Summertime Favorites for the Frugal

Summer is three months away, and there still is time to apply for some of the least expensive vacations. But these eventually sell out down to the last bed. Now is the time for an immediate letter or phone call to consider the following classic and modestly priced camps, schools and resorts.

* Audubon Weeks in Wyoming, Minnesota, Maine and Connecticut: The classic ecology vacation, at all-inclusive (lodging, meals, instruction, outings) prices that rarely exceed $700 or $800 per person. Taught by some of the most experienced nature and wildlife writers, photographers and other authorities, you’ll live for a week (the dates are scattered throughout the summer) in rustic lodges or tents at awesome countryside properties long maintained by the august Audubon Society. Write for the summer adult catalog at Audubon Camps, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT 06381, telephone (203) 869-2017, fax (203) 869-4437.

* Comfy condos of Orlando: The best possible housing solution for family groups visiting Disney World or Universal Studios, these apartments house up to six people and provide complete cooking facilities for occasional meals. From June till the fall, the complete charge for seven nights is $449. Contact Leisure Link International, tel. (888) 801-8808, Internet https: //www.leisurelinkintl.com.

* Sierra Club “Outings” costing $50 to $80 a day in summer: Attracting some of the most dynamic people around, these include 330 different outdoor expeditions (most for one or two weeks) led by skilled volunteers on a nonprofit basis and conducted on foot, on burros, on bicycles and in kayaks throughout the most awesome areas of America.

The $50-a-day varieties are “service” trips in which participants engage in summer work projects. For $70 and $80 a day, on standard outdoor vacations, you enjoy tent or hut accommodations, supplies carried largely by backpack and hearty meals prepared over campfires. Contact Sierra Club Outings, 85 2nd St., San Francisco, CA 94105; tel. (415) 977-5500. Ask for a back copy of the January/February issue of the Sierra magazine, which lists them all.

* Penland School in North Carolina: At this highly imaginative, well-regarded arts and crafts center in Penland, N.C., room, board and tuition in summer start at $510 (using dorm accommodations) for one week, $945 for two weeks, only slightly more in double rooms. So many are the specialties offered that a two-week stay is recommended. Write to Penland School, Penland, NC 28765; tel. (828) 765-2359; Internet https:// www.penland.org.

* The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y.: Less than a two-hour drive from New York City, this is one of the nation’s best-priced “personal growth” centers. Here in summer, hundreds of people of all ages are in residence at any one time for a weekend or full week of seminars and workshops exploring a broad range of psychological and New Age subjects.

Housing is in simple wooden bungalows and dorms. Meals are communal, vegetarian and delicious (we’ve savored them). Swimming and boating in a pleasant lake supplement the New Age speculations. Most packages are for two- or five-day seminars and workshops, and the prices are low. Two-day packages range from $90 (tents) to $120 (dorms) to $205 to $250 (cabins) per person with three meals a day; prices are higher for five-day seminars. Contact Omega Institute, 260 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY 12572; tel. (800) 944-1001 or (914) 266-4301.