What $100 Buys in... Kraków

On the Bolderhof organic farm in northern Switzerland, near the medieval town of Stein am Rhein, farmer Heinz Morgenegg's cows do more than just make milk—they're also in the hospitality business. Last winter, after his wife returned from a trip raving about a camel ride she'd taken, Morgenegg began to reconsider his heifers' day jobs. "I said to my wife, 'Why don't we ride our cows?'" he recalls. "Then I sat on one cow, and she didn't run away. She just stood there and ate. So I sat on the others, and they all liked it!" Within six months, he'd trained a handful of his cows—Colina, Tesa, Paloma, and Diana—to take people on a four-hour tour of his Swiss pastoral spread. The one-of-a-kind ride starts with some basics: You brush your cow and then walk it around the farm; it's a first date of sorts, so human and beast can bond. After you climb aboard and settle in, the cow ambles along a route flecked with meadows, farmland, and forest. And beginners needn't fret: Cows won't buck or canter. Instead, they saunter as if they were soaking up the scenery—or scoping out their next snack. Fortunately, the outing includes a picnic stop. Riders lunch on smoked sausages and Swiss cheese, while their bovine guides munch on grass. "The whole experience was pretty funny, including the fact that I had to figure out how to balance on a rocking cow!" says recent rider Ute Geprägs. 011-41/52-742-4048, bolderhof.ch, $138.

One of the best experiences I had on a recent trip through the Middle East was one that set me back the least. My boyfriend, Adam, and I spent our first night in the ancient (and breathtaking) red-rock city of Petra, Jordan, in a traditional hotel. After we'd slept off the jet lag—and gotten engaged atop one of Petra's highest peaks—we decided to spend a night at the Ammarin Bedouin Camp, a quick drive away through the desert. As we pulled up to the bare-bones campground, which was little more than the low table you see pictured and a few rows of traditional bedouin tents, we found our unsuspecting welcomer, Mohammad, sound asleep on the cushions in the photo. Yet, without missing a beat, he sprang up from his nap, poured us hot tea, and began gleefully teaching us Arabic words out of my phrase book. We whiled away the morning with Miriam, a lively eyed shepherdess from the next village over, and spent the afternoon riding camels (my advice: Start with a half-day trek, or you'll walk bowlegged for a while) and lamenting the high price of wives in the region with our guide, Faisal. In fact, while I was off in hot pursuit of a baby camel I wanted to photograph, the men gathered around to congratulate Adam—and wasted no time asking how much he'd paid for me. Later that evening, we were joined by two dozen Jordanian police officers on a retreat, a gaggle of French tourists, and a group of American dads, former grad school roommates now touring the world with their families. We took turns trading stories, tips, and future travel plans: Alex, one of their sons, was off the next day to study abroad in Turkey. I hope he enjoys his stay just as much as we enjoyed our time around the campfire, which helped us get to know our hosts and fellow guests in a way we never would have otherwise. But that's often the case when you, literally, take the road less traveled.

Want an Upgrade? Enter here. The upgradees "When my boyfriend asked me what I wanted for my 30th birthday, I told him to put me on a beach on Tybee Island, Ga. But in planning the trip, I fell in love with the architecture and history of Charleston, S.C. Now we're heading to both." —Nicole Frankhouser, Pittsburgh, Pa. Using our powers for the good of the people Nicole Frankhouser might work at Del Monte Foods, but her passion is selling real estate on the side. "I love looking at architecture," she explains. "I've always been intrigued by houses that differ from the ones where I live." For Nicole's first visit to Charleston, we arranged a special welcome for her and her boyfriend, Lee Morris, at Wentworth Mansion hotel. The owners, native Charlestonian Linn Lesesne and her husband, Rick Windman, led the couple through the 1886 building before heading to the rooftop for champagne and hors d'oeuvres. "We had an amazing view!" says Nicole. "Linn even pointed out the house where she grew up. She and Rick made us feel entirely welcome." And that's when Charleston worked its magic: "I looked at Lee, then across the city, and thought to myself, This is what I work so hard for, a moment like this." The next morning, much to Nicole's delight, she and Lee had a private tour of the Nathaniel Russell House, a historic townhouse and museum, before it opened to the public. "It made me fall in love with Charleston even more. I'm already planning a trip back!" Many thanks to... Wentworth Mansion hotel (wentworthmansion.com) and the Historic Charleston Foundation, which runs the Nathaniel Russell House (historiccharleston.org).

