Lily Dale, N.Y.

In a city heavily visited by tourists, the difference between the life of the resident and that of the tourist can be gigantic. The two groups inhabit different areas, patronize different restaurants and shops, pursue their entertainment in different places. And most people would agree that the resident-in cities ranging from Venice to Phoenix to London-makes a far more profound and rewarding use of the city than the tourist does. No city better illustrates that point than New York. In this, the first of a series that will deal two months from now with London and then with Paris and elsewhere, Budget Travel explores the life led by New Yorkers, not tourists, and the institutions patronized by them, all in an effort to suggest a better approach to the city for an out-of-town visitor. The theater The "other New York" starts with theater that challenges the mind-something found in New York and a tiny handful of other large cities, but rarely anywhere else. Especially in America, most theaters are places of pure spectacle, escapism, or soothing music meant only to entertain; in New York, theater is a source of provocative new ideas, lifestyles, and beliefs. Though residents may occasionally go to the same splashy Broadway musicals as the tourist, they also patronize a form of more serious drama rarely seen by the tourist: the 200 or so Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theaters in neighborhoods removed from the low-life glitter of Times Square. At least 80 of those "Offs" and "Off-Offs" are described and critically discussed in each issue of Time Out New York ($2.99), found on all newsstands. Consider, for your own dip into cutting-edge theater, the New York Theater Workshop (it developed the show Rent) at 79 East 4th Street, 212/460-5475, $35 a seat, but students pay only $15, senior citizens (over 65) $28, tickets for Sunday night shows $20; the Public Theater (originated A Chorus Line), 425 Lafayette Street, 212/260-2400, about $50 to $60, $15 rush tickets a half hour before showtime unless sold out; Brooklyn Academy of Music for dance, theater, and concerts, 30 Lafayette Avenue and 651 Fulton Street, both in Brooklyn, 718/636-4100, $25 to $75, student/senior rush tickets $10; P.S. 122 (the city's top venue for avant-garde theater and dance), 150 1st Avenue, 212/477-5288, $15 seats. --Pauline Frommer Nightly events Wholly apart from the theater scene, New York is matched only by London in the number and variety of its free or nominally priced evening events (seminars, protests, celebrity signings, readings, and more) to which residents-but few tourists-flock every night. Time Out New York lists most of them, and just as important is the free-of-charge Village Voice, distributed in red dispensers around town. Bulletin boards at bookstores, cafZs, and visitor centers should also be consulted, particularly those near the city's colleges. Off Washington Square Park, at the NYU Information Center (50 W. 4th St., Room 123, 212/998-4636), windows are plastered with flyers, and free copies of Square Notes list the month's events. Uptown at Columbia University, a similar blizzard of postings is found around Alfred Lerner Hall (on your right through the small gate at 115th St. and Broadway). Or simply go online: columbia.edu/cu/news/calendar and nyu.edu/events. --Brad Tuttle The changing art scene Scores of art galleries supplement Gotham's many museums and are absolutely free. The best time to gallery-hop is Friday night, when many spaces hold new-show openings where you can meet the artists and scarf down classy nibbles and free wine. But you won't find the freshest, most exciting up-and-coming talents in SoHo or on 57th Street anymore. The scene today centers on the industrial buildings of Chelsea (20th to 30th Sts. between 10th and 11th Aves.). First to colonize this area was SoHo stalwart Paula Cooper (534 W. 21st St.) and her blue-chip catalog (think Andy Warhol). Other heavy hitters to set up shop in Chelsea include gargantuan Gagosian (555 W. 24th St.); Metro Pictures (519 W. 24th St.); Matthew Marks (522 W. 22nd St. and 523 W. 24th St.); and for photography Sean Kelly (526 W. 29th St.). Don't miss the DIA Foundation's new spaces (545 and 548 W. 22nd St.), or Printed Matter bookshop (535 W. 22nd St.). Looking for hotter, less established artists? The art world's rising stars are at Cheim and Read (547 W. 25th St.), Marianne Boesky (535 W. 22nd St.), Feature Inc. (530 W. 25th St.), and Derek Eller (530 W. 25th St., #2). To help your art search, The New Yorker magazine lists major shows weekly. Also check out artreach.com or pick up Gallery Guide (which nests on gallery windowsills) and discover the newest spaces in the true starving-artist neighborhoods: Williamsburg (Brooklyn), Harlem, and the Bronx.--Reid Bramblett Ethnic societies As the nation's leading international city, New York enjoys dozens of ethnic societies promoting a knowledge of their cultures and histories through exhibitions, libraries, screenings, lectures, and unusual encounters. At a recent retrospective of Yoko Ono's art at the Japan Society (333 E. 47th St., 212/832-1155, japansociety.org), visitors could speak to Ono herself via a live telephone line to her West Side apartment. The Asia Society and Museum (725 Park Ave. at 70th St., 212/288-6400, asiasociety.org) is among the most active: Its several giant galleries run full tilt with art and history shows, and a busy slate of events. Though it normally charges $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students with ID, free for children under 16, it allows free admission on Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Then, located in a palatial 1908 building-one of Manhattan's grandest-the Hispanic Society of America (Audubon Terr., Broadway between 155th and 156th Sts., 212/926-2234, hispanicsociety.org) has the largest collection of Spanish art and manuscripts outside Espa-a itself, and there are rotating exhibits. It's free. Also try: Irish Arts Center (212/757-3318, irishartscenter.org); Czech Center New York (212/288-0830, czechcenter.com); or inquire through consulates of the country you want to learn about. --Jason Cochran Cool industrial tours Hidden in the Big Apple, in the heart of the city's pumping financial district, are stacks of gold bars, part of the nation's treasure, at the Italian Renaissance-style Federal Reserve Bank of New York (33 Liberty St., 212/720-6130, ny.frb.org). On a free hour-long tour, you'll see multitudes of coins and notes from around the world, some thousands of years old, as well as exhibits on the bank's role in the economy. Or take the free Steinway & Sons tour (1 Steinway Pl., 718/721-2600, steinway.com) in Astoria, Queens, to witness the exquisite attentions of some 300 craftspeople as they sand, saw, rub, voice, and string expensive pianos. New York's beverage industry? At the Brooklyn Brewery (1 Brewers Row, 79 N. 11th St., 718/486-7422, brooklynbrewery.com) just across the East River in Williamsburg, you'll see huge copper vats a-brewin' in a 70,000-square-foot space before sitting down in the 300-seat tasting room for sample brewskies. Tours are free on Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. (All of the above tours require reservations.) --Matthew Link Harlem You won't want to miss this dynamic section of New York, up-and-coming and full of life (don't forget Bill Clinton has set up shop here, too). The free Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd. and 135th St., 212/491-2200, nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html) has over five million items like