NEW YORK — The value of the U.S. dollar is surging, gas prices are at their lowest levels in four years, and hotel rates are softening. If you can afford a vacation, 2009 will be "the year of travel deals," predicts Genevieve Shaw Brown, senior editor of Travelocity. "As long as the economic slowdown continues, deals will abound for people who do have discretionary income to travel."

Pauline Frommer, the guidebook writer, agreed. "Because of the sharp dropoff in bookings, we're seeing some pretty deep discounts to just about everywhere," she said, citing as an example Walt Disney World's offer of seven nights for the price of four. "It's definitely going to be a buyers' market next year."

But even though travel is becoming more affordable, more people are expected to stay home due to the recession. The Travel Industry Association predicts a 1.3 percent drop in 2009 leisure travel.

Here are some details on these and other trends, like increased interest in presidential sightseeing, thanks to events like the Lincoln Bicentennial and the Jan. 20 inauguration of Barack Obama.

Travel abroad and the dollar: In April, it cost $1.60 to buy a euro. As of mid-December, a euro cost just $1.36, meaning your dollar goes nearly 20 percent further now.

Travel to Europe by Americans was down 4.8 percent in the first eight months of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. But now, "prices are coming way down, and 2009 may be the year to plan your European trip," said Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com. She cited "two big reasons: the slow economy and the fact that the dollar is gaining on the euro."

The dollar is doing even better elsewhere. An Australian dollar costs just 67 cents in U.S. currency, down from nearly $1 this past summer, and Canadian dollars are worth just 80 (U.S.) cents now. Earlier this year, the Canadian dollar was worth more than a U.S. dollar. And the guidebook publisher Lonely Planet put Iceland on its top 10 destination list for 2009, citing great deals in a country where local currency and the national economy have collapsed.

Cars, trains and buses: Feel like a road trip? Go for it. Gas hasn't been this cheap in four years. A gallon of gas averaged $1.65 in mid-December, down from an all-time high of over $4 a gallon in July.

Between November 2007 and October, Americans drove 100 billion fewer miles than the same period a year earlier, according to the Federal Highway Administration. But Amtrak set a record for train ridership in its 2008 fiscal year — 28.7 million passengers, an 11 percent rise over the previous year.