by Beth Habian, Features Editor

So, it’s time to plan your next trip and you’re thinking… Europe. But you’d like to venture to a place not yet overrun by tourists, an area of rugged, natural beauty, one where the streets of the local towns still whisper the secrets of those who walked there centuries ago. Is there such a place left to be discovered? I believe there is, and it’s called Extremadura.

An introduction

Extremadura is an autonomous community in western Spain, bordering Portugal. Characterized by mountainous terrain, it is renowned for its varied wildlife and is especially popular with bird-watchers.

It is also a place of pilgrimage, drawing large numbers of the devoted to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of three Black Madonnas in Spain.

But it is perhaps best known as the home of the conquistadores, a good number of whom were born in the area and returned after amassing their treasures, leaving their mark on towns such as Trujillo and Cáceres.

In March ’08 I had the opportunity to visit the area as part of a historically focused tour offered by Martin Randall Travel (phone +44 [0] 20 8742 3355, www.martinrandall.com), based in London.

The only American on the tour, I enjoyed the enthusiastic company of my fellow travelers, many of whom were veteran Martin Randall tour takers. Singing the praises of the quality of the company’s offerings during our first night’s dinner, they left me with great expectations for the eight days to come.

The focus

We began our journey in the town of Zafra, where we were introduced to our group’s lecturer, Adam Hopkins, and his wife, Gaby Macphedran, who served as our tour director. Jumping straight in, Adam gave an overview of the region to familiarize us with Extremadura’s place in history.

A font of knowledge, he would regale us with information on each area we visited, from its historical connections to its importance to the people living there today, even throwing in a bit of local politics for good measure (our visit was very close to the election date for Spain’s prime minister).

One thing that travelers should be aware of when thinking about booking this particular itinerary is that it focuses on the history of Extremadura and the people connected to the region.

Martin Randall specializes in small-group tours, each with a particular theme: art, architecture, gastronomy, archaeology, music or history. And they’re serious about it; their 8-day music tour of Berlin, for instance, includes three operas plus a concert.

You don’t by any means have to be an expert in the area or the subject you’ve chosen (that’s what the highly educated lecturers are for), but to get the most out of your tour you should possess a genuine interest in the topic.

The other notable thing about this tour is that it involves a great deal of walking, and most of the towns visited feature hilly, cobbled pathways. Alternatives are provided for those not wishing to climb the steep streets and stairs, but some of the interesting sites on the schedule might be missed.

There were two optional walks on this tour as well. I missed the first, through the Sierra de Guadalupe mountains, because I had caught a nasty head cold. However, those who did participate returned with ruddy cheeks, after about four hours of walking the undulating hillsides, and reported that it was quite taxing.

I did take part in the second walk, which took us from a cattle farm visit through a lovely rural landscape. This walk was quite a bit shorter and on a level trail and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The sights

We visited a number of quaint Spanish towns where we found beautiful plazas, cathedrals, museums and even some Roman ruins. My favorite town of the trip had to be Trujillo, where getting off the bus felt like stepping back in time, its narrow, climbing walkways winding their way through centuries-old stone buildings.

Right at the top of my list as well was our visit to Mérida with its Roman ruins and spectacular museum of Roman artifacts. The Museo Nacional de Arte Romano was definitely worth the visit.

I was touched by our visit to the monastery at Guadalupe, seeing pilgrims singing, crying and kissing an image of the Virgin as they filed past the ornately dressed statue. And I had a really enjoyable day out at the Finca El Vaqueril, riding in an open bed behind a tractor to see this family-run farm with its beautiful Retinto cattle.

Our morning walking tour of Cáceres, though accompanied by unseasonably cold weather, was also wonderful — made ever the more enjoyable by the narration of the fabulous local guide.

For the first-time visitor to Spain this might not be the right tour, as the towns visited are a bit more austere than the more grandiose cities of, say, Barcelona and Seville, but for those looking for an educational look at an authentic, little-visited section of Europe, it could be the perfect fit.

The food

Most meals during our nine days in Spain were included in the price of the tour, and the food, in general, was good. Hotel breakfasts were basic but adequate and offered a variety of selections. We had a few group members who required special dietary considerations, and at every meal Gaby made sure they were accommodated. (Martin Randall asks that participants indicate any special dietary requests in their pretour correspondence.)

One standout meal was at the Finca El Vaqueril, where our starter of fresh tomato and goat cheese was incredibly tasty. Our evening at Restaurante Torre de Sande in Cáceres was also notable. The menu was creative (filet of sole stuffed with mushrooms and prawns and steak stuffed with figs), and each dish was beautifully presented. Fixed-menu prices averaged €35 ($54).

The included meals on this tour were preselected, but there was ample opportunity to select the items of my choice during several independent lunches and two independent dinners. I was a bit concerned about dining independently, as most locals didn’t speak English and my Spanish vocabulary includes only about a dozen words, but Adam and Gaby always welcomed those not wishing to venture out on their own to join them, kindly offering their assistance with menu selections.