manuscripts, artifacts, archives, photographs, and recordings, many on permanent display. Another must is the famed Apollo Theater (253 W. 125th St., between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Blvds., 212/531-5305, apollotheater.com), especially for its low-cost Amateur Night on Wednesdays, when tickets start at $16. If you love all things African, haggle with the sellers at the daily Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market (52 W. 115 St., 212/987-8131), where you'll find jewelry, clothing, masks, hats, watches, and more. And for food, a good budget choice is Miss Maude's Spoonbread Too (547 Lenox Ave., 212/690-3100), which serves up (many say) the best fried chicken in New York for around $10. --ML Brooklyn Heights Tree-lined streets, stately brownstones (more than 500 homes built before the Civil War), a brick-lined promenade with a magnificent view of Lower Manhattan-all this makes Brooklyn Heights the most elegant neighborhood in the borough, perhaps the entire city, and yet it is a sight scarcely known to tourists. Take just about any subway (N or R to Court St.; A, C, or F to Jay St./Borough Hall; 2 or 3 to Clark St. or Borough Hall), find your way to the cafZs and shops of Montague Street, then meander onto the Brooklyn Heights Promenade for a famous panorama stretching from the Brooklyn Bridge all the way to the Statue of Liberty. Stop by the historic Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims (75 Hicks St., 718/624-4743)-where Abraham Lincoln worshiped on occasion-on your way down to Old Fulton Street. If your legs aren't wobbly yet, stroll back to Manhattan via the walkers' lane of the Brooklyn Bridge for an old-school commute. You'll walk right into another old, grand relic, City Hall. --BT The Staten Island ferry A harbor cruise, for free! Each year, 19 million people use the ferry for the 5.2-mile, 25-minute trip from Manhattan's tip (beginning at the South Ferry subway station) to the northern end of Staten Island, New York's most suburban borough. Along the way is a world-class view of the harbor that put America on the map, including postcard-perfect views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and historic Governor's Island. For the same lineup, tourist tubs charge $13 per spin, but on the Ferry, you see it twice-going and returning. Boats go half hourly (every 20 minutes during rush hour), day and night, but if you time your trip well, you'll enjoy one of America's finest sunset cruises. And are you ready for the best part? In 1817, it cost 25¢ to cross the harbor; since 1997, it has been free. How's that for progress? (718/815-2628; no reservations required.) --JC The Lower East Side The Lower East Side (lowereastsideny.com) absorbed millions of immigrants between 1880 and 1920, and their experience is preserved in the Tenement Museum at 90 Orchard Street (tenement.org). Tours are popular, so book ahead. Of more than 500 synagogues once in the area, survivors include the Moorish-style Bialystoker Synagogue (closed 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) and the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue (eldridgestreet.org), ruinous but on the road to restoration. Though many Central European groups stamped the Lower East Side with their heritage, Jewish life still dominates, from Orchard Street's Sunday market to tiny Essex Street shops selling yarmulkes, tallith prayer shawls, and other religious paraphernalia. Best of all is the food. Sample a dozen different pickles at Guss Pickles (85-87 Orchard St.), nosh candies in the Olde Worlde setting of Wolsk's Gourmet Confectioner (81 Ludlow St.), or sip syrupy Maneschevitz at Schapiro Wine Company (126 Rivington St.). When it comes to baked goods, there's Kossar's Bialys (367 Grand St.) for hot bagels, Yonah Schimmel's Knishes (137 E. Houston St.), and Gertel's Bakery (53 Hester St.) for rugalach and potato kugel. And don't forget the orgasmic pastrami sandwiches at Katz's Delicatessen (205 E. Houston St.), backdrop to Meg Ryan's famous "faking it" scene in When Harry Met Sally. --RB The ethnic restaurants of Jackson Heights Superb ethnic eateries litter all five boroughs, but most New Yorkers agree that the finest concentration is in Jackson Heights, Queens. Grab the number 7 subway for a 20-minute ride from Grand Central to the 74th Street/Jackson Heights stop to partake of Indian, Argentinian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Thai, and Colombian cuisines. North of Roosevelt Avenue, 74th Street comprises a thriving Little India of sari stores, Bollywood video shops, and cheap curry restaurants galore. King of the all-you-can-eat buffets is Jackson Diner (37-47 74th St., 718/672-1232), a multicolored hall with a $6.95 lunch buffet ($8.95 weekends), served noon to 4 p.m., laden with goat curries, lamb vindaloo, and chicken tikka; ^ la carte dinners are equally cheap. At the elegant Argentinian steak house La Porte-a (74-25 37th Ave. at 75th St., 718/458-8111), platters are piled with a sizzling mix of prime rib, skirt steak, pork and blood sausages, sweetbreads, and tripe for $15; wash it down with a bottle of Argentinian wine as red as bull's blood. La Peque-a Colombia (83-27 Roosevelt Ave., 718/478-6528), a cross between a diner and the Brady Bunch den, serves up Colombian home cooking; the massive $10 plato mota-ero swims with beans, rice, ground beef, fried eggs, a split sweet plantain, and a giant pork rind. And throughout the area, you'll find shops selling inexpensive imported delicacies and ingredients that you can't buy anywhere else in the country. --RB Queens for a day Finally, unknown to most tourists, some of New York's museum activity has temporarily moved to former factories in the borough of Queens, the most celebrated being the esteemed Museum of Modern Art (33rd St. and Queens Blvd., 212/708-9400; $12 admission), which will stay there until 2005, when its Manhattan digs will be ready. MoMA's sister space, P.S.1, which is devoted to contemporary art and housed in an old school (22-25 Jackson Ave., 718/784-2084; $5 admission), is almost as important. For lovers of sculpture, the borough offers the serenely Zen Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum (36-01 43rd Ave., its own temporary home; $5 admission) and Socrates Sculpture Park (Broadway at Vernon Blvd.; free), which hosts young artists with big ambitions-and projects. For sheer fun, there's no more entertaining (and educational) spot than the American Museum of the Moving Image, dedicated to film, TV, and video games. Interactive exhibits let you edit film, play with sound effects, even dub your voice over Audrey Hepburn's (35th Ave. at 36th St., 718/784-4520, ammi.org; $10). Linking these sites is the weekends-only Queens Artlink Bus (free), which loops from MoMA to P.S.1 every hour on the hour from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Jump on and off at will. -PF And others We haven't the space to discuss still more: the modern-dance scene at the Joyce and City Center; the Russian community of Brighton Beach; Chinatown; lively Williamsburg, shared by Hasidic Jews and trendy artists; inexpensive walking tours of historic areas booked primarily by residents; unexpected shopping areas (lower Broadway, SoHo); and so on. In addition to finding activities in Time Out New York, visitors should check the Weekend section of the New York Times published on Fridays, and its Sunday Arts & Leisure section. The New Yorkers who avidly read every issue of their famed "newspaper of record" are also fascinated by the "other New York"! (Official info: nycvisit.com.)

