Prague, Quebec City offer charm, great value for travelers

For a vacation with Old World charm where your dollars go further, we recommend two destinations off the beaten track: one that really is overseas and one close to home.

Prague

With its fairy-tale castles and imperial boulevards, Prague rivals the beauty of Vienna, but you'll pay about 20 percent less for food and entertainment. In fact, Prague's signature drink — draft pilsner beer — is a terrific value at about $1.50 a pint. And this capital city of roughly 1.2 million lets Americans avoid the sting of the euro because the Czech Republic uses its own currency (koruna, or crowns).

This past summer, Mary Reilly-Kliss and David Kliss celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary by visiting Prague. Mary calls the city a "visual feast" because it showcases more than 800 years of architectural styles.

• What you'll pay: Airfares are typical for trans-Atlantic travel. From Chicago, round-trip fares vary from $800 in spring and fall to $1,100 in the summer. Hotel rates rival prices in other Western European capitals, and rooms at three-star chain hotels may cost as much as $300 a night.

• When to go: Spring and fall offer the best prices and thinnest crowds.

• Best bargain: Walking and bus city tours go for $10 to $20.

• Money saver: Keep a lid on costs by booking at locally owned inns.

Quebec City

Quebec City offers French cuisine and architecture at about a third of the cost of the motherland. The dollar's unfavorable exchange rate with the euro puts a 22 percent premium on everything in France (except for the disdain, which is still free). The U.S. dollar is 10 percent stronger than the Canadian dollar.

Mark O'Brien has been vacationing inside the city's centuries-old walls for 13 years. Says Mark: "Anyone who has fallen in love with Europe will fall in love with Quebec."

• What you'll pay: Rates for upscale lodgings downtown range from $150 to $300 a night. For example, the boutique Hotel Dominion 1912 charges between $210 and $311 a night, including taxes and breakfast.