Take a Double-Deck Bus Through Soviet Union

One of the more interesting ways that students and other young travelers can visit the now popular Soviet Union is aboard a double-decker bus.

Top Deck, a 17-year-old British company and operator of double-decker bus tours, is such a company. Its fleet of 50 former London Transport buses is now a familiar sight on the Asian overland routes. This summer it is also offering a 29-day “Deckerhome” program starting in London and visiting Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Soviet Union and Poland.

Rates $1,048 to $1,138, plus $214 for a communal food fund and $61 for compulsory visa charges.

Each Deckerhome sleeps 15 to 20 passengers, with bunks and lockers on the upper level and living and dining areas and fold-down bunks on the lower level.

One of the advantages of traveling with Top Deck is that its programs are marketed internationally, so American youths get the opportunity to make friends among people from foreign nations.

In addition to its Deckerhome tours, Top Deck operates coach tour programs, using camping sites, cabins and hotels in Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Pitching a tent can help stretch funds. Join a 33-day coach-camping program that travels from London to Holland, Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, returning to London. Price is $1,269, plus $231 for the food fund and $72 for visas.

If you want a few more comforts there is a 45-day program that incorporates camping, cabins and hotel accommodations, and travel by coach.

It starts in London and visits Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and returns to London. Rates $1,276 to $1,444, plus $324 for the communal food fund and $61 for visas.

Further details on Top Deck programs are available through travel agents, or Campus Holidays USA Inc., 242 Bellevue Ave., Upper Montclair, N.J. 07043. Telephone toll-free (800) 345-2775.

The Scandinavian Student Travel Service has made arrangements with North American student travel agencies to market its summer tours into the Soviet Union.

The SSTS programs are specifically geared to travelers who are under 35 and “crave adventure more than luxury and comfort.”

An SSTS guide accompanies the international group, and daily programs, including visits with Soviet students, are arranged by the Soviet Youth Travel Bureau, Sputnik.

Programs seven to 14 days are priced with and without round-trip air transportation between Copenhagen and the Soviet Union. Accommodations are in two- or three-bed rooms, while on trains four-berth compartments are shared.

One of the least expensive SSTS programs is a seven-day tour of Moscow and Leningrad for $405, or $695 with flights from Copenhagen.

You do not have to be a student to go on SSTS tours. SSTS also offers programs for traveling the Trans-Siberian railway and for visiting China.

More details on all SSTS programs are available from STA Travel, 7202 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles 90046, (213) 934-8722.