July 19, 2004 -- The Parisians may desert Paris in August, but Londoners don't mind staying home. Late summer provides the best months on the Thames. You, too, can stay out in the midday sun with the Englishmen, enjoying activities like antique shopping, beer quaffing and cricket (sport, not insect) watching. And if you must travel later, now is still the right time to nail down an inexpensive package.

August fun in London includes the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia, from the 3rd to the 7th. The celebration has over 500 different ales, beers and ciders, as well as food from around the world. Details at http://www.camra.org.uk/. If you fancy watching a sporting event not familiar to most Americans, check out the England versus India cricket match at The Oval From the 19th through the 23rd. Catching one or two days of the five-day tournament should be quite enough for most baseball-loving Americans. Check out the details at http://na.visitlondon.com/.

On August 28th, 29th and 30th, you could take in the Notting Hill Carnival, which is Europe's biggest street party, and the second largest in the world (after Rio's Carnival). The main parade is on Monday, Children's Parade on Sunday, Steel Bands Day on Saturday, with scores of floats and hundreds of stalls lining the street. More on this at http://na.visitlondon.com/.

In September, you have a choice of two impressive events. One is the Chelsea Antiques Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall from September 17 to 26, 2004, with plenty of high quality antiques, most pre-1870. Details at http://www.penman-fairs.co.uk/. The second event is the Royal Horticultural Society Great Autumn Show from September 14 to 15, 2004. Absolutely superb! More information at http://www.rhs.org.uk/.

A Late Bargain

If you book by August 1, 2004, you can travel anytime that month to London on a four-night vacation package that puts you at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London, overlooking Green Park and Piccadilly, and just a few steps from Buckingham Palace. The package includes airfare, daily continental breakfast and hotel tax and service charges. The flights would be roundtrip mid week and the cost from Boston or New York is $989. The same package costs $1115 from Miami or Los Angeles, $1149 from Chicago and $1159 from Dallas. Other departure cities are available, so just ask. Contact http://www.eleisurelink.com/ or phone 888/801-8808.

Fall & Winter

If you book by August 15, 2004, you can save quite a bit on fall and winter travel to London, and other European cities, using the United Vacations Winter Early Booking Sale. The offer is for air-inclusive vacations of four nights or longer that include a Saturday night stay. You travel between November 1 and December 9, from December 25 to 31, 2004 and January 11 through March 31, 2005.

Sample vacations to London with lodging at the Henry VIII hotel begin at $434 from New York and Boston, $479 from Washington DC, $509 from Chicago, $544 from Portland OR, $554 from Los Angeles, $559 from Seattle or Denver, and $564 out of San Francisco. Similar vacations are also available to Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, as well as to Dublin, Munich or Vienna. Contact United Vacations at http://www.unitedvacations.com/ or by phoning 888/328-6877.

Note than in none of the packages mentioned above are airport security or airport taxes included.