Springing Forward for Bargains

Recently I listed some of the travel values that go into effect just after New Year’s Day for the full month of January. Here are four more that apply not only to January, but through February and March as well.

Belize for a week: Having escaped the ravages of Hurricane Mitch that so devastated nearby Honduras, the little nation of Belize must nevertheless fight the enduring images of that tragedy, so many of its resorts have lowered their winter rates. From early January through March, Capricorn Leisure Corp., telephone (800) 426-6544 or (516) 944-8383, will fly you round trip to enjoy five nights at the pleasant waterfront Spindrift Hotel in Ambergris Cay (a narrow island off the mainland of Belize) for $744 per person from Los Angeles or San Francisco.

A week in Istanbul: Jan. 3 through March 31 is also the period when you can enjoy the colorful sights of one of Turkey’s celebrated cities for less than you’d pay to the much-closer-in Caribbean. The source of the trip is the highly regarded Megatrails of New York, tel. (800) 547-1211, and its price is $935 per person from Los Angeles for weekday departures, including round-trip air fare and six nights with buffet breakfast daily at the Hotel Antea in the old city. The Blue Mosque, Topkapi, the Grand Bazaar, the Dardanelles all await. For weekend departures add $25.

A week in San Juan: From Jan. 3 to March 31--the height of the Caribbean season--Tropical Bargains of New York, tel. (718) 837-1657, will put you up for seven nights at the modest but pleasant Tanama Hotel, two blocks from Condado Beach in Puerto Rico’s capital, and fly you round trip from Los Angeles for $998 per person.

Five nights in deluxe Paris: Though other outfits offer similarly priced programs, with Air France Holidays’ five-nighter, you stay in the upscale Le Meridien Montparnasse or Le Meridien Etoile (and with daily continental breakfast). The dates: Jan. 3 to March 25. Call the airline-owned tour operator at (800) 2-FRANCE and pay $885, which includes round-trip fare from Los Angeles or San Francisco.