September 15, 2004 -- Tired of holidays at home with your relatives? Give thanks; it's just the right time to begin planning a Thanksgiving or winter vacation in London. It's a brilliant time to visit, with the theater and museums going at full steam, plus royal-ringed ceremonies back in full force after a summer hiatus. Highlights include bonfires on Guy Fawkes Day (November 5), the Lord Mayor's Show on November 13, and the State Opening of Parliament, featuring a grand procession in which the Queen drives from her palace to Westminster (November 26 or later).

Off Peak Traveler (http://www.offpeaktraveler.com/) has a nice bunch of departures from November 22 through November 26, 2004, for a three-night stay in London, with roundtrip air included, costing just $369 per person (double occupancy). You fly on Virgin Atlantic or British Airways, and at your hotel (at the Mina House Hotel or similar), you have lodging with private bath and daily continental breakfast. Service charges and taxes are additional, $159. Add-on fares look like this: $50 from Boston or Philadelphia; $75 from BWI or Dulles; $125 from Atlanta, Chicago or Detroit; $175 from Dallas, Houston, Miami or Orlando; $200 from Los Angeles or San Francisco; and $225 from Phoenix or Seattle.

Off Peak Traveler (http://www.offpeaktraveler.com/) also has several winter deals for departures from November 2004 through March 2005, starting at as little as $399 per person (double occupancy) on their Best Buy London promotion for six nights at the Mina House Hotel (private bath), continental breakfast daily, hotel taxes and service charges. That's for selected departures on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. For departures in September and October, add $90 to the package price. Add-ons from Boston cost $40; from Washington IAD $80; from Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles or San Francisco $200.

They also have other programs costing from $425 per person and a Best Buy London for Students from just $299 per person, the latter for only three nights in London.

Liberty Travel (888/271-1586; http://www.libertytravel.com/), based in the New York area, has a deal that you must book by September 30, 2004, although travel is from November 1, 2004 through March 24, 2005. For just $319 per person, you get three nights in the Royal National Hotel plus roundtrip air from New York on American Airlines.

If you've made your own way to London and need a place to stay, check out Coach House London Vacation Rentals (http://www.rentals.chslondon.com/), where you have a choice of sleeping at the Coach House itself (from $50 per person per night, including a big English breakfast), or of renting one of their 70 properties, which range form cozy apartments for two up to grand mansions that sleep up to 12.