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The cuisine is not haute, but it is plentiful and fresh, based largely on fish and pork—though the little-traveled Minho region in the far north, the so-called Garden of Portugal, produces tender beef and the celebrated vinho verde. A good three-course meal for two with wine costs $20 or less in better-than-average restaurants.
SPAIN. Though once-cheap Spain gets more expensive each year, enjoyable vacations are still to be had at reasonable prices. Away from overpopulated, overpriced resorts like Torremolinos and Benidorm, the Mediterranean coast is full of inexpensive surprises. One unspoiled Almerian village is Mojácar, a dazzling white nest perched on a hill some two miles from the coast, commanding panoramic views of the sea, valley and mountains, with excellent beaches near by. It has two three-star hotels, the Mojácar and the Moresco ($25 for a double with bath). Dinner for two at several good restaurants should cost $15 to $20, while the beach cafes will serve a lunch of fried fish, paella, salad and a jug of wine for half that. Farther up the coast are Puerto de Mazarron and La Manga del Mar Menor, which has a new casino and two championship golf courses. In most villages there are summer festivals, many celebrating the lively local folk arts.
Spain, like Portugal, has a superlative nationwide network of state-owned inns, called paradores, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. They are mostly in old castles, palaces or monasteries; all have good restaurants serving the specialties of the region and require advance registration. At Alarcon, for example, on the road to Valencia from Madrid, the Parador Marqués de Villena is a 10th century turreted castle, where a lucky visitor may rent a tower bedroom for $22 a night.
ENGLAND. Sir Freddie Laker will get you to London for only $135 from New York City ($199 from Los Angeles), but the bargain stops there. Only stylites, vegetarians and teetotalers are likely to find affordable food and lodging in the capital these days (though first-rate theater tickets cost $10 or less). The answer is to take off for the incomparable countryside, its glowing market towns and villages, cathedrals, festivals—and friendly inns, pubs and restaurants.
One memorable escape route is the Coventry-Stratford-Cotswolds Loop, a drive of 200 to 300 miles that can take a leisurely three or four days, with scarcely a neon sign in sight. (A Leyland Mini rents for about $100 a week, unlimited mileage, and sips petrol as if it were rare brandy.) Coventry has risen nobly from the ashes of its 1940 bombing. Next to the surviving western spire of the late medieval cathedral stands the great modern cathedral with vertical thrusts of rose-colored stone and Graham Sutherland's striking altar tapestry.