Top 4 Affordable International Trips

Taking a trip to another continent isn’t cheap, but you can save money with these ideas:

Paris
Visit between November and April for the best rates on accommodations and airfare. For free or low-cost fun, plan on doing a lot of sightseeing in the historic public areas and parks. Don’t worry about tipping, as gratuities are often added to your price automatically. But definitely splurge on the world-famous food.

Travel Icons: Big Ben, London

Big Ben is one of London’s most widely recognized landmarks. The name, however, does not refer to the clock tower itself but the 13-ton bell hung within. The bell originally came from the old Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and was given to the Dean of St Paul’s by William III. One can even tell when Parliament is in session because a light shines above the clock face.

Photo credit: Big Ben, London, England (Photodisc/Getty)

Trip Event Alert: Illuminating Hadrian's Wall

In England for spring break? Then don’t miss a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle as the entire length of 84-mile Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail is illuminated with 500 individual points of light on Saturday, March 13. The event at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Roman fortification is part of a nationwide roster of events for British Tourism Week 2010. The first point of light will be illuminated at Wallsend on the northeast coast of England, with the line of light then making its way along Hadrian’s Wall to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria over the following hour. Hadrian’s Wall was built in AD122 by the Roman army on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian, and formed the Roman frontier across the north of England for almost 300 years. In 1987 it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and in 2005 became part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.

Photo credit: Housesteads Crags section of Hadrian's Wall in the north of England (Roger Clegg)