Q & A
Greenwich Dome Tickets
Q. Is it possible to buy tickets for the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, England, yet? -- Mitchell Peters, St. Louis
A. Although admission prices to Greenwich's much anticipated (and much criticized) Millennium Dome were announced last month, tickets won't go on sale until Sept. 22. Entrance to this high-tech indoor theme park will cost about $33 (at an exchange rate of 60 pence to the dollar); $27.50 for children 5 to 15 (under 5, free); and a family of five will pay $95. The dome is scheduled to open Jan. 1, 2000.
Jacinta Johnston, a spokesperson for the New Millennium Experience Company, which is in charge of the project, said that pricing was announced early so that travel agents could organize packages. So far, at least one British tour-bus company -- National Express, telephone (44-8705) 808-080 -- is offering packages from any city in Britain for $50, including transportation and admission. Ms. Johnston said that other tour organizers, including United States travel agents, will also have packages -- updated information will be posted on the dome's Web site, www.dome2000.co.uk, as it becomes available. A telephone number for ordering tickets, which must be purchased in advance, will be added to the site on Sept. 22.
Twelve million visitors are expected to visit the $1.2 billion Millennium Dome, which, upon completion, will be 164 feet high, 1,049 feet in diameter, with some 20 acres of floor space. 'The Millennium Experience,' the dome's opening yearlong  exhibition, will include 15 thematic zones filled with high-tech games and gadgets, virtual reality and interactive displays that will explore work, leisure, travel, the human body, spirituality and learning (among other topics) in the next millennium.
The dome, designed by Richard Rogers, one of the architects of the Pompidou Center in Paris, has stirred up controversy mainly because of its enormous cost and doubts about whether a new subway line to the site, seven miles southeast of London, will be completed. At this point, the Jubilee Line Extension is scheduled to be completed in late fall.
New York Walks
Q. I will be in New York City in July and would like information on walking tours. -- Alyce Waltzman, San Diego
A. Guided walking tours are a popular summer offering in New York, and you're likely to find at least a dozen in July. You might want to do some preliminary research on exactly what area you wish to explore, since most of the walks focus on individual neighborhoods like Harlem, the financial district and Greenwich Village. Among the possibilities are these:
On July 11 at 1 P.M., The New-York Historical Society and Big Onion Walking Tours are offering a two-hour walk through Harlem. The Abyssinian Baptist Church, Strivers' Row (a group of late 19th-century brownstones on 138th and 139th Streets that were once home to Harlem's elite) and sites associated with the writers Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes are on the itinerary. Participants meet at the northwest corner of 135th Street and Lenox Avenue. The cost is $10, $8 for students and seniors. Reservations are not required. On the day of the tour, call Big Onion Walking Tours, (212) 439-1090, after 10:30 A.M. to verify the schedule. Among other July walks, Big Onion has a Jewish Lower East Side tour scheduled for July 11 at 1 P.M. and a Central Park at Twilight walk on July 1 at 6 P.M.
The 92d Street Y runs a number of tours. A 90-minute walk through Chelsea on July 11 at 1 P.M., for example, takes in the area's Greek Revival and Italianate town houses and art galleries. On the itinerary are the turn-of-the-century Chelsea Hotel on West 23d Street; the Chelsea Market, a blocklong collection of food shops near 15th Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues; and the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, a shady ensemble of 100-year-old red brick and brownstone buildings bounded by 20th and 21st Streets and Ninth and 10th Avenues. For information and reservations call (212) 996-1100. The tour costs $20. The 92d Street Y also offers a tour of the Hudson River Promenade at dusk (July 24 at 6:30 P.M.) and a walk through Union Square's Green Market (July 28 at 10 A.M.).
Other options include a customized culinary tour of Little Italy, Chinatown and other areas through Savory Sojourns, (212) 691-7314 (prices vary), and a guided walk through Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, where Herman Melville and Miles Davis are buried, with Signature Tours, (212) 517-4306 (starting at $30 a person). And if your feet get tired, you can always sign up with Gray Line for a double-decker-bus tour, (212) 397-2620 ($22 for the downtown or uptown tours, $33 for the 'grand tour'). For more information, call the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, (212) 484-1222.
Vancouver B & B's
Q. Can you suggest a reasonably priced bed-and-breakfast (in the $100-for-two range) in Vancouver? -- Shirley Shostell, New York, N.Y.
A. Vancouver has plenty of centrally situated bed-and-breakfasts that provide affordable alternatives to the city's big, expensive harborside hotels. Super, Natural British Columbia, (800) 663-6000, the division of Tourism British Columbia that deals with accommodations, can provide information on such inns. You might also refer to one of the numerous bed-and-breakfast guidebooks, like Pamela Lanier's 'Complete Guide to Bed and Breakfasts, Inns and Guesthouses' (the 1999 edition is $16.95).
Walnut House, for example, is a three-story 1912 Craftsman-style house at 1350 Walnut Street next to the Granville Market, and within walking distance of downtown and Stanley Park. The house has a big front porch and an upper deck, and there are three guest rooms decorated in a country style, each with private baths. The $90 rate for a double room includes a full breakfast (smoked salmon, eggs, fruit, bread pudding). Information: (604) 739-6941, fax (604) 739 6942.
The Manor Guest House, 345 West 13th Avenue, has 10 guest rooms in a four-story 1902 Edwardian building surrounded by English gardens in the downtown area, about 15 minutes from the airport. Six of the large rooms, decorated with English antiques, have private baths. A double room is $59 to $117. The price includes a full breakfast. Information: (604) 876-8494, fax (604) 876-5763.
SUZANNE MacNEILLE