Travel Tips for Britain and France
By Michael Russell

BRITAIN

The world's best maze. Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey; contains England's oldest and most popular maze. The labyrinth is bounded by high hedges and reinforced with railing to prevent cheating. Arrive by boat from Westminster Pier or by train from the Waterloo station in London (a distance of 10 miles). The palace, which dates from the early 1500s, is open daily 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 10:15 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Monday. (The last entry is at 5:15 p.m.)

The oldest pub in the world. The George and Vulture in London is the oldest pub in the world. The original, called the George, was built in the 12th century. Sir Richard Wittington, the 'thrice-round mayor of London", visited here in the 1500s just as Chaucer (and Chaucer's father) had done earlier. Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift and Charles Dickens were also customers. The Pickwick Club meets at the George and Vulture quarterly and members quote from the many Dickens passages about the place. The fictional Mr. Pickwick, when asked where he spent his leisure time, replied that he was "at present suspended at the George and Vulture". A framed check written by Dickens to the proprietor hangs on the wall.

The best outdoor theater. Penzance, a colorful old South Cornish town of pirates and smugglers, is nearly 300 miles from London. In the summer, open-air opera, including the apt Gilbert and Sullivan work, The Pirates of Penzance, is performed at the Minack Theater at Portcurno. For information tel. (44)1736-810-181. The Minack Theater is carved out of a cliff. The audience watches the performance in the open air looking out over the Atlantic. Take along a warm sweater and a blanket.