Abroad

Can Travel

pe Cheaply

tnpiled by a young Staff member, done it.) you are young, and hardy, and to travel on the cheap in Europe arc a number of methods you use. e method is to join the Inter nal Youth Hostels Association you get to London. This enables 0 make use of cheap accommo -1 in hostels throughout the r a very low joining fee, you will hat you can then stay overnight stels for as little as 3/6 a night, num of three nights stay, if you mind sleeping in a dormitory, three-night rule is often relaxed f season, or by arrangement with r H “father”.) word of warning though—in nd, hostels are open only to le walkers and cyclists. You’ll le old heave-ho if you roll up motor scooter or in a car. Other •can countries admit you if you by any means of locomotion •rovide parking space for your e. The English are strict about ile and won’t change their rules t anyone. Consequently, you see 5 parking cars in back streets, len, attired as walkers, strolling English hostels, standards of accommodation considerably, depending on European country you are visit n the whole, French hostels are par, although some Auberge Jeunnesse, in the main tourist 5 are comfortable and even s provides one celebrated where both sexes share the dormitory and tap. While this morning ablutions rather jolly, nsibilities of non-Latins some receive a jolt. :h and German hostels have station for being among the /hile there are some very good n Scandinavia, particularly in irk. wegian hostels tend to be primi it clean, while Swedish hostels ten in schools closed for the wedish summer holidays. (The '■ahem in Sweden are not really but government subsidised hostels, used by all.)

Italian hostels are a mixture. Some, such as the one in Florence, being very good while others are not.

Spanish hostels are for men only, and are few and far between. In Spain it is better to patronise pensions which are very reasonable.

Apart from pensions, there are plenty of cheap hotels in Europe.

Some of these have “atmosphere”, particularly on the left bank in Paris.

For £1 a night, shared between two, you can get a fine view of Notre Dame Cathedral, from the Sphinx Hotel near the Boulevard San Michel, Just down the street is the Kangaroo Bar, run by two Algerians. This whole area is due for demolition soon—hence the low prices.

Can You Get It Duty Free?

Few people travel abroad and re turn without some souvenirs of the hunt, and a large part of the con versation on homeward bound vessels and aircraft revolves on “what can be got through Customs”.

While most people are modest in their overseas purchases, some apparently travel abroad for no other

purpose than to acquire goods “cheaper than you can get back home”. Their stratagems for coping with Customs are numerous and varied but rarely so original that gen erations of Customs officers have not been on to them.

But while we leave the big buyers sweating it out, what are travellers* duty-free privileges?

They vary from country to country and range from nil to a considerable sum. Italy and Japan (and some other countries) have no automatic exemp tion—that’s up to the Customs officer.

UK and French residents are allowed less than £5 worth of duty free foreign goods; Germans, Dutch and Belgians about £5 worth; Swiss about £9; Swedes and Danes about £25; Canadians may take in £122 worth of foreign goods annually and South Africans about £56.

Americans, of course, top the poll with an allowance of $5OO, or about £2OO in Australian money. Recently President Kennedy’s administration has threatened to cut this to $lOO and there is a howl about it, especially from US travel agents.

How do Australians fare at the hands of their Customs officers? The official last word on the subject is: Goods to the value of £A3O, duty free; plus another £ABO worth at a maximum of 25 per cent. However, if the total of goods brought in is over £AIIO in value, the whole is dutiable (no £3O exemption) as it is held that goods are then being im ported in “commercial quantities”.

New Ways to Go Now that P & O-Orient has the two big new liners Oriana and Canberra on the Australia-UK service, their older vessels are being employed on unusual variations of the same theme.

Iberia (29,600 tons), Oronsay (29,000 tons) and Himalaya (28,000 tons), will all make unusual home bound voyages in the coming off season (with off-season fares to match).

Iberia leaves Sydney on November 21 for Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Acapulco (Mexican tourist resort), Panama, Trinidad, Lisbon and Lon don (December 26).

Himalaya leaves Sydney on Decem ber 6 for Melbourne, Adelaide, Fre mantle, Mahe (Seychelles Islands), Mombasa (two days for big game see ing in Kenya), Aden, Suez, Naples, Barcelona and London (January 10).

Oronsay leaves Sydney December 7 for Hobart, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, Bali (the “garden of the Indies”), Singapore, Colombo, Bom bay, Aden, Suez, Naples, Marseilles, Gibraltar and London (January 14).