Airfares aren't the only deals in Europe right now.

To cut costs in London, purchase an Oyster Card, a preloaded flash card good for travel within central London on the tube, trams, buses and some National Rail services. The card also gets you two-for-one admission at attractions such as the London Aquarium, the London Dungeon, Shakespeare's Globe Tour and Exhibition, tours at the HMS Belfast, the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, the London Bridge Experience and Madame Tussauds. The two-for-one savings also are offered at many West End theaters and at restaurants across the city. www.tfl.gov.uk and at more than 2,200 Oyster shops.

Manchester, England, is an ideal jumping-off point to reach the countryside resort area of the Lake District (about a five-hour drive from London). Travelers flock to this region for its walking routes through more than 300 towns and villages, along the sea and around the more than 80 small lakes. Seek out the smaller towns away from the tourist-choked Windermere for deals. For information on hotels, inns and bed-and-breakfasts across the United Kingdom and Ireland, www.bestloved.com . Also try www.lakedistricttouristguide.com .

Explore Ireland with a rental car and stay four nights in Irish Country Hotels (a collection of more than 30 individual family-owned properties) from $455 per person. Accommodations are provided with "go as you please" vouchers. Locations are mostly in wooded glens, on lake shores, in fishing villages or in small market towns.

Just over an hour from Belfast is the Antrim Coast, possibly one of the most scenic in all of Northern Ireland, with dramatic beaches and the ruins of castles. www.visitireland.com .

Two-night weekend getaway rates in Budapest, Hungary, for two at the Hotel Andrassy are about $300 in July- August and November-December, and $350 in April-June and September-October. Included is a welcome gift, daily buffet breakfast and taxes. A two-night romance package (about $432 for two) includes a room with a balcony, sparkling wine and chocolates, fresh roses, a candlelit dinner, a three-day public transportation pass and daily buffet breakfast. www.andrassyhotel.com .