What's your best travel tip? Send us your tips, and if we publish one, you'll get a one-year subscription (or a renewal) to Budget Travel. You can e-mail them to us at Tips@BudgetTravel.com. Best Tips Ever The cleverest tips we've ever run are in The Smart Traveler's Passport, a handy book available at Amazon.com and select bookstores. Send us a tip: If yours is one that we illustrate, we'll send you a free book (and a year's subscription to the magazine). 1. Smell the coffee I recently rented a car in Florida, and it came with a host of funky smells that assaulted me every morning when I got in. I took one of the free coffee-filter packs from my hotel room and placed it inside the car. Not only did it absorb the bad odors in a day or so, but it also made the car smell like a warm, inviting coffeehouse! Theresa Drummond, Austin, Tex. 2. Stay Toe-stee I went camping recently, and the weather was unexpectedly freezing. To stay warm at night, my friends and I placed rocks around the campfire for a few hours, and when it was time for bed, we wrapped the hot rocks in towels and each put one at the bottom of our sleeping bags. The rocks kept us toasty warm until the next morning! Lea Bishop, San Diego, Calif. 3. Drive-in theater If you're going on a road trip and you have a DVD player in your car, sign up with Redbox (redbox.com). You can rent and return movies at more than 9,000 locations around the country, including many McDonald's and Wal-Mart stores. This way, you don't have to bother packing loads of DVDs for your trip, and you'll have new movies to watch the whole way. Becky Welton, St. Louis, Mo. 4. A new set of wheels The first thing I do when I buy a new piece of luggage is remove the cheap plastic wheels and replace them with rubber Rollerblade wheels. I've found that plastic wheels break easily, but rubber is more durable, so the wheels are better at surviving the wear and tear of traveling. You can find Rollerblade wheels at most sports stores. Jan Julian, Melbourne, Fla. 5. Wipe on, wipe off Always take some Pledge Wipes with you when you travel—they're great for last-minute touch-ups on leather shoes. Just go over the leather with the wipes, and your shoes will look freshly polished. Cherry Graham, Anderson, S.C. 6. Live like a local If you own a time-share and pay property taxes on it, you probably qualify for a local library card. Just bring a photo ID and a copy of your property-tax receipt to the library. While you're on vacation, you'll be able to use the library to check out books, of course, but also DVDs and CDs. Joe and Kathleen Weber, Missoula, Mont. 7. See for yourself To get a feel for a potential travel destination, I check youtube.com. Lots of people post videos from their trips, and you can learn about specific things you're interested in rather than just the general overview most travel books offer. For example, when I was researching a surf spot in Peru, I found some great footage of the break. Rhonda Hingle, San Diego, Calif. 8. Put a cap on it If you mount your GPS unit on the windshield or dashboard, it will leave a circular mark when you remove it. Thieves know to look for this telltale sign. To be safe, my partner and I mount our GPS unit on the steering column, where it's just as easy to see. When we park the car, we simply put a baseball cap on top of the unit to hide it. Gary J. Kessler, Avondale, Ariz. 9. Don't get upset I'm a flight attendant, and my route includes several mountain towns. The flights can get bumpy, so I carry a tin of strong peppermints with me and hand them out to passengers who are looking a little green at the gills. Peppermint oil, which is found in strong mints like Altoids, is one of Mother Nature's best cures for an upset tummy. S. Reiser, Aurora, Colo. 10. Down-Under deal I learned that the Australian Automobile Association is Australia's version of our AAA. If you're visiting Australia and you have your American AAA membership card on hand, you can often get maps for free and travel guides at discounted rates. Rick Ackerman, Columbia, S.C. 11. Contact solution I often forget my contact-lens case when I travel. To avoid the hassle of having to buy another case, I find two plastic spoons, fill them with contact solution, put my contacts in the spoons, and store them in a safe place for the night. Problem solved! Susannah Whitcomb, Toledo, Ohio 12. Plant a¿book Instead of returning home with the paperbacks you brought on your trip, register them with bookcrossing.com and leave them behind for other travelers. The BookCrossing website lets you track your books as they're passed from reader to reader and go on voyages of their own. Jo Ann Lynn, Germantown, Tenn. 13. It's the balm I always take a tube of natural-beeswax-based lip balm (SPF 15+) with me when I travel. It's almost like carrying a mini first-aid kit. It serves as a lip balm, of course, but also as an emergency sunscreen for my nose, a moisturizer around my eyes, and a blister preventer for my hands and feet. Jay Hammond, Gilbert, Ariz. 14. A taste of the world Instead of bringing back cheap souvenirs for my friends when I travel, I buy a cookbook with recipes native to the place I'm visiting. When I get home, I host a cultural dinner at which I share my pictures and cook some dishes from the cookbook. My friends and family tell me that they prefer the meals because, unlike throw-away souvenirs, the memories of the dinners last forever. Sarah J. Latchaw, Lawrenceville, Ga. 15. Coral relief I've found yet another use for antibacterial wipes. On a beach vacation in Ixtapa, Mexico, I cut my leg on some coral when I was snorkeling. I used the wipes to first treat the cut so it wouldn't get infected. Genny Goode-Chase, San Diego, Calif. 16. In the bag Save the bags when you buy loaves of store-bought bread—they're perfect for packing shoes. They're just the right oblong shape for shoes to slide in easily, and they keep your shoes covered, so the dirt on them won't get all over everything else in your suitcase. Melanie Martin, Huntsville, Ala. 17. Spa secret On most cruise lines, you have to pay for spa treatments, but on some ships, you can use the spa's showers and steam rooms for free. After my daughter and I work out and have a steam session on a cruise, we forgo the tiny showers in our staterooms for the spacious ones in the spa. Also, a lot of spas have relaxation rooms that are sometimes open to any cruiser who wants to get away from the action. April Icsman, Medina, Ohio 18. Sounding off To block out noise on a long flight or in a noisy hotel, I downloaded an 80-minute white-noise track from iTunes onto my iPod. I keep the track on repeat, and it works wonders. It was only $10—which is much cheaper than a sound machine or noise-canceling headphones—and since it's on my iPod, I don't have to pack anything extra. Kim Paschen, Philadelphia, Pa. 19. Work, then play If you love live theater and don't mind volunteering, you can often get free admission to productions when you travel. Contact the theaters in the city you'll be visiting and ask if you can be an usher in exchange for a ticket. I've done this in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Portland, Ore. Renee Silva, Waianae, Hawaii 20. Cool idea If you're planning a vacation and want to bring cold drinks to the beach with you, use a six-pack cooler as a toiletry bag. When you get to your destination and unload your toiletries in the bathroom, the bag can be used as a cooler for the rest of the trip. Kelly Sortino, San Francisco, Calif.