If you’re planning a trip to Israel...

If you’re planning a trip to Israel and want to avoid hotels, contact Homtel Israel. These people list apartments, homes, villas that have been approved by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. Rates as low as $19 per person per day. Everything from one-room studios to luxury apartments and villas. Locations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Netanya, Tiberias (on the Sea of Galilee), Eilat (on the Red Sea). Homtel also has car rentals from $119 a week. For details write to Homtel Israel, 1170 Broadway, Suite 612, New York 10001, or telephone the local rep (Esther Ben-or) at (213) 937-9021.

Swiss Booklet

Here’s a freebie called “Alpine Hideaways & Elegant Escapes.” Tells about hotels, family-operated inns, self-catering accommodations in Europe’s Alps. Written by the inveterate traveler, Margaret Zellers. The author describes shelters for as little as $15 a day. Her 40-page booklet covers Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia. Details on luxury lodging as well as youth hostels and camping. For a free copy, write to the Alpine Tourist Commission, Department 863, Box 1137, Radio City Station, New York 10101.

Expo

Hotel rooms are being booked to capacity for the opening of Expo 86 in Vancouver. If you can’t get a room, travel agent Diane Winchester of Los Angeles will put you in a two- or three-bedroom home in the Canadian city. Prices start at $90 a day for up to four persons in a two-bedroom unit. A three-bedroom home figures out to $110 per night for eight guests. Prices include a full breakfast, daily maid service. For details call Diane--Vancouver Accommodations at (213) 947-2165 or write to Vancouver 86, P.O. Box 2103, La Habra, Calif. 90603-2103.

Washington State B&B;

This note from Sheila Koscik of Washington state: “My husband and I have opened a bed-and-breakfast inn in Gig Harbor. We care for our guests in the old Victorian way--serving tea on arrival and full English breakfasts. While the hospitality is Old World, our accommodations are most comfortable, with shared sitting room and bath for $30 per couple.” Write to Koscik c/o The Parsonage, 4107 Burnham Drive, Gig Harbor, Wash. 98335, or telephone (206) 851-8654.

Alaska

Southeast Alaska is described in a new 32-page magazine-size booklet that’s free on request. Information on hotels, motels, wilderness lodges, camping, fishing, charter boats, interstate airlines, car rentals, cruise ships, ferry liners, restaurants. Packed with details on towns/villages along the Inside Passage. Takes in Prince Rupert, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines, Skagway and others. For a copy of the 1986 “Inside Passage Travel Planner,” write to SATC, Box 385/Department N, Juneau, Alaska 99802.

Biking Europe

Allen Zeltzer, the “pedaling professor” of Yorba Linda, will lead bicycle tours through France again this summer. The first trip (June 29-July 13) will take in the chateau country after a train ride from Paris to Fontainebleau. His other tour (July 13-27) also begins in Paris, with visits to Brittany and Normandy. The two-week packages price out at $1,275 for accommodations, breakfast, dinner and the service of a support vehicle that carries luggage. Contact Zeltzer, 4041 Denver Ave., Yorba Linda, Calif. 92686.

Bike/Sail Vermont

A biking/sailing journey in Vermont this summer will feature the 110-foot schooner Homer W. Dixon on Lake Champlain. Bikers will ride during the day, sleep and dine aboard the schooner at night. This is a gaff-rigged, two-masted sailing ship. The lake (sixth-largest in the United States) covers 435 square miles. Bikers will pedal between 16 and 63 miles a day in the Champlain Valley. These five-day tours are offered May 2 till Oct. 26. Rates: $535/$595. Contact Vermont Bicycle Touring, Box 711-PX, Bristol, Vt. 05443.

Trip Ideas

If you haven’t decided where to vacation this summer, get a copy of “Specialty Travel,” a 102-page index that’s packed with ideas. Bicycle tours, canal cruises in France, riding in Ireland and Spain, hiking and river rafting, sailing worldwide, rail trips, balloon flights, wine tours. Vacations both in the United States and abroad. You’ll find names, addresses of dozens of companies and their specialties. For example, Sobek Expeditions does more than 250 trips to 60 countries. Or there’s the Sid Simpson Guide Service that takes you riding and fishing in the Colorado Rockies. The index is published twice a year. The charge for both issues is $5. Contact Specialty Travel Index, Dept. 12-C, 9 Mono Ave., Fairfax, Calif. 94930.

Reader Recommendations

San Francisco--Linda and Michael Kreisberg, Burbank: “Recommend the magnificently refurbished Majestic Inn, 1500 Sutter St., San Francisco. A five-story Edwardian with 60 bedrooms, including nine luxurious suites. Rooms have large, four-poster canopied beds. Intimate ambiance of the grand old San Francisco manner. Rates: $75/$95 single, $85/$105 double.”

Arizona--Dorothy Madson, Los Angeles: Dierker House Bed & Breakfast, 423 W. Cherry St., Flagstaff, Ariz. Telephone (602) 774-3249. “Dorothea Dierker is a delightful person. Her home is on the way to the Grand Canyon, only 30 miles north of Sedona. Rates: $20 per person, $30 double.”

Canada--Jack Baldwins, Los Angeles: “If you’re planning a trip to Canada’s Expo 86, enjoy Wally and Elke’s B&B;, 660 Gibbons Drive, Richmond, B.C. V7C 2E1. Fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs. Minutes from the airport and downtown Vancouver. Rates, $25/$45.”

Switzerland--Karlin Simon, Santa Monica: “Stayed at Hotel Helvetia, 3800 Interlaken-Unterseen C.H., Switzerland. Rooms were clean, food and service excellent. Paid $25 a night. Now that’s a bargain!”

England--Audrey and Frank Brunel, Redondo Beach: “Chilton House, Marine Parade, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1PX. Close to Dover and Canterbury. Paid 27 (double) including an excellent breakfast. Also serves dinner at reasonable prices.”

England--Vivian Ringer, Malibu: “A highlight of a recent visit to East Sussex was bed and breakfast ($25) at Deep Thatch, picturesque 16th-Century cottage an hour south of London by train. Contact Bernadette Fraser, Deep Thatch, Rodmell, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 3HF.”

England--Virginia Martinez, Los Angeles: “Chimneys restaurant, Hall Street, Long Melford, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 9JR. Such good food. Any tourist in that area should seek it out.”

England--Jackie Pickell, San Diego: “In the beautiful Lake District of England we discovered the wonderful old Willowsmere Hotel, Ambleside Road, Windermere, Cumbria LA2 1ES. Our room was $44 for two with breakfast. Proprietor Allan Cook uses local game and fowl to enhance his dinner menu.”

France--Perry Goering, Long Beach: “In Paris, stayed several days in a studio apartment. On another trip during the Christmas holidays, a friend and I spent two weeks in a studio apartment in the Marais District. Awaiting us were fresh flowers, a decorated tree at Christmas, a fully stocked kitchen and an ample supply of French wine which was replenished as it ran low. Linens were changed as needed. All this for less than $100 a day, including food stocks plus wine. For information on apartment rentals contact Ray Lampard, 10 Rue Nicolas Flamel, 75004 Paris, France.”

Ireland--Mr. and Mrs. Donald Watkinson, Canoga Park: Enjoyed Fountain House, N22 Cork, Killarney, Ireland (doubles for about 8 per person). Also, Borthwnog Hall, Country House Hotel, Bontddu, Dolgellau, Gwynedd L140 2TT, Wales. Elegant furnishings, lots of antiques, superb dinner with wine, 20 for two. Rates, 14 for a double.”

Readers: Your recommendations should contain the addresses of hotels, inns, restaurants, as well as prices whenever possible. (Please print or type.)