Very little is reasonable in Japan these...

Very little is reasonable in Japan these days, but here’s a chance to join families in Gifu Prefecture who provide free lodging and meals to Americans. Participating in the program are about 400 hosts. While the English is a little fractured, you should get by. Guests are allowed to remain up to seven nights.

By train, Gifu Prefecture is a couple of hours west of Tokyo. Rimmed on three sides by mountains. A couple of rivers cut through the landscape. Gifu is a center for woodcarving, lacquerware, pottery, other crafts. An exposition (July 8 through Sept. 18) will spotlight fortune tellers, the Chinese National Circus, an international bazaar.

For details on the free lodging and meals, contact Yoshinori Toyoda, Gifu Prefecture, c/o Juroku Bank Ltd., One World Trade Center, Suite 8353, New York 10048. Applications are being processed on a first-come basis, so hurry.

Alpine Adventures

Travel writer Margaret Zellers has produced a 48-page guide for the Alpine Tourist Commission that covers Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia. Tips on food, wines, crafts. Helpful mainly for first-time visitors. Contains historical background that serves as an introduction to the five countries. You’ll find a listing of tourist offices that can provide additional help. For a copy of “Alpine Adventures,” write to the Alpine Tourist Commission, Dept. 883, Box 1137, Radio City Station, New York 10101.

Camel Caravan

My idea of roughing it is a spin in a Mercedes taxi. So I find it hard to figure why anyone would want to spend a week doing the sites of Africa aboard a camel. But that’s precisely what Adventure Center of Oakland is plugging. A camel caravan. We’re told no riding experience is necessary. Just hop aboard and take off. You’ve got to admit it’s exotic. Riders join the safari in Kenya. The trip begins in Isiolo, which is south of Samburu National Park and about 30 miles north of Mt. Kenya. Accommodations are in camps. Gives you “a true feel for the bush,” says Adventure Center. Any Tarzans out there? Cost is $680 on twin-share arrangements.

Details from Adventure Center, 5540-PR College Ave., Oakland, Calif. 94618. Telephone toll-free (800) 228-8747 in California or (800) 227-8747 outside the state.

Offbeat France

Chez Vous, the Northern California company that specializes in rentals in France, is listing properties throughout the country. Everything from B&Bs; to villas, chateaux. They’ll even rent you an entire farmhouse. Chez Vous is promoting a chateau in the South of France with its own swimming pool, tennis court. Only 30 minutes from the Mediterranean and cheaper (per person) than one of the grand hotels, says Chez Vous. Other rentals in Paris, Normandy, Brittany, the Loire Valley, Dordogne, Provence, Cote d’Azur. Apartments and cottages as well as villas and chateaux.

Contact Chez Vous, 220 Redwood Highway, Suite 129, Mill Valley, Calif. 94941, phone (415) 331-2535.

Mendocino Coast

A dozen inns are described in a booklet spotlighting the Mendocino Coast. A favorite of ours is the Joshua Grindle (P.O. Box 647, Mendocino, Calif. 95460). Honored as “inn of the year” in 1985, the Joshua Grindle (circa 1879) provides views of the village and the ocean. Within walking distance of galleries, shops, restaurants. Features New England country atmosphere, Early American antiques. Rates: $65/$85.

Other inns named in the booklet: The Headlands, Glendeven, The Grey Whale, Pudding Creek, Elk Cove, Whitegate, Rachel’s, The Mendocino Village, The Country Inn, The Victorian and Howard Creek Ranch.

A map and prices are listed in the back of the guide. Send $1 to MCIA, P.O. Box 1141-WT, Mendocino, Calif. 95460.

New Orleans

Sentimental Rail Journeys (profiled in last Sunday’s issue of Traveling In Style) is scheduling a series of one-week trips to New Orleans featuring private lounge, dining and Pullman sleeper cars. This is a flashback to days of gracious rail travel. Linen tablecloths, fresh flowers, white-jacketed waiters. You ride the train one way, fly the other. In New Orleans, guests are put up at a plantation (Cajun food and wood-burning fireplaces). A streetcar party is held aboard an 1880s trolley and there’s a cruise aboard a Mississippi riverboat. Rod Pick of Sentimental Journeys calls the New Orleans trip “the most romantic” of his journeys. Price: $1,370. Other rail excursions to Colorado, Canada, San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco.

Sentimental Rail Journeys, P.O. Box 4574, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91360, phone (805) 499-9306.

Customized Tours of Britain

Lucille Conway of La Jolla asked for the name of a travel agency in the San Diego area that specializes in “custom-tailored” trips of Britain. Jon Cordel of Cardin Travel & Tours sketches out trips through England, Wales, Scotland. Cordel focuses on select country hotels, manor houses, canal barges, self-drive rental barges, recreational vehicles. For a brochure, write to Cordel c/o Cardin Travel & Tours, 1158 State St., San Diego 92101 or telephone toll-free (800) 877-2232.

Britain By Rail, Bus, Underground

A new ticket called the London Visitor Travelcard has replaced BritRail’s popular London Explorer pass. Good on most London buses and the city’s underground system. Americans are advised to buy the Travelcard before leaving the United States. Contact BritRail Travel International, 800 S. Hope St., Suite 603, Los Angeles 90017 or telephone (213) 624-8787. They’ll also send you the new “Go BritRail” brochure describing trips beyond London to Bath, Canterbury, Chester, York, Edinburgh and dozens of other destinations.

Reader Recommendations

California--Georgia Foster, Woodland Hills: “My husband and I recently stayed at the Pelican Cove Inn, 320 Walnut, Carlsbad (rates $85/$115), and we loved it! Hosts were lovely. Rooms are absolutely gorgeous.”

Maui--Lorraine Blank, Redondo Beach: “Want to share with your readers a new restaurant called Avalon, 844 Front St., Lahaina, Maui. Excellent food. Run by two personable young couples. Prices from $6 to $20.”

Bali--P. L. Windsor, Santa Monica: “A great place to take a breather from satay and rice is The Club in tiny Legian, next to Kuta Beach. Write to Wally Hemmer, P.O. Box 1016, Denpasar Airport TBB, Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia. He will send you a card with a map. Wally is an American expatriate. Serves American steaks, barbecued chicken. A dinner with a couple of beers is under $6. Drinks at the Foreign Legion bar are in line with the food prices--60 cents for a beer, $1.20 for a mixed drink.”

Liberia, West Africa--Barbara Haade, Beverly Hills: “Excellent family-run hotel in Monrovia. Clean, air-conditioned, quiet, friendly. Rates: $30/$35 U.S. Address: Gertylue Floral Park, P.O. Box 1474, Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa.”

Scotland--Tom and Frances McQuattie, North Hollywood: “Spent a delightful three nights at the beautiful Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland PH16 5LX. Set amid four acres in one of the loveliest areas in the Scottish Highlands. About an hour and a half by train from Edinburgh. Spacious lounges with log fireplaces. Paid 80 a night (about $140 U.S.) double, which included a buffet breakfast and a complete a la carte dinner and all taxes, VAT and service. We shall return.”

Scotland--Mrs. John W. Allen, San Diego: The Royal Hotel, Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland. Color TV, central heat, a full Scottish breakfast. Rate: 19.50 single. Supper was 3.50.