Where Shall We Go ?

En* Ott-thy:sandals, - 0 thou -most fleet

Over the splendour and speed of thy feet. . . ."

TILE brown bright nightingale has sung, and we turn to our tiine-tableS and guide-books and road-maps. Shall we make merry " with Pan by day and Bacchus by night " by that blue sea where the gods dwelt yesterday and favoured mortals live to-day? Or sail across the Atlantic to the jewel-lakes of the Rockies ? Or drive across our own loved and lovely

shires . _ _ - .

How long arc we going to be away ? If only for a fortnight, 117 advice is travel-in the British Isles. You will be amazed if you have not given much. attention to such matters, at the diversity of charm that" this England, this little isle affords. There is a wealth of pleasure places near London, Then there are Cornwall,,the East Coast, the Midlands, the Peak District, Windermere, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Channel ISlands to choose from, each with its diStinctive scenery and climate. Although I have travelled more miles than I care to count, to and fro about the earth, there is no country where I hive found such variety of scenery and amusement as in Great Britain and Ireland. Before, hOwever, ' considering Great Britain in more detail, let us glance across the seas, to lands where travellers of more leisure may resort.

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Switzerland is the best organized nation in the world for foreign travel and the Swiss Federal Railways will provide the intending -traveller with a remarkably fine collection of bOoks, well illustrated, clearly written, and dealing with all of the many aspects of that delightful country. Also, in Switzerland, it is easy to obtain beforehand the prices and full particulars of the hotels at which you intend to stay ; no small advantage this, to those who have to count their pence. And it is no exaggeration to Say that the Swiss hotels and pensions are almost uniformly good. They are graded as first, second and third class, with rates in proportion, but a second class hotel merely signifies that—for instance—you will not have music with your meals, while- the third class hotel will still beelean and comfortable although the guests will be catered for on a more economical scale.

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I have spent delightful weeks in a so-called " third class hotel " at Shuls-Tarasp, where, incidentally, I was completely cured of the various ills resulting from over-long residence in the East. This pretty and bracing Spa in the high Alps is too little known to health seekers. Situated in 'a-valley of the Lower Engadine, clOseto-St. Moritz, Sliuls-Tarasp is a wonder- ful place for all kinds of nervous and digestive ailments. The accommodation is exceflentand the ehargeS for residence and treatment are inexpensive: My board and lodging, which were both first claSs; cattle to 'thirteen francs a day. Leaving Sehuls after treatment, if-you do not-want-to return by Zurich and Basle, you may either go to the golf and gaiety of Merano in the Italian Tyrol and thence to Venice, or travel northwards, as I did, to Innsbruck, Vienna and Munich.

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Summer in Switzerland is a dream of delight to the flower- lover and mountain climber. Let no one tell you that the Alps are overrun and crowded out. They arc not. The excellent Swiss railways will take you far from the haunts of men with little expense and trouble. You can travel second-class in Switzerland, by the way, the only difference to.the first being in the colour of the upholstery. As a matter oe.fact.•you can quite well travel third:--.0.: class -which--the average traveller is advised to avoid in other Continental - countries. April Ind May are comparatively . neglected months, and in springtime the walker will have all the elbow-room he requires and be able to enjoy, alone with the mountains, some of Nature's most exquisite beauties; such as the uplands of the Engadine, all blue and white with gentian and anemone, or the shores of Lake Maggiore, car- peted with azaleas, magnolias, WiSterias;camelliai and rhodo- dendrons. The orange and lemon blossoms have to be seen

to be believed. . In the Rhineland you may find a restful holiday and one that

will long live in memory. Joining the steamer at Mayenee yOu float down the ancient river while the rock of the Lorelei and many a famous mediaeval castle passes, before-Sour eyes until you reach Cologne. An infinite number .of excursions to be made from the Rhine and lucky indeed is the traveller ' who can spend a month or more in the Black Forest, or who 4, finds time to explore those terraced vineyards of the Moselle that yield some of the world's finest wine., From London to Mayence via Wiesbaden, and thence by steamer to Cologne (the Rhine steamers begin their season in May) costs £10 14s., or £7 14s. 6d. second class. Returning by Brussels' and the -7 Hook, the fares are £9 8s. and £6 7s. 9d.

