We continue to receive requests for information...

We continue to receive requests for information relating to medical assistance overseas. A company called WorldCare offers an emergency medical plan along with legal/financial assistance. Benefits include up to $7,500 in hospitalization, medical evacuation back to the United States (in case of accident or illness), return of dependents, trip cancellation insurance. If a member is hospitalized overseas for more than 10 days, a family member is provided round-trip air fare and up to $1,000 for extras.

You can sign up for WorldCare’s annual membership or buy single trip coverage. Annual memberships cost $115 per individual, $175 per couple, $230 per family. Students and faculty traveling abroad are covered under a separate policy. WorldCare operates a 24-hour hot line. Multilingual operators put your call through to an American physician. The same company advances bail in the event a member is detained in a foreign country. For details, contact WorldCare, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Suite 7600, Washington, D.C. 20006, or call toll-free (800) 521-4822. WorldCare has other offices in London, Paris, Geneva, Frankfurt, Mexico City, Milan, Lisbon, Barcelona.

Bargain Travel/Germany

The German travel agency Der Tours has put together a B&B; package costing $33 per person a day for travel in Germany and Austria. The idea is to use the B&B; as a base. You tour during the day, return to the B&B; at night. A choice of four towns: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Kitzbuhel, Rudesheim, Berchtesgaden. Saves all that troublesome business of packing each morning. Other packages include rail passes, car rentals and vouchers for hotels. If you choose to travel the hotel circuit, managers will call ahead daily to make your reservation for that evening. For toll-free information call (800) 252-0606 (California) or (800) 421-4343 (nationwide).

Britain on Your Own

A similar deal is offered as part of a “Go-As-You-Please” B&B; plan at British farms. It’s called the Country Rover and features more than 500 B&Bs; throughout England, Scotland, Wales. Rates start at $24 U.S. a night, with discounts available for children. Here’s how it works: You buy vouchers before leaving the United States. Then you book ahead from farm to farm. This is really winging it, with travelers making up their own itineraries as they go.

The farmhouse B&Bs; serve full English breakfasts with items fresh from the farms themselves. Contact British Travel Report, P.O. Box 299, Elkton, Va. 22827, or telephone (800) 327-6097. BTR also provides vouchers for travelers preferring hotels. Prices start at $45 per person (double occupancy), with children under 16 free when sharing a room with adults.

Washington State Inn

Bobbi Zane, publisher of the popular newsletter Yellow Brick Road, tells of a favorite new inn “with old-fashioned grace” in Washington state. It’s near the village of Langley on Whidby Island. About an hour outside Seattle. Owners are Debbie and Ted Jones. Zane says the inn is “perched on a hill overlooking a forest” and is surrounded by gardens. “Every modern convenience plus the old charm of a New England farmhouse.”

This is a small (five-room) inn. “Even on the gloomiest day the (living) room is bright and inviting, with windows nearly filling two walls.” Guests amuse themselves spying on boats in the Saratoga Passage with a telescope. There’s a fireplace, shelves of books, homemade quilts that grace the walls. Each guest room has a private bath. Furnishings include a Franklin stove, iron, brass and bent willow beds. Bicycles provided for guests.

The Saratoga Inn, 4850 S. Coles Road, Langley, Wash. 98260. Rates: $70/$85.

Camping Europe

Tradewind Travelers Club announces a new European camping program. A choice of two-, three- and four-week packages. Visits to five/seven countries. Travelers spend two to six days at each campground. Transportation is by motor coach with an English-speaking guide.

Trips begin and end in Amsterdam with visits to a number of popular areas: Paris, Venice, Rudesheim, Brussels, Innsbruck. Features include a Rhine River cruise, barbecue beach party on Lido Isle near Venice, free maps. Rates are $498 for 15 days, $698 for 21 days, $855 for 29 days. Air fare is extra.

Contact Tradewind Travelers Club, Suite 1602, 40 East 49th St., New York 10017, or telephone toll-free (800) 223-0567.

Road Atlas/Guide

Best Western International has produced its “1988 Road Atlas & Travel Guide” for use by travelers in North America. Free copies of the 292-page publication are offered at Best Western properties in the United States and Canada. When ordering copies by mail, enclose $2 for postage to Marketing Fulfillment, Dept. BT, Best Western International Headquarters, P.O. Box 10203, Phoenix, Ariz. 85064-0203.

The guide covers 1,890 hotels in the United States and Canada as well as Mexico, the Caribbean. Contains color photos, descriptions of the various sites (beaches, airports, etc.). Toll-free numbers are included along with maps of U.S. interstate highways and others in Mexico and Canada. There’s also a helpful mileage chart. The chain’s worldwide toll-free reservations number: (800) 528-1234.

Eurail Guide

A brand-new copy of the “Eurail Traveler’s Guide” is available free by writing to Eurail Pass, P.O. Box 325, Old Greenwich, Conn. 06870-0325. Tells all about trip planning, luggage handling, seat reservations for rail travelers in Europe. The pocket-size publication describes Europe’s EuroCity and Inter-City services and the TGV high-speed trains. Useful for anyone planning to travel this summer by rail on the Continent. A fold-out map of the European Rail System is also included. Other pages deal with free or reduced fare bonuses. New options include 20% discounts at various hotels in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland. Readers may also request a 156-page timetable of trains operating in all major European cities.

Reader Recommendations

Mexico--Margaret Tuttle, South Pasadena “I must tell you of the secret I found! A very first-class hotel for $46 and the service is unreal. Address: Hotel Lucerna, Paseo de los Heroes y Gral. A Belarbo L. Rodriguez, Tijuana, Mexico.”

Hawaii--Bunny and Lou Wilk, Sherman Oaks: “Outstanding French restaurant in Hilo, Hawaii. Food and service excellent. Dinners start at $9.95. Roussel’s, 60 Keawe St., Hilo, Hawaii 96720, phone (808) 935-5111.”

England--Francis Mulalley-Smith, Anaheim: Enjoyed Kelsick Villa, Ambleside, England. In the Lake District. Paid 9 single a night with a good English breakfast. Good local transportation.

Israel--Sandra Hoffman, Los Angeles: “A beautiful, recently renovated hotel in Jerusalem: Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, P.O. Box 2053. Bed and breakfast $28 single, $44 double.”

France--Mrs. Letitia E. Deckbar, Santa Ana: “Enjoyed a small, delightful restaurant in Paris’ Opera area called Chez Jean L’Auvergnat, 52 Rue Lamartine, Paris 75009. We dined there every night during a week’s stay. Opens at 7 p.m. Arrive early, as this small place fills rapidly, especially on Friday. Closed Sunday. Prices are unusually reasonable for Paris--$20 to $31 U.S. was the range in November.”

France--Mrs. Madeleine B. Bowman, Long Beach: “Hotel Lamartine Opera, 39 Rue Lamartine. About 12 minutes by Metro from the Concorde station. This 28-room hotel is attractive, extremely convenient, immaculate. Small, well-lighted rooms, TV, all private bathrooms. Rates in November ranged from $31 to $58, excluding room tax. The owner is an Algerian, Mr. Aif.”