There are 8 million experts in New York City--and counting. Everyone who has ever visited has a different opinion about what's essential. Some people love the eclectic nightlife at Joe's Pub. Others will only stay at Second Home on Second Avenue. The problem isn't just filtering out what's best, but keeping up with what's new. (Did you know Louis Armstrong's house is now a museum?) It's an impossible task, even for those of us who live here, but we've become hooked on a website, Manhattan User's Guide (manhattanusersguide.com), which sends out weekday e-mails on everything from the latest hot spots to the most reliable plumbers. The man behind MUG, Charlie Suisman, agreed to cherry-pick a few places you mustn't miss. Take our advice: Take his. We've had many wonderful meals at Mooncake Foods and Grand Sichuan; we've listened to concerts at Bargemusic; we shop religiously at SSS Sample Sale and the Strand. New York is a wonderful town. We love it, Charlie and Jorge love it, and whoever is making the T-shirts sold at Pearl River Mart clearly loves it, too. So read on to learn how you'll love it too, on your next visit. --The Editors Eats New York's temples of haute cuisine get so much attention, it's possible to forget that the real pride and joy for locals--who tend to eat out more than other Americans, on average--is the vast array of modestly priced restaurants serving food from all around the globe. We love to eat at Gramercy Tavern and Chanterelle from time to time, but here are some places where you'll find us any night of the week. Although Chanterelle may be out of the question without a special occasion to justify the price tag, its owners have thoughtfully created Le Zinc, a casual, affordable French bistro. A meal of hanger steak, potato gratin, and tarte tatin for dessert may not be Atkins-friendly, but it's fairly wallet-friendly and delicious. Hanger steak, as much as we like it, isn't a true New York cut like porterhouse or a New York strip. Peter Luger serves the slabs by which all others are judged, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying The Steakhouse at Fairway--Fairway is a grocery store--where $40 gets you a strip steak plus an appetizer and two sides. We may be a red-meat town, but we also have a long-standing love affair with the sea. Get your fill of oysters and grilled fish or try a heavenly lobster roll at Mary's Fish Camp, one of the most popular seafood joints in the five boroughs. As a result of that popularity, waits can be long. But in a city that rarely agrees on anything, everyone loves Mary's. There is no agreement on pizza--fierce battles take place when the question arises of who makes the best. So let's sidestep the entire issue by saying Joe's Pizza does not make the best slice in town. You should go to Joe's anyway, because it may be the most quintessential slice. That means a decently crisp, thin crust, a bright tomato sauce, and plenty of mozzarella (but not too much), served in surroundings that won't encourage you to linger. Anyway, it's very New York to grab a slice and eat it on the run. You're also not likely to linger at Celeste, an Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side. It's too noisy and crowded. You'll be glad you joined the throngs, though, waiting for a table (lines are generally short) for marvelous pastas, pizzas, and secondi at extremely reasonable prices. Don't miss the fried artichokes or the cheeses that the owner, uh, personally transports back from Italy. One of the more unlikely hybrids in recent years has been the gastropub in England. Gastronomy and pub grub were once considered mutually exclusive, but not anymore. The first such restaurant to make a splash here is the Spotted Pig. You may find shepherd's pie on the menu and you'll definitely find hand-drawn cask ale, but April Bloomfield also cooks more sophisticated dishes, such as delectable gnudi--sheep's milk ricotta rolled in semolina flour and sautéed. Moving eastward, culinarily speaking, Moustache (with both an East Village and a West Village location) serves terrific Middle Eastern fare: falafel, hummus, and what they call "pitzas"--baked pitas with a choice of toppings such as lamb or olive oil, sesame seeds, and herbs. And so to the Far East. Grand Sichuan cooks up exceptional Chinese food without making you go to Chinatown (there are several locations, though the one at Ninth Ave. and 50th St. is best). Not only are familiar offerings ideally turned out--once you've had their cold noodles with sesame sauce, it's hard to order the dish elsewhere--but they specialize in dishes you don't come across everywhere else. Choose at least one item from the section of the menu called Mao's Home Cooking. You wouldn't happen upon Mooncake Foods unless you were walking near the Holland Tunnel for some unaccountable reason. And while it looks like a diner, you won't be eating anything like diner food. Instead, you'll be treated to simple but vibrant Asian cooking, with Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai predominating. Just about everything costs less than $10. A few other food-related tips. If you're passionate about food and want to visit some of the city's ethnic neighborhoods, take a guided tour with NoshWalks. They explore the Indian community and food of Jackson Heights, Queens; the Russian enclave in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; and the Irish section of the Bronx, among others. Most tours are $18. For noshing on your own, seek out Chelsea Market, a food concourse in the old Nabisco factory building. Highlights include Amy's Bread, Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, and The Green Table, a small, charming restaurant run by a catering company. Finally, I drop by City Bakery anytime I can. For breakfast, try the superb croissants and rich, smooth coffee. Even if the buffet style doesn't make for a cheap lunch--you're charged by the weight of your plate--you'd be hard-pressed to locate fresher food. Many of the ingredients are from the local greenmarket, which may explain how City Bakery turns vegetables exciting, and there are lovely salads, sandwiches, and a few hot items. Top things off with one of the signature tarts and you just may concede that my New York could, in fact, be better than yours. Gramercy Tavern 42 E. 20th St., 212/477-0777, dinner $72 Chanterelle 2 Harrison St., 212/966-6960, dinner $95 Le Zinc 139 Duane St., 212/513-0001, hanger steak $23 Peter Luger Steak House 178 Broadway, Brooklyn, 718/387-7400, steak for two $74 The Steakhouse at Fairway 2127 Broadway, 2nd fl., 212/595-1888, appetizer, strip steak, two sides $40 Mary's Fish Camp 64 Charles St., 646/486-2185, lobster roll $22 Joe's Pizza 233 Bleeker St., 212/366-1182; slice $2.25 Celeste 502 Amsterdam Ave., 212/874-4559, ravioli $9.50 The Spotted Pig 314 W. 11th St., 212/620-0393, gnudi $11 Moustache 90 Bedford St., 212/229-2220; 265 E. 10th St., 212/228-2022; lamb pitza $8 Grand Sichuan 745 Ninth Ave., 212/582-2288, cold sesame noodles $3.50 Mooncake Foods 28 Watts St., 212/219-8888 NoshWalks 212/222-2243, noshwalks.com Amy's Bread 75 Ninth Ave., 212/462-4338, turkey sandwich $6 Ronnybrook Farm Dairy 75 Ninth Ave., 212/741-6455 The Green Table 75 Ninth Ave., 212/741-6623, sandwich of the day $10 City Bakery 3 W. 18th St., 212/366-1414, tart $5 Shop This is a competitive town, especially when it comes to shopping--we regard it as a sport like any other. Do some warm-up exercises at Century 21 (designer clothes at deep discounts) and J&R Music and Computer World (electronics). Limber up at Broadway Panhandler for kitchenwares. Get your heart rate going at Housing Works Thrift Shop, where the proceeds benefit people with HIV/AIDS. If you're born to shop, though, you'll want to test your game at some of the secret stashes. The city is known for its grandes dames of retail, department stores such as Bloomingdale's and Bergdorf Goodman, all of which can be a fine outing. But the Chinese version, beloved Pearl River Mart, is even more fulfilling. It has a quirky selection of housewares (a lamp in the shape of a take-out carton for $19.50), herbal remedies, musical and writing instruments (calligraphy pens, bamboo flutes), and all kinds of goodies that make creative, inexpensive gifts. If you're prowling for smart-looking, well-designed objects for your home, it's hard to beat--and equally hard to pronounce--Mxyplyzyk (mix-ee-pliz-ik). It's also hard to say exactly what you'll find there, since the stock changes frequently, and Mxyplyzyk specializes in things that you can't get everywhere else. Suffice it to say, kitchenwares, bags, toys. After you've accessorized the rest of your house (or apartment, we New Yorkers being more about the latter) with stuff from Mxyplyzyk, stop by The Bathroom, a store in the West Village with a clear-enough fetish. Savor the fabulous soaps from Europe, as well as towels, skin-care products, and candles, including an alluring cranberry-currant scent from a company called Er'go Candle. Kids and sweet-toothed adults must put Dylan's Candy Bar on their list. A bright, colorful emporium--note the peppermint-swirl bar stools--Dylan's has it