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Italy is a country so much travelled over and so well known that only the briefest mention is necessary gall here. The present writer knows Liguria as well as his own "country and loves , it almost equally. Thirty six hours after leaving LondOn you may leave your train at Rapallo, and lOok out across the loveliest water of the world—not excepting Naples or Sydney harbours, nor the approach to Hong Kong, to the headland of Portofino, standing dark against the sunset sky. . Round about you, tier upon tier, rise the eypressed hills, with their aureate glory of plantagene.sta and many lined wildi:floWeis, while at your feet is the sparkle of the Mediterrandin. In the cool of the evening you may climb to the shrine of the Madonna above Rapallo, and on a night of full moon there can be no finer view in all the earth than that of the serried penin- . sulas of the Bay, which jut out like the prows of gallcoris into the quiet waters below. From London to Rapallo the fares are £9 8s. first, and £6 14s. 9d. second class. For the train de luxe from Paris to Rapallo there is an addition of 28 4s. lid. Travellers are warned that there is only one hour between arrival of the Care du Nord and the luxe at Lyons ; so it is

• safest, if convenient, to arrange to spend twenty-four hours in Paris. -

S. * * * . Or would you go to Capri, that dream island in the Bay of Naples ? have to change at Rollie, 'surely there are few travellers living who would not stay in the Eternal City ? From Rome to Naples is but half a day, and when at Naples you should not fail to see the new excavations at Pompeii. A short sea-trip will take you to Capri, where there are views as beautiful as those of the world-famed Amalfi

- drive on the mainland. But the wise do not go .to Capri to sea • the sights, but to stay.

a * .* - • : -

• And now after these entirely inadequate glimpses Or Europe

.

- let us away to EgYpt. Cairo; Khartuin, a houseboat on - the Nile—what memories these words evoke 1 But

• having come so far we might as well go further afield, . India has only lately conic' into her dWn 718 a pliasiire , The new luxurious P. do .0, steamers will take you across the . Where Shall We Go ?—Continued::

waters of the Indian Ocean—always smooth in spring --as Coinfortably as if you were eio•ssinethe Atlantic. This is wrong time of year to visit India, however, unless, of course, you go to thehill stations or tolhe Vale of Kashmir, where-the 'white-capped Himalayas encircle the Dal Lake, with its hang-

ing and memories of the Mogul Queens.- Why don't -more people go to that marvellous country? - 1150 Will land

you comfortably ill Srinagar. '

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_With_regard_to sea voyages, I think it right. to mention here that remarkable remedy " Mothersill," which really does -prevent- sea-sickness if taken aceording_tq the directions: '..On many occasions it 'has changed for me what would have been a week of horror into a time of delight and useful activity. The Atlantic is not a kind ocean in the spring, but armed with this remedy the crossing to New York or to Montreal is really de- lightful at this time of year. The big Cunarders, such as- the ' Mauritania ' and the • Berengaria,' hardly need description. Of the rather smaller ships, I would mention the 20,000-ton Seythia,' on which I spent a very happy week. Then there are the famous Canadian-Pacific cabin class ships, such as the Montelare,' on which I crossed a few months ago. They have a reputation for never rolling, which may be slightly exag- gerated, but none the less they are the steadiest ships I have sailed on for their size. " Cabin " class to America or Canada, costs 130, and first class about double.

• Many people still do not realize the advantages of third-class

travel. The new " tourist third-class " which the trans- Atlantic steamship companies are running is equal to the accommodation of many a ship in which I have sailed first class to India fifteen and twenty years ago. If you are ydung and enthusiastic and want to see the world, let me recommend. you to go for a third-class trip across the Atlantic. Twenty_ pounds is not much to pay for a week at sea, and when you land in historic Quebec or gay Montreal, or towering New York, you feel at once that you have stepped into a new world. And in Canada, moreover, you feel that it is a British world to the core, and eager to offer you every kind of oppor- tunity whether for farming, prospecting or amusement.

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The Canadian-Pacific Railway is the greatest transportation system in the world and one of the best managed, an organiza- tion of which not Canada alone but the Empire may be proud. A separate article will deal with Canada more fully ; suffice it to say now that it should be the duty as well as the delight of every educated person in these islands to visit our nearest and greatest Dominion. "What do they know of England who only England know ? " is a quotation so hackneyed that-we are liable& forget how true it is and how important it is -for all of us to know some part at least of our Empire. To many a boy and girl a visit to Canada would open up a new way- of life in more senses than one. The sea should unite us—not divide. 0* *. * * " Tipping " is a vexed question for travellers. On the " floating hotels " of the Cunard £5 is a common tip for cabin -stewards (first class only, of course), but on one-class steamers the following is. liberal ; £2 to the cabin steward, £1 to the waiter, 10a. to the deck steward, 5s. to the bath man and a few odd half-crowns for .boots, &c. As regards hotels, custom varies in every country. Canada and America are the easiest countries WI travel in in this respect, for no one hangs about hoping to " be remembered " in the 'way unfortunately so, common eisewhele. Pullman porters expect 25.cents a night *50 cents on trains like the Twentieth Century. Limited. A maid at an hotel will be satisfied with-25 cents a-night, and she usually has to be sought out to receive this present. " Bell boys " usually receive a " quarter " for doing odd jobs.. On the Continent; 10 per cent. is usually added-to the bill mawa-. days, but this does not absolve the traveller from irritating distursemunts-on-the-eVe-of his departure,-exeept, in Switzer- land, where the extra charge really does cover all tips. Over- tipping is a practice that the experienced traveller never indulges in, for it gets him nothing except the amused con- descension of servants. If in doubt as to-what is to be given, it is a good plan to ask the reception clerk or manager. Of course, in theory the whole practice of " tipping " is detest- able, but we must take the world as it is, and- there is no doubt that a ready supply of small change frequently greases the wheels of life. In private houses in Italy, by the way, it is customary to tip the cook as well as the other servants.

