NEWS, TIPS & BARGAINS : MILLENNIUM COUNTDOWN

“New Year’s in Vienna” is a weeklong package in the Austrian capital from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5. For $1,466 per person, double occupancy, travelers get round-trip air fare between LAX and Vienna, seven nights at Hotel Schweizerhof in the city’s Old Town, daily buffet breakfast, a three-day public transit pass and discount card, a concert, walking tour and carriage ride. Visitors arrange their own lunches, dinners and New Year’s entertainment, with help from Cassie Hanley Bacher, owner of Sacramento-based All Roads of Travel agency. Call (916) 486-8786.

DEAL OF THE WEEK

Skiers can spend Thanksgiving at Idaho’s Sun Valley for $240 per person, double occupancy, which includes four nights at Sun Valley Resort, three days of lift tickets and a holiday buffet. The package carves more than 40% off peak-season rates. The area averaged 19.8 inches of snowfall by Thanksgiving in 1996-98, as recorded at the Ketchum (Idaho) Ranger Station. The resort also has an extensive snow-making system. Call (800) 634-3347.

For more deals, see our Web site, https://www.latimes .com/travel.

Free for the Asking

“The San Francisco Book: Summer-Fall 1999” is not quite free (there’s a $3 shipping and handling charge), but it is packed with information on tours by foot, ferry, bus and air; restaurants; recreation; maps; and even two full pages of fog facts. A separate guide deals with lodging. To order, call the city’s visitors bureau at (415) 391-2000.

This Week’s Holidays

Banking and government offices will be closed or services curtailed in the following countries and their dependencies this week because of national and religious holidays:

Monday: Afghanistan, Britain, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Peru, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands

Tuesday: Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago

Wednesday: Eritrea, Libya, Luxembourg, Mexico, Slovakia, Uzbekistan

Thursday: Vietnam

Friday: Qatar, San Marino

Source: Thomson Financial Publishing