all, from old-fashioned Charleston Chews to Dylan's own chocolate truffles. The displays are clever. Order an overflowing gift basket devoted to sugary goodness. No points for decor at the next two spots, but there are treasures within if you're a book, record, or CD collector. Footlight Records specializes in original cast recordings, soundtracks, vocalists, and spoken word. So whether you're clamoring for Rodgers and Hart rarities or an Ennio Morricone film score, this is the place to go. The Strand now proudly boasts "18 miles of books," on every conceivable subject. The basement is the best: In a fairly organized fashion--surprising, since the Strand isn't known for its organizational abilities--are reviewers' copies of new fiction and nonfiction at about half the retail price. And now, a place that even most New Yorkers haven't heard of: On the third floor of an office building, the decidedly low-key 17th Street Photo is better than the better-known B&H Photo. A friendly staff offers great prices on cameras (both film and digital), video cameras, photo printers, and binoculars. If what you're really interested in is clothing, you've come to the right place. New York is full of fashion bargains. The very best way to score designer duds at gentle prices is to hit the sample sales that are held daily. Originally, sample sales consisted of the pieces used in a designer's showroom or on the runway, but the definition has expanded over the years to include a wide range of never-worn merchandise priced to move. Some sample sales are big, well-planned affairs, others are a mess, and merchandise quality varies. But with a little patience and homework--check New York or Time Out New York magazines the week you're visiting for current listings--you can save over 90 percent off retail. One place that hosts sales almost every week is called SSS Sample Sale --it's always worth scoping out. Another terrific source for clothing deals is vintage or consignment stores. Take the word vintage with a grain of salt: You may indeed snag a '60s Dior dress or an even earlier couture piece, but only after looking at lots of clothes from as recently as last year. I like browsing the racks at Fisch for the Hip (the name comes from owner Terriann Fischer), a consignment shop for men and women, because Fischer seems to take in especially sharp pieces, including the usual suspects--Prada, Gucci, et al. Should your purchases need a little extra sizzle, M & J Trimming , in the Garment District, has endless choices of rhinestones, ribbons, buttons, and trim. One last stop before you head home. Flight 001 stocks anything you need to take some of the sting out of travel: onboard amenity kits, games, sleeping masks, luggage, totes, CD players, and noise-canceling earphones. It's almost enough to make flying out of JFK bearable. Century 21 22 Cortlandt St., 212/227-9092 J&R Music and Computer World Park Row, 212/238-9000 Broadway Panhandler 477 Broome St., 212/966-3434 Housing Works 143 West 17th St., 212/366-0820; 306 Columbus Ave., 212/579-7566; 202 E. 77th St., 212/772-8461; 157 E. 23rd St., 212/529-5955 Bloomingdale's 59th St. and Lexington Ave., 212/705-2000 Bergdorf Goodman Fifth Ave. at 59th St., 800/558-1855 Pearl River Mart 477 Broadway, 212/431-4770 Mxyplyzyk 125 Greenwich Ave., 212/989-4300 The Bathroom 94 Charles St., 800/856-9223 Dylan's Candy Bar 1011 Third Ave., 646/735-0078 Footlight Records 113 E. 12th St., 212/533-1572 Strand Book Store 828 Broadway, 212/473-1452 17th Street Photo 34 W. 17th St., 3rd fl., 212/366-9870 B&H Photo 420 Ninth Ave., 212/444-6615 SSS Sample Sale 261 W. 36th St., 2nd fl., 212/947-8748 Fisch for the Hip 153 W. 18th St., 212/633-9053 M & J Trimming 1008 Sixth Ave., 212/391-9072 Flight 001 96 Greenwich Ave., 212/691-1001 Play Start with an unbeatable art world doubleheader--a visit to the Frick Collection followed by a jaunt through the Chelsea gallery district. Inside Henry Clay Frick's beaux arts mansion, 18 galleries of Western art are home to three works by Vermeer, as well as paintings by Degas, Rembrandt, and Gainsborough; then there's what I think of as the "Fun With Fragonard" room. It's a compact, heady spin through the masters. A world away, though only on the other side of the island, is the headquarters for contemporary art in New York: Galleries by the score have made their homes over the last few years on the less and less gritty blocks of far west Chelsea. There are major galleries, including Gagosian, Matthew Marks, Sonnabend, and Paula Cooper, but rather than seek out particular ones, I like to wander through the byways. That means exploring vertically--many galleries are tucked upstairs in nondescript buildings. The city has always enthusiastically put out the welcome mat for musicians, and few have been more welcome than Louis Armstrong. Since last fall, Armstrong's Corona, Queens, home has been open to the public. He and his wife, Lucille, lived there for decades and you'll find original furnishings, his reel-to-reel recorder, and one of his gold-plated trumpets, all suffused with Satchmo spirit. Spirit of an entirely different sort is in evidence nightly at Don't Tell Mama, a piano bar and cabaret in the Theater District. There's no telling what to expect--a musical revue, a cabaret singer, or a Judy Garland impersonator. Joe's Pub, adjacent to the Public Theater in the East Village, is named for the theater's late founder, Joseph Papp. Joe's has perhaps the most exciting roster of singers, musicians, comedians, and assorted offbeat acts anywhere in the city. Crazy ideas somehow work in New York, and listening to chamber music on a barge on the East River is among the craziest. Yet Bargemusic is an absolute treat! Audiences listen with rapt attention to world-class musicians while staring out the window at a view of the Manhattan skyline; as music fills the room, the old barge sways and creaks. After such subtle sophistication, the new Times Square is a sensory overload. Take in a Broadway show by all means, but don't overlook the more intimate off-Broadway theaters. Playwrights Horizons (which sent I Am My Own Wife over to Broadway, winning the 2004 Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor) always seems to be up to something interesting. You may catch a work from a rising star playwright or even a musical. The first preview of each production has a limited number of pay-what-you-can seats. If you have children in tow, Broadway shows may be too expensive, too long, and not geared to their ages. That's where the New Victory Theater comes in. All shows are meant for kids and their families, running times tend to be on the short side, and the top price is $30. Best of all, productions are generally first-rate. Kids will also have a blast at the American Museum of the Moving Image, in Astoria, Queens. Despite the fancy name, this is a fun place for all ages. There are interactive exhibits, screenings, and a collection of costumes and props that includes the chariot from Ben-Hur. Central Park, which turned 150 in 2003, has never been more beautiful, and it maintains its considerable charms in all seasons. But the big news comes from the string of parks that have sprouted up along the Hudson River in the past few years. They start at the southern tip of Manhattan with Wagner Park--from which you can admire the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island--and continue northward, jutting occasionally onto reclaimed piers. It's still a work in progress, but eventually the parks will extend all the way to Riverside Park on the Upper West Side. Walking along the Hudson, you'll see people of all shapes, sizes, and colors enjoying the city we've all come to appreciate ever more ardently. Going to Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center towers stood, is a pilgrimage for many visitors. The rebuilding is now under way and visible from the viewing area, but also be sure to stop into St. Paul's Chapel--miraculously unharmed in the tragedy--directly across from the WTC site. In the weeks following the disaster, rescue workers and cleanup squads found refuge at the chapel. A permanent exhibit recounts those days. A stroll away, in Battery Park City, is the Skyscraper Museum . It's a fascinating exhibit, irresistible to anyone who loves cities. Even if we all know that no city can possibly compare with this one. The Frick Collection 1 E. 70th St., 212/288-0700, frick.org, $12 Gagosian Gallery 555 W. 24th St., 212/741-1111, gagosian.com, free Matthew Marks Gallery 523 W. 24th St., 212/243-0200, matthewmarks.com, free Sonnabend Gallery 536 W. 22nd St., 212/627-1018, free Paula Cooper Gallery 534 W. 21st St., 212/255-1105, free Louis Armstrong House 34-56 107th St., Corona, Queens, 718/478-8274, satchmo.net, $8, kids $6 Don't Tell Mama 343 W. 46th St., 212/757-0788, donttellmama.com Joe's Pub 425 Lafayette St., 212/539-8778, joespub.com Bargemusic Fulton Ferry Landing, Dumbo, Brooklyn, 718/624-4061, bargemusic.org Playwrights Horizons 416 W. 42nd St., 212/564-1235, playwrightshorizons.org New Victory Theater 209 W. 42nd St., 646/223-3020, newvictory.org American Museum of the Moving Image 35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria, Queens, 718/784-0077, movingimage.us, $10, kids $5 St. Paul's Chapel 209 Broadway, 212/233-4164, saintpaulschapel.org The Skyscraper Museum 39 Battery Pl., 212/968-1961, skyscraper.org, $5

