DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711210096

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: TRAVELWISE

SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN

                                            LENGTH:   92 lines

PARKING FOR GRAND ILLUMINATION WILL COST

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG puts on its most splendid show of the year on the first Sunday in December, the 62nd annual Grand Illumination. If you've ever been, you know that parking is a major problem. No way can you find a parking place within easy walking distance of the Historic Area.

So, what you do is go early, very early, park at the CW Visitor Center and ride one of the free gray buses to the Historic Area. They run from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.

But be warned. . . .

This year, for the first time, Colonial Williamsburg will charge a $5 fee per car for the day to park in CW-owned lots. The parking fee will be used to help offset a portion of the maintenance and transportation costs for the annual event, which is free. So don't grump. Pay up and enjoy. It's a wonderful show.

Entertainment events on Illumination Sunday begin at 4:45 p.m. on outdoor stages at Palace Green, the Courthouse, Tarpley's Store on Duke of Gloucester Street and on both north and south sides of the Capitol. At 6 p.m. the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps will play a grand tattoo to signal the beginning of the Grand Illumination ceremonies. Candles are lighted in public buildings, shops and homes, and there are fireworks.

A special one-day, $15 Holiday Ticket will be offered Dec. 7 for admission to a choice of any five buildings in the Historic Area.

Info: (757) 220-7645. SNOW NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia, which has received more than a foot of snow during the last week, opened its season Friday. Early-season lift rates, in effect until Dec. 14, are $23 for adults, $21 for students and seniors. Info: (304) 572-1000. MIDWINTER GETAWAY CRUISE

The Norfolk Host Lions Club has booked a number of outside cabins on the five-star CostaVictoria for a western Caribbean cruise Feb. 8-16. More cabins than they need, as it turns out. Want to go along? You don't have to be a Lion. Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, the ship makes port in Key West, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel in Mexico, Ocho Rios in Jamaica and Grand Cayman. Cost is $1,153 per person, double occupancy, including air from Norfolk. Full payment is due by Dec. 8. Info: (757) 490-3505, leave message for Linda. DOING D.C.

A trio of Washington tours focusing on stately homes and historic churches is scheduled to begin Dec. 2. The tours, developed by the D.C. Heritage Tourism Commission and operated by Gray Line Sightseeing, revolve around Georgetown, Lafayette Park and Dupont Circle/Embassy Row. They leave the Gray Line terminal at Union Station and cost $30 each.

Georgetown stops include Tudor Place, home of Martha Washington's descendants; Dumbarton Oaks; and Mount Zion United Methodist Church and Heritage Center. The Lafayette Park tour includes Decatur House, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, and the Octagon, James Madison's ``White House'' during the War of 1812. The Dupont Circle tour features Heurich House Museum, Woodrow Wilson House, and the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Info: (202) 289-1995. BALTIMORE BONUS

If you're planning a weekend getaway in Baltimore, check out the 200-coupon booklet being offered free by a downtown business group in conjunction with Visa. It's full of two-for-one and percentage discounts on a wide variety of attractions, restaurants and hotels. Among discounted sites are the Museum of Art, the zoo, Babe Ruth Museum, Maryland Science Center, and the American Visionary Art Museum. The booklets, valid through August 1998, can be picked up at several locations, including the Inner Harbor visitors center, or it can be ordered by calling (800) 394-5718. ABOUT THE SIZE OF IT

Did you know that the five smallest independent countries of Europe plus independent Vatican City all could fit into the city of Suffolk's 400 square miles? Those countries are Monaco (0.75 square miles), San Marino (24 square miles), Liechtenstein (62 square miles), Malta (122 square miles) and Andorra (185 square miles). Their total area is 393.75 square miles. Vatican City covers 108 acres in the heart of Rome. YOUR MONEY'S WORTH

Stockholm, from $498 per person/double occupancy, includes round trip on SAS Scandinavian Airlines, three nights' accommodations, breakfast, service charges. Two add-on excursions: Kingdom of Crystal, $251 per person, includes X2000 speed train transport to Kalmar, overnight accommodations, breakfast, Avis car; Arctic Lapland, $599 per person, includes round trip Stockholm to Kiruna, transfers, overnight accommodations in the Ice Hotel, meals, sauna, snow scooter safari. Through March 31. Info: (888) 881-TRIP. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

Fireworks at the Governor's Palace highlight the Grand Illumination

marking the start of the Christmas season.

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