The price for a twin room is around pounds 25-pounds 28 per night or for a self-contained flat

The price for a twin room is around pounds 25-pounds 28 per night, or for a self-contained flat from pounds 35 per night.For Spain and Portugal, why not contact Keytel (0171 402 8182) which can book paradors – these Spanish state-owned hotels are often re-built ancient, even historic, buildings and the Portuguese equivalent pousadas, and can be very difficult to book on the spot.In a parador you’ll pay from pounds 32.50 per person per night, but there’s a special deal in some of them for a double or twin room which costs a total of pounds 200 for five nights. Accommodation Line does not accept one-night bookings.Some agencies offer excellent value for money specialising in individual countries, which they know well. Double rooms cost around pounds 26 (per room) per night, and often they can do special deals like three nights for the price of two.Another London-based agency offering family-run b&bs, pensions and two- or three-star hotels is Accommodation Line (0171 409 1343). This company operates to France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain with a double room in Spain and France in a hotel for under pounds 30, b&bs for under pounds 20; in central Barcelona for instance prices start at pounds 23 for a double, pounds 17 for a single, slightly more in the other countries. We want to stay in decent budget accommodation, not in fleapits or YHAs. Should we book rooms ahead or chance finding the right place at the right time? Are there any cut-price agencies we could use?

Gerry Kedger
BristolJill Crawshaw replies:It depends very much on when you go and how you travel. If you are travelling by rail, as most of the stations are near the city centres, there’s plenty of reasonably-priced accommodation in the region of the station – some even have accommodation booking offices and they will try to find what you’re looking for.If you are arriving by air, with the airports a long way from the cities, you might find it better to use one of the accommodation agencies in the UK, particularly during autumn and up to Christmas, the most popular periods for city breaks.The Hotel Directory (0181 770 0123) offers centrally-located hotels, pensions and b&bs in more than 20 European cities, most capitals as well as gems such as Nice, Bruges, Dublin, Seville, Cordoba, Palma de Mallorca, Munich and Geneva.

From Aldershot: adults pounds 3 return, children pounds 2 return (For shuttle bus information, tel: 01256 464501.). We are about to move to London for a year and aim to take advantage of the cheap rail and flight deals to European cities. (For rail information, tel: 0345 484950.)Shuttle bus fares: from Farnborough Mainline: adults pounds 2 return, children pounds 1.50 return. From North Camp: adults pounds 2.50 return, children pounds 2 return. Show ends at 6pm.TicketsAdvance bookings: pounds 15 per adult, children under 16 free.Airshow reservation telephone hotline 0870 901 1998.At the gate: pounds 17 per adult, children under 16 free.Car parking: Free.Getting ThereBy road: located on the A325, 35 miles SW of London accessed via the M3 or A31 Special routes will be in force. London traffic should allow at least two hours.By coach: express coaches from Central London and Heathrow (tel: 0181- 646 1747).By rail and shuttle bus: to either Farnborough Mainline, North Camp, or Aldershot stations where shuttle buses will transfer passengers to the airfield.

But that’s another story that Farnborough will not be promoting this week.READY FOR TAKE-OFF: FARNBOROUGH FACT FILEPublic DaysSaturday 12 September and Sunday 13 September, 1998.Gates open 9.30am Flying display 12.30pm-5pm. Advances are continuous with spectacular gains being made in structures, metals, materials, systems, avionics and global satellite networks aiding navigation and communications. Likewise with engines that burn less fuel and give more power with significantly less emission and community noise.Less charming but a good deal safer? That would probably be Abe’s verdict, especially after what happened to the pilot of that first-ever scheduled passenger flight – he was killed in 1916, just four years later, in a plane crash. Today’s and tomorrow’s jetliners seem to spring from a numerical DNA base – like the 737, (first flight 1956) to a new improved genus number, which in this case is reaching the 900 series. The magic of flying in varying aircraft has gone, as has the adrenalin excitement that Abe was prepared to outbid all others for.While there might be nostalgia, in my case, for more leg-room, flying has at least continued to become safer. There might be more variable seat pricing, more choice of service including meals at times your tummy requires, ordered via seatback video with a vast menu of entertainment. For the business traveller, there will be power points for their laptops with “up and downloading” to their offices, plus more carry-on space.

Some carriers are even considering on-board gambling.Once upon a time, airliners had names Travellers could extol a plane’s virtues or faults Clipper, Dakota, Constellation, Ambassador, Concorde. There will be more flexibility with quick-change interiors where loos and galleys can be moved to create cabins and seat pitches to match the type of traveller on that route. They are talking about gymnasiums, showers, business suites, different lounge areas, double bed cabins, gender-only loos, plus more seat-back entertainment for their 8 Airbus, 340-600 series, due to enter service in 2002.BA, which has recently placed a multibillion order, foresees much the same. The Saunders Roe Princess flying boats of 1950 envisaged the cruise-ship comforts of a promenade area, dinning room and sleeping cabins with chambermaids!Today, Richard Branson’s Virgin wants to make better use of any space beyond seating – which still looks like serried rows – for “more fun, enjoyment and relaxation”. What is interesting in these discussions is that many of the ideas being enthused over today were already practice in the 1950s.BOAC’s transatlantic Monarch service, for example, offered bunk beds on its double-deck Stratocruisers, as did TWA’s Constellations. Few people choose their flight according to the airline these days.