As one looks at Europe on a globe, the little country is practically dead center. Some 60 miles east of Venice, across the flat and crystalline waters of the Adriatic Sea, Croatia is a boomerang-shaped nation that soaks up Mediterranean coastline even as it juts deep into eastern Europe's mountains and farmland to Hungary. Until the late 1980s, it was an epicenter of tourism, with some five million foreign visitors flooding the city of Dubrovnik alone each year. That was then. In the early '90s, post-Communism set off a messy power struggle. The last time most of us saw Croatia, it was imploding live on CNN. Peaceful now for nearly a decade, Croatia is again attracting Europeans to her secluded beaches and her tangled streets. Yet for Americans, Croatia remains forgotten. The whims of twentieth-century politics reshuffled it into a blind spot between worlds, but it's gradually reentering the mainstream. A baby democracy of royal parentage, it remains as Italian as Venice, as Austrian as Vienna, and as much Caesar's as Rome. As a first-time trip reveals, Croatia holds some of vacationdom's biggest surprises: a Roman emperor's palace and one of earth's largest gladiator coliseums. The most spectacular walled city known to Europe. Some of the most scenic coastal drives on the planet. Olive oil, pizza, seafood, truffles. Long afternoon siestas, charming cafes. Best of all, it presents the U.S. tourist with a refreshing price structure, though not as low as its shambling economy might denote. Businesses are savvy to big-spending Germans and Italians, so prices are not only quoted in the local kuna (kn) but also often in euros (U), so learn the U to kn exchange rate (at press time, about 1 to 8) to guarantee the best deals. ($1.15=U1 and $1=7kn.) Still, in spite of this confusing pricing system, with my help Croatia can give you a dream Mediterranean vacation at $25 a night for a room with a view, $8 for a meal, and $2.50 for attractions. Try beating those prices in haughty France or aggressive Greece. For more information: Croatian National Tourist Board, 800/829-4416, croatia.hr. Zagreb: Vienna's sister Tourists touch down either in Dubrovnik or here, the inland capital of Hrvatska (Croatia's local name). Some zoom straight to the coast, but wise ones linger in this fine, manageable city that recalls the Beaux Arts zenith of the Hapsburgs. Actually two medieval towns fused into one and embellished by neoclassicists, Zagreb has zero tourist culture, and so no traps. There are plenty of authentic elements worth losing yourself in, such as squares of proud Vienna-style buildings and clattering trams, a network of prim parks, and a stash of capital-quality museums. Those include the studio of legendary sculptor Ivan Mesÿtrovic the broad Mimara art collection, beqeathed by a tycoon; and a densely curated city museum (all around 16kn/$2.30 each). But Zagreb's most welcoming feature is a proliferation of unhurried cafZs-its dominant social mode. Bring a book and steep in the atmosphere awhile. Croatians don't eat out much, so restaurants are priced for foreigners ($8 to $18 a full meal wherever you go). If they eat out at all, Croatians prefer pizza. Here, pizza isn't gloppy with grease like it is at home, but a genuine meal, and every block has a cheap, classy, sit-down pizzeria serving fresh ingredients like prosciutto, chilies, and octopus. It's your fallback, too; expect to pay 20kn/$2.85 to 40kn/$5.70 for a foot-wide pie and expect to leave satisfied. Room & Breakfast: Unlike on the coast, the concept of quality budget lodging is as fresh to Zagreb as tourism itself. Two-year-old Hotel Dora gets it right, with quiet, pleasant rooms a 10-minute walk south of the train station, at downtown's edge (Trnjanska 11e, 01/63-11-900). Doubles are 277kn/$40 per person, singles 307kn/$44, including breakfast. On the central shopping avenue, Ilica, about a mile west of the main square, Trg Jelacÿic«a, is Hotel Ilica, small but neat and from 449kn/$64 a double, 349kn/$50 a single, including breakfast (Ilica 102, 01/37-77-522, hotel-ilica.hr). Zagreb's HI (Hostelling International) hostel is a grim, Red Star-era tourist prison, so hop the #11 or #12 tram to the custom-built Ravnice Hostel (1 Ravnice 38d, 01/23-32-325, ravnice-youth-hostel.hr; Ravnice tram stop), airy and singing with wind chimes beside the fragrant Krasÿ chocolate factory. In addition to two double rooms, it has what must be the cleanest toilets in the hostel universe, and all beds cost 99kn/$14 a night. Zagreb info: zagreb-touristinfo.hr. Dubrovnik walled wonder At the southernmost tail of the country's coast (in the region called Dalmatia, as in the dogs), Dubrovnik has always been special. Its skyline alone, one of the world's most stirring-ranking with Manhattan, Hong Kong, or Cape Town-has awed for centuries. For half a millennium, until Napoleon, it was an independent city-state, accountable to no one and awash in riches, and that age endowed it with treasures. Twelve years ago, for eight memorable months, Serbian rebels shelled Dubrovnik from the hills above while residents cowered in the city's 700-year-old fortresses. Most of the damage has been repaired and aside from the glow of new roof tiles, most visitors wouldn't know. Disaster has long courted Dubrovnik, anyway; a 1667 earthquake did still worse damage. Old Town is the fortified area bisected by the gleaming avenue Stradun and capped everywhere by those famous earthen tiles, and it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site brimming with attractions: the Franciscan Monastery, with its delicate arches and 700-year-old pharmacy; Ono-frio's Fountain, from 1444, festooned with spitting faces; the assiduously carved Rector's Palace; the Dominican Monastery's priceless art and the well that quenched the thirst of residents during the war; the cathedral's polyptych by Titian (shockingly, exposed to sunlight) and its overstuffed reliquary of withered martyrs' bones and fingers. Nothing's more than 15kn/$2.15 to enter. You could roam here for days. Dubrovnik's singularity, manifest in the spectacular medieval walls that encircle it for one-and-a-quarter miles (don't miss walking them for 15kn/$2.15), is hard to dismiss. Some claim just being on its white stone streets, with no cars or skyscrapers to shatter the illusion of time travel, verges on a mystical experience. People come to stroll, loiter at cafZs, and swim where the Adriatic laps gently at ancient fortifications. (And when cruise ships disgorge the hordes, they escape to the beaches.) As one wanders the alleys and bright squares, all the outdoor cafZs seem identical-risotto for around 50kn/$7.15, meat dishes for 90kn/$13, and so on-but locals whisper praise for the one called Moby Dick, beneath the last remaining medieval balconies on Prijeko. Also sample the local taste for strolling with ice cream; at 10kn/$1.45 a cone, dessert covers a lot of ground. As is often the case with postwar societies, Croatians come across as a touch numb, showing few signs of the passion that fueled the recent bloodshed. Inland, farmhouses remain bulletpocked and burnt, but in Dubrovnik, emotional scars lie deep. When I told one resident I live in New York City, she murmured with solidarity. This woman, a survivor of the Dubrovnik terror, had the single most sympathetic question anyone ever asked me about September 11. "Did it make a terrible sound?" she asked, and perhaps remembering her own trauma, probed no further. Room & Breakfast: Most low-cost/package hotels land you three miles west of Old Town, by the beaches and away from the magic. There are two hotels within city walls, but one charges $226 a night and the other $150. So one of the cheapest options (still a 15-minute walk west from the Pile Gate) is Fadila Vulic« B&B (Dr. Ante Starcÿevic«a 54, 020/412-787), 250kn/$36 to 300kn/$43 per room, breakfast 20kn/$2.85. Five minutes farther, the front-facing rooms at Hotel Lero (Iva Vojnovic«a 14, 020/341-333, hotel-lero.hr) have distant sea views; B&B rates are 290kn/$41 a person, double, and 420kn/$60 a single, and high summer costs 25 percent more. The best option, though, is to rent a villa owned by absentee western Europeans. Consult the British brokers Croatian Villas (011-44/20-8368-9978, croatianvillas.com) or Hidden Croatia (011-44/20-7736-6066, hiddencroatia.com), for summer flats for as little as $350/week. Up that to $100/night for abject opulence. To get a famous view of Old Town, you must splurge; I loved Grand Villa Argentina (Frana Supila 14, 020/440-555, hoteli-argentina.hr). Cascading down a cliff to the very lip of the Adriatic, it's where reporters stayed during the siege in 1991-92, so its sensual Old Town panorama was made iconic by CNN. Outside of summer, its modern (renovated in 2003) rooms are in the middle $100s-money you can avoid paying by choosing a cheaper place, but far less than comparable quarters at home. For