DATE: Sunday, September 7, 1997             TAG: 9709050097

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E13  EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Travel-wise 

SOURCE: Stephen Harriman 

                                            LENGTH:  130 lines

MAKE PLANS NOW TO CATCH AUTUMN'S SHOW

THE BREAK in the weather is your first alert. Time for fall foliage tour planning.

In just about a month, nature's palette of bloody reds, tawny oranges and buttery yellows will be washing down through the hardwoods, day by day, moving from north to south, from the ridges into the hollows, from the mountains to the flatlands.

The scents of dry leaves and wood smoke fill the air.

It's our annual reward for putting up with August and February.

Mark your calendar. Stick this on the fridge. You can expect leaves to be at their ``peak'' anywhere from Oct. 10 to 25 (that's a best guess, not a guarantee) in the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains.

The colors gradually move toward our coastal flatlands, much as you'd pull a quilt from your toes up toward your chin, in a subtle process that can take until anywhere from late October to mid-November to complete.

Still time to make plans, but not much.

Country charm

Have you ever wondered what it was really like ``way back when''? Check out Heritage Day Sept. 20 at the Southampton Agriculture and Forestry Museum and the 1814 Rochelle-Prince House at Courtland (an hour west of Norfolk on U.S. 58). They're planning to demonstrate such things as peanut cooking, hominy, lye soap and butter making, cracklings and lard rendering, cider pressing, sawmill operations, cotton ginning, dulcimer making and playing, line dancing - all sorts of things that are handy to know about if you're living in the Southeastern Virginia country. Open: 10-4. Admission: $2 for adults, $1 for school children. Food is available at the site. Info: (757) 653-9554.

Your money's worth

New Frontiers is offering, through Oct. 31, a French Discovery package, from $1,009 per person/double, includes air, four nights accommodations in Paris, three in Nice, breakfast, Galeries Lafayette department store discount card, fashion show. Also, from $1,489 for 14 nights. Info: a local travel agent or (800) 366-6387.

Asiana Airlines has a special fare sale to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Macau, Manila, Seoul and Singapore from any one of its gateway cities (Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and San Francisco) from $679 roundtrip. Add-on fares to gateways from more than 150 other U.S. destinations: $80-$200. Buy tickets within 14 days of making reservations and no later than five days before departure. Minimum stay, three days/maximum, three months. Info: a local travel agent or (800) 227-4262.

Also Bangkok: smarTours has an eight-day tour of the Thailand capital for only $799, including air from Los Angeles, and a 14-day Thailand-In-Depth tour for $1,299 including air from L.A. Reservations must be made by Oct. 31. Info: (800) 337-7773.

Grand Circle Travel has a 15-day all-inclusive vacation to Malta for travelers 50 and older, beginning in January. Prices (per person, double occupancy) range from $1,395 to $1,945 depending on time of departure and includes round-trip air fare from New York or Newark, hotel, meals; open bar service, and four sightseeing tours. The single supplement, usually $195, is waived on departures Jan. 5, Feb. 2, Nov. 11 and Dec. 7, 1998. Info: (800) 248-3737.

Freebies

The Virginia Outdoor Guide, perfect for fall foliage getaway planning, call (800) 827-3325.

For a brochure, Golf Britain: The Essential Guide call (800) GO-2-BRITAIN.

Have a yen for Japan? Think it's too expensive? The Japan National Tourist Organization offers ``Japan for the Budget Traveler 1997.'' The brochure devotes 12 pages to rooms priced at $54 to $134; lists restaurants with lunches costing about $18 or less; and suggests self-guided walking and bus tours, free factory and showroom tours, free and low-cost museums, and discount shopping throughout Japan. The brochure is free. Call (213) 623-1952.

Black history tours

Spector Travel of Boston is offering advance booking for five ``Roots and Culture'' tours to Africa, scheduled for February through April. All rates are per person and are based on double occupancy and include round-trip air from New York via Air Afrique, first class hotels, breakfasts and some other meals, transfer and guides.

The tours: The Gambia, Feb. 1-8, $999; Senegal and The Gambia, Feb. 28-March 7, $1,249; Ghana, Senegal and The Gambia, Feb. 28-March 14, $2,189; Ghana, March 7-14, $1,599; Cote d'Ivoire, April 22-29, $1,599. Info (800) TRY AFRICA.

Special interests

Pathfinders is a new travel magazine designed, it says, ``for people of color.'' The summer/fall issue includes general-interest articles (such as how to organize a family reunion) and consumer information, as well as featured destinations and events that may be of special interest to blacks. The magazine is $12 a year (four issues) from Pathfinders Inc., (215) 927-3359 or on the Web at www.pathfinderstravel.com.

``The Kosher Companion'' by Trudy Garfunkel covers hotels and resorts with kosher dining, travel agents and guides who arrange kosher tours, kosher restaurants and food markets in major vacation destinations, kosher airline food and prepackaged kosher meals for travelers. It also includes food-shopping tips and recipes. The guide is $18.95 in bookstores. Or call Carol Publishing at (800) 447-BOOK.

Pro Bowl package

Of course the season has just started. But you can plan ahead. A Pro Bowl package slates five nights at Hilton's Hawaiian Village on Waikiki and sideline tickets between the 20-yard lines. Other features are on-field passes for practices, players luncheon (watch them EAT!), tailgate party, luau, Pearl Harbor tour and airport transfers. Individual prices for the Jan. 28-Feb. 2 offering are $1,599 to $2,759. An $875 to $1,225 four-nighter in the Outrigger Hotel is available - no player luncheon, luau or Pearl Harbor tour, however. Air fare is extra for both packages. Info: Sports Tours (800) 722-7701.

Student travels 101

Where are the student hot spots? Remote is in - China and Bangkok, for example. Look for more answers in the fall issue of Student Travels Magazine, a free publication of the Council on International Educational Exchange. There's also a feature on the best youth hostels, including a castle in Scotland and a full-rigged ship in Stockholm.

The publication also contains ideas for planning a trip and getting great air fares, as well as a 16-page section for college students on how to get permission to work abroad. Copies of the issue can be found on college campuses, at all Council Travel offices, or by calling (888) COUNCIL. MEMO: Travelwise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases,

trade journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the

writer's mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The

Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (757) 446-2904.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu