Q and A
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Q.
Are there organized walking tours of the Appalachian Trail? -- Virginia Hammel, San Francisco
A.  The Appalachian Trail runs 2,144 miles between Maine and Georgia, and hiking the whole trail would take four to six months. There are 31 clubs that maintain the trail, and each organizes hikes in its section. These are usually day hikes, but sometimes they involve weekends or longer, according to the Appalachian Trail Conference, the umbrella organization for all the clubs. When you know which area you wish to hike, you can find the right club through the conference, at Post Office Box 807, Harpers Ferry, W. Va. 25425; (304) 535-6331.
One of the most active clubs offering guided hikes is the Appalachian Mountain Club with headquarters at 5 Joy Street, Boston, Mass. 02108; (617) 523-0636. Its hikes range from two to eight nights and use the Appalachian Mountain Club hut system along the trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The hikes are offered at easier (three to five miles a day), moderate (four to seven miles) and challenging (five to eight miles, often above tree line) levels. For example, a four-day Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains, including lodging in huts, daily breakfast and dinner, and transportation to and from trailheads, is $285 for nonmembers of the club and $265 for members. Two four-day hikes, the Western and Eastern Huts Traverses, can be combined for $725 for nonmembers.
If you are thinking about trekking the whole trail, Warren Doyle of George Mason University in Virginia offers five-day Appalachian Trail Institutes. Participants learn about what to expect on the trail and cover such topics as what food, clothing and equipment to take, how to send and get mail along the way and the emotional demands of making such a long trek. They take a series of loop hikes, gradually adding to the weight they carry. The $200 fee includes lodging in bunk beds in cabins, and all meals. Mr. Doyle says that only about 10 percent of those who set out to hike the whole trail finish, but those who first take his institute have a 75 or 80 percent completion rate.
More information: Warren Doyle, Appalachian Trail Institute, George Mason University, 13220 Yates Ford Road, Clifton, Va. 22024; (703) 830 9252. Apartments in Tokyo
Q.
I frequently travel to Tokyo and would like to avoid the high cost of hotels. Do you have the names of places to stay in apartments in Tokyo for a week or two? The area around the Palace would be best. -- Susan Stanton, Greenwich, Conn.
A.  The rather posh district around the Imperial Palace contains mainly luxury hotels and few apartment hotels, according to the Japan National Tourist Office. There are several apartment hotels in Tokyo that rent furnished apartments by the day or week, all in locations near trains or subways that make travel to the Palace District convenient. Here are some that have daily or weekly rates. Unless stated otherwise, prices are for one person.
Crystal Village, 1-18-1 Arai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan; telephone 388-7625. There are eight locations in the Nakano area, with prices starting at $135 a week.
Tsukasa Weekly-Monthly Mansion, 6-6-4 Koyama, Sinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 784-0631 for weekly rentals. Prices start at $144 a week.
Sky Court Shimotakaido, 1-1-13, Shimo-Takaido, Tokyo, Japan; 323-4411. Rates start at $54 a night.
International House Ojima, 2-38-15 Ojima, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 636-2277. Apartments start at $47 a night for one person and $70 for two.
Chalet Yayo, 3-21-5 Kami-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 916-7118. Prices start at $292 a week.
In the suburb of Kawasaki, near a Japan Rail station is Sky Court Kawasaki, 12-9-2 Minamicho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture; (044) 233-4400. Apartments start at $30 a night. Australian Open Tickets
Q.
Do you information on how to get tickets to the Australian Open tennis tournament? -- John Fitzgerald, Stamford, Conn.
A.  The Australian Open will take place Jan. 13 to 26 at the National Tennis Center at Flinders Park in Melbourne. Ticket prices will be set this summer, and price information will be available from Australian Southern Tourism, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1270, Los Angeles, Calif. 90067; (213) 553-6352.
Tickets will be sold beginning in August by Ford Australian Open, care of Bass Victoria, General Post Office Box 762G, Melbourne, Victoria 30001, Australia. Prices will be set in July; last year center court seats ranged from $12 (United States dollars) for the first day to $41 for each of the last four days, when the men's and women's semifinals are held. Series were $143 for days 1 to 10, and $160 for the last four days. There are also passes that allow seating at all courts except center court.
A way to be sure of having center court seats is by taking part in a package tour that takes in the Australian Open. One is offered by Steve Furgal's International Tennis Tours, 11828 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 123-305, San Diego, Calif. 92128; (800) 258-3664 or (619) 487-7777. The tour leaves Los Angeles Jan. 12 and returns Jan. 27. Participants first arrive at Auckland, New Zealand, then go on to Sydney, where they attend a performance at the opera house, before going to Melbourne and seeing the final four days of the tournament, as well as the oportunity to play tennis at a local club. The cost is $3,995 a person, including round-trip air, hotels, airport transfers, tennis tickets, daily Continental breakfast and two dinners.
Another package will be offered by Grand Slam Tennis Tours, Post Office Box 5132, 78060 Calle Estado, La Quinta Calif. 92253; (800) 289-3333. The company plans to have three tours, for viewing the early, middle or late rounds of the Open. Prices are expected to be $3,000 to $5,000, the company says, and will include air fare, hotel, breakfasts, one dinner, tennis seats and a city transit pass.
Other companies that will offer packages are Keith Prowse, 234 West 44th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, (800) 669 8687, and Louis Travel, 19 East 21st Street, Suite 3D, New York, N.Y. 10010; (212) 460-8320. Luggage Storage in Lisbon
Q.
I will be passing through Lisbon on my way to Africa and would like to leave several suitcases at the airport and pick them up on my return. Does the Lisbon airport have a storage service? -- Judith Norman, Madison, Wis.
A.  TAP, the Portuguese airline, has a luggage storage facility at the Lisbon airport. The fee is 85 cents a piece a day.