Dubrovnik area information, see tzdubrovnik.hr. Split: Roman holiday If the Palace of Diocletian were in the middle of, say, London, it would be a beloved treasure. Instead, in Split, two thirds of the way down the coast of Croatia, it's furniture. The Palace was built for a Roman emperor in a.d. 295. Still inhabited, it's now an open-air warren of boutiques, hidden pubs, and smoky shrines. Split is the second-largest city in Croatia and the port for its most appealing islands. It's also perfect for hanging out. Simply sipping espresso under the weathered porticos and Corinthian columns is one of the finest diversions I've had in Europe. Croatia's glittering swatch of the Adriatic-glassy smooth and because of natural currents, among the cleanest of the whole Mediterranean region-was once just an outer borough of Rome. North of the Palace are more Roman remnants, and three miles inland are the ruins of the city of Salona, complete with a still-working aquaduct (free). In addition to the Palace (free), tony shopping, and all those seafront cafZs, there's Trogir, a seaside village (and, like the Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) of Renaissance-era glory. It's 30 minutes away via the port's bus station (14kn/$2 each way) and makes for a film-gobbling day out. The sculptor Mesÿtrovic«'s estate, a 25-minute walk west of town, is a showcase for his arresting handiwork (15kn/$2.15). Croatia's main highway runs perilously but spectacularly along the coast in both directions from Split, and it makes for a world-class multiday drive. Room & Breakfast: Don't be afraid, here or anywhere in the country, to lodge in private residences. Older women who have lost their sons and husbands offer sobe, or rooms, for pocket money (think $15 to $35). Bargain, but ask how far from town the house is. Lodging within the Palace: the basic but warm Prenoc«isÿte Slavija (Buvinova 2, 021/347-053), hidden up a staircase behind Jupiter's Temple; rooms with shared bath are 317kn/$45 double, 233kn/$33 single; private baths are 70kn/$10 more. The impressive Bellevue (J. Bana Jelacÿicc«a 2, 021/347-499) is humdrum but ideally located, and some rooms face the Riva quay; 560kn/$80 double, 375kn/$54 single, summer about 70kn/$10 more. Croatia is one of the few places you can afford luxury; Hotel Park (Hatzeov perivoj 3, 021/406-400, hotelpark-split.hr), a former palace on a trendy section of the sea, costs E61/$70 to E67/$77 per person double, E93/$107 to E103/$118 single. Split info: visitsplit.com. Hvar: Adriatic relic In a country with 1,185 islands, there are plenty of choices for offshore escapes. No Croatian vacation is complete without a stop on at least one. Korcÿula has sword dancing, Pag is renowned for tart cheese, and Mljet is a forested national park. Here is the Adriatic of Jason and his Argonauts, of pirates, and of Marco Polo. Even the region's stone is famous; nearby quarries dressed the White House and the U.N. Hvar, though, may be the quintessential Croatian isle. Scented by fields of wild lavender, its heart is the hamlet Hvar Town, which curls around a row of coves and is adorned with Venetian architecture, a knot of narrow streets, and a hilltop fortress. Hvar Town's lures, besides authenticity and a ban on cars (park outside the city walls), include a seafront Franciscan monastery with its century-old cypress garden and over 200 pristine Greek and Roman coins; a theater dating from 1612 said to be the first in Europe to admit commoners; a glorious central square full of soccer-playing kids; and the castle above it all. All tickets cost 15kn/$2.15, tops. Room & Breakfast: Arrive via a 90-minute Split-Stari Grad car ferry (E29/$33, each way with car) and drive 30 minutes across the island. Croatians are aggressive drivers; let peevish bumper-huggers pass. For Hvar Town, book early. Hotel Slavija (021/741-820) is 157kn/$22 double in winter to 420kn/$60 double B&B in summer. Hotel Palace (021/741-966) is $7 to $15 more and closest to the square; full board costs about $7 more per night if you stay three or more nights. Hotel Amfora (021/741-202), a 15-minute walk past town on the water, is a very '70s megaresort on a private beach charging 188kn/$27 to 503kn/$72 double, with breakfast, depending on season and view. Either Hotel Palace or Hotel Slavija remains open for winter. All three hotels are online at suncanihvar.hr. Hvar info: hvar.hr. Rovinj: Venetian charmer A vacation in Istria, or northwest Croatia, might as well be one in Italy, such are the slouching brown buildings, olive-oil-washed cuisine, and laconic company. Rovinj ("roe-VEEN-ya") is one of the most striking images of nautical Europe: A lordly cathedral with a jumble of houses gathered in its skirts, all rising abruptly out of the azure sea. Rovinj was developed by the Venetians, and the Italians can't seem to let go; thousands drive in (Trieste is less than an hour north) to throng its winding, cafe-lined waterfront, where floating markets sell sponges, shells, and other knickknacks. Most tourists plant themselves on a beach or on an outlying island for at least a few days of a stay. But a 45-minute southerly drive brings you to Pula, home to one of the world's largest Roman coliseum ruins (16kn/$2.30), still used as a theater. Other relics: the Arch of the Sergians (30 b.c.; free) and the Temple of Augustus (about 2 b.c. but rebuilt; free). Room & Breakfast: Book early to beat the Italians. There are few cheap options in town. The only high-capacity hotel with the requisite view of the Old Town is the concrete package-tour mill Hotel Park (I.M. Ronjgova bb, 052/811-077), E31/$36 to E60/$69 per person, with breakfast; for all meals add 20 percent. Hotels within the Old Town aren't cheap but might be worth it, since fussing with parking in this car-free town is a trial. The Hotel Villa Angelo D'Oro (Via Svalba 38-42, 052/840-502, rovinj.at) is a richly accented Venetian charmer, E55/$63 a person, winter, to E96/$110 a person, summer, with breakfast. Hotel Adriatic, on the noisy main square, is a good choice (E31/$36 to E52/$60 a person in a double, with breakfast, seasonally; 052/815-088, adriatic@jadran.tdr.hr). Private flats are the least expensive route; they range E20/$23 to E45/$52 a night for two, based on season, and can be arranged via inforovinj.com. Regional info: tzgrovinj.hr (Rovinj), istra.com (Istria). Croatia: tips and quirks Phones When calling Croatia from North America, first dial 011-385 and drop the first zero. It's six hours ahead of our East Coast. Hotels Most were communist-designed, so midpriced ones are often as good as top-price ones; guests are required to surrender their passports, usually over the first night, to be registered with police; on May Day (May 1) and in July and August, book ahead. Languages Croatian; also widely spoken are German, Italian, and English. Eating Restaurants fill after 7 p.m.; waiters allow patrons to linger all night if a bill isn't requested; always ask if "service" is included to avoid stiffing the waiter; if liqueur is offered, it's not a swindle-it's a traditional post-meal courtesy. Driving Major names like Avis and National rent compacts ($20 to $30/day); add $10 a day for automatic transmissions, and choose a vehicle tiny enough to navigate those medieval alleys; towns are well marked but roads aren't, so find a map packed with names. Shopping On the coast, businesses close in mid-afternoon and reopen for evening. Inland, they observe regular hours. 6 ways to get there from home or Europe Air Croatia Airlines (croatiaairlines.hr) flies to Zagreb from major European cities (London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Frankfurt). Internal flights are cheap (Dubrovnik-Zagreb one way: about $60). Ferry Routes from Italy include Venice-Rovinj (Venezia Lines, 21U2 hours, E42/$48 one way, venezialines.com) and Ancona-Split (multiple companies, 41U2 hours or overnight; E47/$54 to E79/$91, traghettionline.net). Domestic routes are covered by Jadrolinija (jadrolinija.hr). Trains Zagreb-Budapest (five hours, $39, raileurope.com), Vienna (six hours, $57, raileurope.com). Many people train to Trieste, Italy, and drive or bus from there (about 30 minutes). There are no high-speed capabilities, and the coast is not adequately served by rail. Packages Go-today.com now sells Dubrovnik, including air on Lufthansa, transfers, and a hotel for six nights with breakfast, for $599 from November to March (from New York; other cities available for slightly higher rates). Or fly to England to catch a British package, which are plentiful; in 2003's peak season (July), there were weeklong stays in Dubrovnik, with airfare, for £395/$649 by Holiday Options (011-44/870-013-0450, holidayoptions.co.uk). Charter yacht Croatia-based ABEO (011-385/33-800-833, croatia-yachtcharter.com) rents boats sleeping four to six from E1,100/$1,265 a week (motorboats), E1,600/$1,840 a week (sailboats). Cruises Costa (800/462-6782, costacruise.com), Royal Olympia (800/872-6400, royalolympiacruises.com), and MSC Italian (800/666-9333, msccruises.com) are moderately priced lines that visit Croatia on wider itineraries, but unfortunately, none stay long.

