Palace Already Popular, And It’s Not Yet Open

The announcement that Buckingham Palace would be opened to visitors for the first time this summer was made only three weeks ago, but group reservations for 1993 are already fully booked, according to the British Tourist Authority in London. Although group bookings are the only kind of reservations that can be made in advance, others will be able to visit Queen Elizabeth II’s London home by standing in line on the day they wish to enter. The $12 admission to the castle, which will be open daily Aug. 7-Sept. 30, will fund the cost of rebuilding Windsor Castle, which was extensively damaged by a fire last November. Or visitors can gain admission to the palace by booking with a number of companies already selling package tours. For example, Appleyard Tours in Knutsford, Cheshire, England, offers three days, two nights in London, including hotel, and the precious “pre-booked and guaranteed slot” to enter Buckingham Palace, for $149 per person, $45 single supplement (from the United States, telephone 011-44-565-653093 or fax 011-44-565-755373).

While tour companies line up to offer Palace packages, British safety experts have branded Buckingham a “potential death trap” and said plans to open it to the public should be postponed until safety checks are carried out. The nonprofit British Safety Council said the Queen’s main London residence and office has inadequate supplies of fire extinguishers, sprinklers and fire blankets. A Buckingham Palace spokesman challenged the claims and said changes were being made to ensure that the palace met fire safety standards for public buildings.

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Travel Quiz: What body of water do Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories all border?

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Clinton’s Former Oxford Home Hot Draw for Tourists: Now that Bill Clinton’s home state of Arkansas has become an instant travel destination, are we surprised that Oxford, England, where the future President studied at Oxford University, is using his tenure there as a travel enticement? At least one tour company, Spires & Shires, is promoting a drive-by of Clinton’s former home--an ivy-clad Victorian house where he lived as a Rhodes Scholar--on its day trips out of Oxford and through the Cotswold countryside west of London. While some tours also take in a visit to Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, the Clinton stop is said to be of primary interest to visitors now, and almost as popular as tours of Oxford that include sites featured on the popular PBS “Inspector Morse” mystery series. Day trips range in price from about $11 to $40. Spires & Shires: from the United States, telephone or fax 011-44-865-513998.

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Quick Fact: Delta is joining Cathay Pacific and United in offering nonstop Los Angeles-to-Hong Kong service, beginning June 1.

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Car Tripping Remains a Bargain: Car vacations are still one of the best vacation deals around, according to the American Automobile Assn., which said costs during the last two years for a vacation in the family Chevy or Toyota increased only 3%--the smallest increase in 27 years and less than half of the 7.2% national inflation rate for the two-year period. For a car vacation this summer, AAA said a family of four will probably spend an average of $215.60 per day for meals, lodging and car expenses, up a modest $6.50 since 1991. AAA said the moderate increases can be attributed primarily to two factors: one of the worst slumps in the history of the U.S. lodging industry, which has held room-rate increases to only $5 per night on average since 1991, and stable gasoline prices since March, 1991.

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More Smoke-Free Flying: So well received were Cathay Pacific airline’s nonsmoking flights between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, Vancouver, Australia and New Zealand that the airline has just initiated smoke-free flights between Hong Kong and London’s Heathrow Airport. Also, on nonsmoking flights there are no in-flight sales of duty-free cigarettes.

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Miro, Miro on the Wall: Once dubbed “the most surreal of the surrealists,” Joan Miro--one of the most important artists of the 20th Century--is being celebrated with “Miro Year,” an exhibition of 180 paintings and 300 drawings that just opened at the Miro Foundation gallery on Montjuic Hill in Barcelona. Miro, who was born in that Catalan capital on April 20, 1893, left a legacy of paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculptures, posters, etchings, lithographs and tapestries when he died on Christmas Day, 90 years later. The Miro Foundation organized Miro Year, which is considered one of the most extensive displays of Miro’s work ever staged, with exhibits loaned by galleries, museums and private collections in Europe, the United States and Japan, and expects more than 300,000 visitors before it moves to New York’s Museum of Modern Art in September.

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Hotel for Couch Potatoes: For New York Novotel guests who don’t care to sample big city delights, management of the hotel at 226 West 52nd St. has created what it calls a “couch potato corner.” That’s where guests can rent games to take to their rooms so they can stay in and, perhaps, pretend like they are at home. Guests can now rent video games, including “Tournament Golf,” “NBA All Star Basketball” and “NHL Hockey,” or amuse themselves with hand-held Nintendo Game Boy systems. Or they can play electronic chess, cards, board games and videos. Some of the games are gratis; others vary in price from a few dollars to $20 for elaborate video systems that need to be installed in the room.

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Comparatively Speaking: Top 10 resort-hotel occupancy rates for 1991, the most recent year for which statistics are available: Rio Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas (98%); Hale Koa hotel, Honolulu (96%); Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall, Las Vegas (92%); Sands Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas (90%); Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City (90%); Barbary Coast Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City (90%); Taos Inn, Taos, N.M. (88%); Bahia Cabana Beach Resort, Ft. Lauderdale (88%); Ventana Inn, Big Sur (87%). (Source: Lodging Hospitality magazine and the U.S. Travel Data Center.)

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Quiz Answer: Hudson Bay.