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Wherever you travel my advice is to deal with Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son, not necessarily, however, with their conducted parties. I do not claim that Cook's are the only good agency—there- are 'others—but now that I am in my second hundred thousand miles of travel, I can claim to have

had some experience in:these matters, and I know that dealing through an agency generally saves time and sometimes money. Cook's have ramifications all over the world and can send a traveller from Cairo to the Cape as easily as they can from London to Cannes or Kobe. They are opening new office§ in Berkeley Street soon, where they will employ nearly two thousand employees ; of course prosperity isn't everything, but no firm can endure and flourish as Cook's has done withOut supplying a public need.

* * * * The American Express Company, who arc the guides, philosophers and friends of visitors to the United States, and whose travellers' cheques pass like coin of the realm all Over North America, are arranging with -the Cunard Steamship Company for a six weeks' sight-seeing tour of Canada and America for members of the English Speaking Union at an inclusive rate of £125, first class throughout. The party sails from Liverpool on April 17th, arrives at Boston on the 25th, sees New York, Philadelphia, Washington, the steel plants of Pittsburg, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec. A truly delightful trip and one which I congratulate the English Speaking Union on inaugurating. I prophesy that in a decade Ave thousand people a year will take such excursions.

* * * * To return nearer home. There are three main gateways from England into Ireland--Belfast, Dublin and Rosslare. I would recommend the Fishguard route to Rosslare, if you

plan to tour Southern Ireland. You leave Paddington' at five minutes to eight at night, reach Fishguard at 1.80 a.m. and have only fifty-four miles of sea to cross to Rosslare, which is reached in the early morning. Good G.W.R. service and comfortable boats await the traveller and the climate in the South of Ireland is generally delightful at Easter. .

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I have left myself no space to deal with England in these notes. The best I can do is to recommend to the reader Messrs. Burrows' excellent series of Guide Books..1 Burrows British Hotels -(price 60.) has aVery-intelligent section called " The Playgidunda of Biitain,-".„ giving just :the information the trayellCr. WintS to knovi, including a selected list of golf courses an& full information as regards other sports and sight-secing.._excuriioris,; while _the, llinstrated alphabetical list of hotels cuts out all unnecessary cackle and comes to the hosses. -What.we. want to know; 'about hotels is what they:are going to charge us, and roughly what they look like. This is told us with economy of time and space in these well-planned and useful guides. Messrs. Burrows also publish a good illus- trated road Tian, for motorists, " On the Road ".(price qd.), and other publications. Travellers in England, whether, by car or train, should get a list of Burrows' Guides. Where Shall We Go ?--Continued.

(Continued from page 549.)

The midnight sun -is visible at the North Cape of Norway from May 11th to July 31st. The tourist season starts at the beginning of June and continues to the end of September, but earlier travel is quite feasible. The charms of a tour through the fjords and magnificent valleys of Norway are renowned and need no comment. Ships: sail three times a• week from Newcastle-on-Tyne, . and the inclusive cost is from £25 15s. for 14 days to. £48 10s. for 30 days, July and early August are the best- •months for fishing. " Angling in Norway," published by the Norwegian State Railways, is available from Bennett's Travel Agency, which specializes in Norwegian travel and is to be warmly recommended to travellers: Camping in Switzerland will be found to be a very pleasant venture and an excellent book recently published (Camping for All. By E. E. Reynolds. A. C. Black, 2s. 6d.) gives sonic useful information relating to parties of schoolboys, but capable of a wider application. A party of twenty-two from London to. Dinard in the .Ardennes have travelled at a combined return fare of 183. Aparty of twenty-four from London *to' Thun paid q24.for return fares, and fqr twenty- five boys to Colmar and return, the fare was £45. The cost of food for the party of twenty-two to Dinard for a fortnight was £30, the Thun party expended £98, and the twenty-five boys who went to the Vosges . £44. These trips, of course, provided a magnificent education for the boys, equal in my opinion to a year of school. .