now through Sept. 7), and on the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago (between Gallup and Albuquerque, N.M., year-round). Double-check availability of guides before booking.

Wheels of Fortune: Planning a vacation by car? The Automobile Club of Southern California recommends that a family of four should figure on spending $216 per day for meals, lodging and driving costs--$90 for meals, not including tips and cocktails; $78 for commercial lodging and $48 for gasoline, oil, tires and routine maintenance, based on driving 300 miles a day at an average of 23 miles per gallon. Californians can expect to pay an average of $1.16 per gallon for unleaded self-serve gasoline, compared to an average of $1.09 last year.

Quick Fact: Locations of the three highest-volume duty-free outlets in the world: Honolulu, London’s Heathrow Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport. (Source: British magazine “Duty Free News International.”)

Short, Outdoors, Often: As a nation this summer, we will take vacations of three nights or less, we will embrace the great outdoors and, possibly, camp, and we will travel more frequently, according to the U.S. Travel Data Center, a national nonprofit association that tracks travel trends. A just-released survey found that more than 50% of us said we will be taking shorter vacations and that three of our five top destinations will be Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Vacation travel is likely to rise this summer, showing a rebound in all forms of travel to 1990 levels, following two years of decline caused by war and recession. The center cites returning consumer confidence, no recent steep increases in gasoline prices, fierce competition in the hotel industry, lower air fares and pent-up demand from last year. It also predicts that recreational travel will be up by at least 4%, and that the Southeast will host 29% of those traveling by road; the Midwest, 29%; the West, 19%; Northeast, 13%, and the Great Lakes, 10%.

The People’s Honeymoon: North Korea is hoping to boost its $100-million tourism industry by luring honeymooners to one of the world’s last Communist dictatorships--the “people’s paradise” of President Kim Il Sung. The lure? For as little as $945 per newlywed, plus air fare, a special eight-day honeymoon tour features a visit to Mt. Myohyang (Fantastic Fragrance), a romantic supper on a flower-festooned boat, a tour of an irrigation dam and a circus performance featuring boxing bears. The Koreans aren’t marketing the tours to Americans, however, but to newlyweds from China, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and Taiwan (in fact, the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, so U.S. residents must apply through a third country’s North Korean Embassy for a visa). North Korea’s limited air connections--with Beijing, Russia, Berlin and occasionally by charter with Japan--make getting there half the adventure.

Comparatively Speaking: Cost for a day of business travel, including hotel room, three meals and a rental car, in New York City: $320.56. In Washington, D.C.: $237.82. In Boston: $237.73. In Chicago: $236.78. In Philadelphia: $207.76. In Dallas: $202.44. In Savannah, Ga.: $131.88. (Source: Corporate Travel Magazine.)

Fair Warning: A gathering of historic and modern locomotives and cars, some from as far away as the East Coast, will be on display at the California Railroad Festival, June 12-14 at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. Tours of private railroad cars, displays of antique toy trains and miniature live steam locomotives, and an open cab of one of the giant steam locomotives will be part of the festival held in the museum, as well as on the museum grounds, Second and I streets in Old Sacramento. Admission is $5 for adults and senior citizens, $2 for children 6-12; kids under 6 are free. For more information, call (916) 445-7387.

Quiz Answer: Sandusky, Ohio, where 10 roller coasters operate at Cedar Point amusement park.