Our car climbed higher and higher into what increasingly looked like the mountain realm of an ancient ice king, a frozen Never-Summer Land in the Canadian Rockies as beautiful as it is eerie and awing. Steep rocky peaks cloaked in snow stood sentinel like castle towers guarding the massive glaciers around us. Though it was late spring the wind blew cold, and dark clouds seemed ready to unleash a blizzard at any moment. I half expected Frosty the Snowman to come scampering over the ice warning us to turn back. We were headed north on the aptly named Icefields Parkway. It's a glacier-lined stretch of road that easily manages to out-dazzle all the rest of the almost non-stop scenic spectacles to be found on a five-day, 900-mile drive east via the Parkway from Vancouver in British Columbia to Calgary in Alberta in western Canada. I first explored the Canadian Rockies as a new college grad with only a few leftover bucks in my wallet. Go today, and you could get by almost as inexpensively, given the current weakness of the Canadian dollar. Right now, the whole country is a bargain. Meal prices, especially, are amazingly cheap. On that initial trip, I mostly camped. But serious budget travelers who don't want to rough it can take advantage of the dozen or so hostels that line the route, including a choice of appropriately woodsy looking hostels at Banff and Jasper national parks in the heart of the Rockies that charge under $18 U.S. per bunk. Still too Spartan? No problem: Quality hotels, motels and lodges, which might be considered too pricey in other years, now are surprisingly affordable thanks to the favorable exchange rate. For the money, you're rewarded with some of the most magnificent mountain views in North America. The high peaks of the Canadian Rockies, soaring to 12,000 feet, stretch northwest through a mostly wilderness landscape from Glacier National Park in Montana on the U.S.-Canada border across the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia to the Yukon Territory. In every direction, dense evergreen forests blanket the mountainsides, here and there broken by rolling grasslands. Seemingly countless lakes, many a startling blue or green, catch the eye. And cascading streams race through deep, hidden canyons or plunge in spectacular falls. At higher elevations, the woodlands give way to Arctic-like tundra and ultimately to barren, snow-draped crags. As I re-read these words, I realize I've painted an intimidating picture of the Rockies, but this is the impression I've retained from my first encounter and from more recent visits (non-camping) with my wife Sandy. Still, just where you need them, bustling resort towns and other pockets of civilization have sprung up--though in places perhaps a little rough-edged as befits their frontier-like setting. It's from one such pocket to the next that I've plotted a basic five-day itinerary, budget- priced, that could be extended as money and time allow. Along the way, you'll have opportunities to hike, stroll across a glacier and soak in a hot springs pool. In Banff National Park, the trail not to be missed leads into Johnston Canyon. Deep and narrow, the rocky canyon turns its little creek into an incredible splashing frenzy of whitewater. In a gusty wind, you'll get wet. And keep your eyes open for wildlife. One morning in Jasper, I awoke to see a half dozen elk nibbling at grass beside the lake in front of our cabin. Once, a herd of woolly bighorn sheep brought traffic to a halt as they grazed on a rocky ledge just above the Icefields Parkway. Getting started The itinerary described below takes you one way from Vancouver to Calgary, the most convenient and scenic route. But flying into Vancouver and out of Calgary (or vice versa), while it saves you time, isn't the most economical routing. Unfortunately, the one-way drop-off charge for renting a car in one city and returning it to another can add as much as $250 to $300 (U.S.) to a week's rental. Rather than fork over that extra sum, consider adding a day to the itinerary and returning the car to the city where you rented it. You would have to retrace only a very small portion of the route already traveled. A check of the Internet shows Hertz (hertz.com/) offer rates as low as $106 (U.S.) from Vancouver for a week's rental of an economy class car with unlimited mileage. (Budget's one-way rental charge is $379.) Similarly, air fares may be cheaper by flying into and out of the same city. Air Canada and most major U.S. airlines serve both Vancouver and Calgary. Another money-saving option: Fly into and out of Seattle, about 145 miles south of Vancouver. By doing so, you can take advantage of lower air fares on such discount airlines as Southwest, Frontier, America West and America Trans Air. On the Internet, National (800/227-7368) has been quoting a one-week rental from Seattle beginning at $127 with unlimited mileage. The itinerary weaves through or near several national parks. If you plan to stop (rather than only driving through), consider purchasing an annual Great Western Pass. For entrance to the 11 western Canadian parks, the price is $54 U.S./$70 C and can be used by up to seven adults. Otherwise, the daily park fee is $7.70 U.S./$10 C per car; half price for solo travelers. For information: Parks Canada, 888/773-8888, parkscanada.gc.ca/. All rates below are listed in both U.S. and Canadian dollars, based on the exchange rate of $1 Canadian equals just $0.77 U.S. at the time I wrote this story. Lodging rates are for two people except where noted. Prices are for summer high season; room rates drop substantially from fall to spring. Major roads remain open in winter but can be treacherous in snow storms. Day one: Vancouver to Kamloops, 215 miles At Hope, a gold rush town barely two hours out of Vancouver on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1), the scenic show begins. For the next 65 miles to Lytton, the roadway clings to a precarious ledge above the Fraser River as it races, splashing and foaming, through a narrow canyon. Ice-topped peaks tower overhead. Canadians regard this twisty stretch, tunneling repeatedly through rock walls, one of the Trans-Canada's' most challenging. Stop at Alexandria Bridge, where the highway crosses the Fraser, to get a good look at the canyon upriver and down. Just beyond at Hell's Gate, the narrowest part of the gorge, take a Hell's Gate Airtram (adults, $8.48 U.S./$11 C) 500 feet down the cliff side to the river's edge for the views and a Visitor Center lesson in salmon lore. The little town of Lytton, where the Thompson River joins the Fraser, claims to be Canada's river rafting capital. Here Highway 1 leaves the Fraser and follows the Thompson past the former fur trading post of Cache Creek and on to the crossroads city of Kamloops. En route, the terrain levels and the highway enters a high desert country of grasslands, sagebrush and cactus. The region's fur trading past is detailed at the Kamloops Museum (donation requested). Just north of town, picnic and swim in the warmish (really) lake at Paul Lake Provincial Park (no charge). Details Stay in Kamloops. You'll find the cheapest rates at the 75-bed Hostelling International Hostel (250/828-7991), $15.63 U.S./$20.28 C per bunk for non-members; private rooms, $37-$83 U.S./$47-$108 C for up to five people. Elsewhere, try the 36-room Alpine Motel (800/270-1260), $61 U.S./$79 C; the 68-room City Center Travelodge (250/372-8202), $71 U.S./$92 C; or the 203-room Best Western Kamloops Towne (800/665-6674), $116 U.S./$150 C. Dine at the