On a trip to lesser-known territory of the U.K, Sept. 11-24, ’04 (April ’05, pg. 16), my travels took me to western Scotland.

I made the journey from Douglas, Isle of Man, to Belfast, Northern Ireland, by the Steam Packet Company fast catamaran at a prebooked fare of £14.70 (near $28). Since I had no prebooked hotel reservation, I was given a list of hotels to call from the Belfast ferry terminal and ended up at the Days Hotel (40 Hope St., Belfast, Northern Ireland BT12 5EE) for the...

Travelers to Turin, Italy, who stay at the Holiday Inn Express will find a clean, modern, comfortable hotel at a reasonable price (€75, or about $97.50, per night for two, including a lavish breakfast), but it is located rather a ways from the center of town and in a neighborhood surprisingly bereft of restaurants, trattorias or, for that matter, any place where one can sit down and have a meal.

Not to worry! Put on your walking shoes and hike over to Piazza Pitagora, where Pizzeria...

My husband, Norman, and I were lured into visiting Hungary by the idea that it was one of the bargains left in European travel. As we found on our trip in September ’04, this proved to be correct. It has joined the E.U. but, for now, is still using the old currency (forint). Nearby Austrian visitors flock there for dental and optical bargains as well as plastic surgery, we were told.

As we usually do, we planned our own itinerary and rented a car, wandering around with lots of...