ABC Country Restaurant; a full homespun country meal featuring Salisbury steak, potatoes, a vegetable and roll comes only to about $7 U.S./$8.99 C. The Hostelling crowd favors Peter's Pasta for its similarly cheap fare and hefty portions. For information: Kamloops Visitor Information Center, 888/526-5667, venturekamloops.com/. Day two: Kamloops to Banff, 305 miles Expect a long, but gorgeous day of mountain sightseeing as Highway 1 continues east through four national parks: Mt Revelstoke, Glacier, Yoho and Banff. I suggest quickly covering the first 130 miles from Kamloops to Revelstoke, which is where the most dramatic views begin. Out of Revelstoke, keep watch for fields of summer wildflowers as the road traces glacier-spawned Illecillewaet River. Glacier ice drapes the granite peaks high above. In Mount Revelstoke, take a short hike on the Giant Cedars Interpretive Trail, a forest path that provides insights into the ecology of the park's lush, wet woodlands. In Yoho, detour five miles north to aptly named Emerald Lake, one of the country's most photographed gems. Paddle a rental canoe to enjoy it up close. At Spiral Tunnels, take in the Yoho Valley views while pondering the task of building a railroad through these daunting ranges. For now, skip Lake Louise (we'll be back) and continue on to the resort city of Banff for the night. Details Stay in Banff. Budget choice is the quite spiffy 216-bed Banff International Hostel (403/762-4122), $21.60 U.S./$28 C per bed for non-members; $49-$55 U.S./$64-$72 C for a private room for two. Elsewhere, check into the 52-room Red Carpet Inn (800/563-4609), $96 U.S./$125 C; the Banff Voyager Inn (403/762-3301), $104 U.S./$135 C; the 27-room Homestead Inn (800/661-1021), $107 U.S./$139 C; the 21-room King Edward Hotel (800/663-3126), $84 U.S./$109 C; 65-room Irwin's Mountain Inn (800/661-1721), $90 U.S./$145 C and the 70-room High Country Inn (800/661-1244), $120 U.S./$155 C. Dine at the newly refurbished Bruno's Café. Tops on the menu is the Canadian maple-glazed salmon plate, $11.57 U.S./$15 C. For a less urban setting, stay at (unfortunately) pricer Lake Louise, 35 miles north. Two options are the 150-bed Lake Louise International Hostel (403/522-2200), $21.60 U.S./$ 28 C per bunk for non-members; $64 U.S./$83 C for a private room for two; and the 232-room Lake Louise Inn (800/661-9237), $122 U.S./ $159 C. For information: Banff-Lake Louise Visitor Information Center, 403/762-8421, banfflakelouise.com/. Well-priced bed-and-breakfast lodgings in Banff and Jasper (see below) can be booked though Canada West Accommodations (800/561-3223). Rates range from $73-$135 U.S./$95-$175 C, including breakfast. Day three: A free day to relax and explore the Banff area For all their wild and rugged grandeur--this is grizzly country, after all--Canada's Rockies are in some ways surprisingly tamed. Like Europe's very civilized Alps, tourist-swamped Banff is dotted with shops, inns and even an occasional Victorian "tearoom" along its scenic walks. American visitors, accustomed to sharply restricted development in U.S. parks, may be surprised by the extensive commercial development here. I can think of no U.S. national park with the equivalent of the sprawling Banff townsite. Nevertheless, the village, sitting as it does at the foot of several prominent peaks, is an attractive and fun place to spend a day. The Bow River rushes through its heart, dashing onward down a canyon and over a wide falls. Colorful flags line Banff Avenue, the main street, giving the whole community a festive air. My favorite spot, especially after the long drive getting to Banff, is the Upper Hot Springs, a giant outdoor hot tub pool perched on a mountain ledge overlooking Bow Valley. At 93 degrees, the steaming water keeps away the chill any season of the year. The springs, operated by Parks Canada, is open until 11 p.m. nightly ($5.75 U.S./$7.50 C). Sandy and I soaked under the stars. Details Spend a second night in Banff. Dine this evening at the Barbary Coast Bar & Grille, a lively pub featuring English-style fish and chips with a salad for $6.90 U.S./$8.95 C. Day four: Banff to Jasper, 175 miles I don't think I'm in any danger of raising your expectations too high when I say that you are about to experience one of the world's most beautiful mountain drives. From Banff, take the Bow River Parkway north to Lake Louise, stopping en route for the short, moderately steep--and thrilling--hike into Johnston Canyon, where the creek splashes down a series of spectacular waterfalls. At Lake Louise, pause for a romantic stroll around this small alpine lake that sets the standard for beauty by which all mountain lakes must be compared. You surely will agree that it is graced both with an ideal setting--a fairytale land of mountain peaks, green forests and snow-covered glacier--and its exquisite turquoise color. The Icefields Parkway begins just to the north, and your head may swivel antically trying to capture all the views along its route. To the left, a sliver thread of a waterfall plunges over a cliff, its wisp of a stream caught in a breeze and tossed right back up the mountainside. To the right, a jagged mountain ridge soars above, its sawtooth edges outlined in snow. Ahead looms Athabasca Glacier, one of the largest and most accessible of the region's many ice flows. More than a half mile wide and four miles long, it slides at (ahem) glacial pace down the mountainside to near the parkway. A short trail leads up the ice for first-hand glacier trekking, or you can join a snow coach tour ($20 U.S./$27 C adults) departing from the Icefields Visitor Center.For information: Columbia Icefields Snowcoach Tours, 877/423-7433. From the Icefields, the parkway descends into the quiet little resort town of Jasper, where you will find one more natural spectacle not to be missed. About 12 miles north of town at slender Maligne Canyon--"The Valley of the Wicked River"--the Maligne spins and churns through a deep, rock-lined channel that seems in places barely an arm's width wide. A trail follows its progress, crossing the chasm by bridge at especially good viewing spots. You can't beat this show as a rousing climax to a magnificent mountain drive. Details Stay in Jasper. Here again the budget choice is the 84-bed, chalet-style Jasper International Hostel (877/852-0781), $17.70 U.S./$23 C per bunk for non-members; private rooms, $37 U.S./$56 C for two. Four more rustic (and cheaper) hostels in the Jasper area can be booked though the same number. Other lodgings: the 61-room Athabasca Hotel (780/852-3386), $68 U.S./$89 C with shared bath; 56-room Jasper House Bungalows (780/852-4535), $108 U.S./$140 C; and the 100-room Maligne Lodge (800/661-1315), $140 U.S./$189 C. Dine on the ribs and chicken combo ($11.55 U.S./$14.99 C) at Earl's in the Rockies or the curried pork chop plate ($13.80 U.S./$18 C) at Fiddle River Seafood Company. Day five and six: Homeward bound If you're flying home from Calgary, retrace your path south on the Icefields Parkway and east on Highway 1 to the Calgary airport, 210 miles. If you are returning to Vancouver (or Seattle), take Highway 16 west through scenic Mount Robson Provincial Park to Highway 5 south to Kamloops for a sixth night, 300 miles. Connect next morning to the Coquihalla Highway, a high-speed toll road ($7.70 U.S./$10 C), to Hope and continue on Highway 1 into Vancouver, 215 miles. More information Travel Alberta 800/661-8888, discoveralberta.com/ Tourism British Columbia 800/663-6000, hellobc.com/ Travel Canada travelcanada.ca/