For one lunch, in Cáceres, a small group of us decided to give a local restaurant a try. The staff at Restaurante El Racó de Sanguino (Plaza de las Veletas, 4) kindly opened a bit early for us (meals in Spain start later, and the restaurant was scheduled to open for lunch about a half hour later at 1:30), and we were the only diners in the restaurant.

Prices were slightly higher than average, as the restaurant is located in the old section of town (my monkfish entrée cost €21, or about $33), but the food was wonderful, the service, friendly and unrushed, and the little extras — an amuse bouche before the meal and a complimentary handmade truffle to accompany the after-meal coffee — made this an extra-special memory.

To keep us going between meals, every day included at least one stop for coffee, tea or other beverage.

The accommodations

With the exception of the modern hotel in Cáceres, which was still nice and very well located, the hotels in which we stayed belonged to the Paradores of Spain group, adding an extra sense of authenticity to this tour.

Hotel Parador Hernán Cortés in Zafra boasted a beautiful arcaded central courtyard, perfect for escaping the heat and enjoying a cocktail, while the Parador de Jarandilla de la Vera, where we spent our final night in Spain, once served as the home of Emperor Charles V.

All of the properties were lovely and included the usual amenities. The only complaint I can make is regarding my room at the Parador de Jarandilla de la Vera, which was situated in a newly refurbished section of the property.

The room was beautifully decorated and included a sleek, contemporary bathroom, but while lying in bed trying to get to sleep, I could hear every sound the people in the room above me were making, down to the swishing of water in a bathtub. Others staying in this section, on the lower level of the hotel, expressed similar problems, but those staying in rooms in the older section seemed to fare better.

The details

Martin Randall’s 2009 Extrema­dura tour is scheduled for March 13-21. The all-inclusive cost of £1,940 ($3,820) per person includes round-trip airfare from London Gatwick to Spain, all meals as noted on the itinerary (with wine), and all gratuities for waiters, drivers and guides. Single supplement is £285 ($561).

This tour operates with a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 22 participants.

Beth Habian was a guest of Martin Randall Travel.

by Henry S. Lee, Houston, TX

My wife and I took a memorable 2-week Greek vacation in August ’07, spending four to five days each in Crete, Santorini and Athens. We traveled only to Greece because we had missed it on a previous trip and we wanted to focus on one country to experience it more in depth.

My wife and I are budget-conscious, independent travelers. As such, we take public transport, eat in low-key restaurants, shop for local groceries and visit neighborhoods not typically mentioned in tour books. One exception to this is our choice of lodging; we prefer higher-end rooms in which to unwind and be comfortable.

Crete

We started in Crete and found it to offer varied pursuits, from archaeological site visits and outdoor hiking to wine tasting. We based ourselves in Crete’s largest city, Heraklion, which had the trappings of a large town, including many restaurants, museums, outdoor markets and Orthodox churches.

We visited the large Minoan archaeological site at Knossos and the Boutari Winery at Skalani, both of which required a local bus ride (bus No. 2) from Heraklion’s bus station close to the port.

We took a one-way bus from Heraklion to Knossos and a one-way from Knossos to Skalani and planned to take a one-way back from Skalani to Heraklion, all of which cost a total of €6.20 ($9.60) for two. All of these routes are operated by local metro-type buses with ineffective air conditioning.

While Boutari is in Skalani, it is nowhere near the bus stop. In fact, bus route No. 2 ended at an intersection in what appeared to be a small residential neighborhood. Luckily, we tracked down a shopkeeper who showed us a “shortcut” to the winery, about a kilometer away. The “shortcut” took us away from the main road, through small trails around vineyards and past some small homes.

Boutari Winery is set on a very large tract of land along rolling hills. It is anchored by a modern visitor center where you can buy a tour, sample wine with crackers, etc., and, of course, buy wine to go. For the tour and a sampling of three additional wines not included in the tour, we paid €6 each. The tour made a quick stop in the actual vineyard, where we sampled the various grape types.

For someone planning a similar visit, I would advise taking a round-trip taxi from Knossos to Boutari. To avoid the uphill, kilometer-long hike back to the bus stop during the afternoon heat, we had the Boutari guide arrange a taxi to Knossos for us.

On to Santorini

Santorini strikes a balance between natural beauty and commercial development. In the town of Fira, we found jewelry and leather boutiques, T-shirt stands, souvlaki and gyro shops, dramatic beaches and wonderful sunsets and views.

Our hotel, Villa Renos (phone +30 22860 22848, www.villarenos.com), provided remarkable vantage points for enjoying the sunset. This 7-room, family-run hotel is managed by Vassilis, and the breakfasts, included in our room rate of €231, or $359, per night, were prepared by his parents. The fruits, vegetables and eggs were from their family farm, and the pastry spreads were homemade.

Our room, while fairly small and standard, was clean and comfortable. The highlight was the personal touch provided by Vassilis and his parents, who gave us local dining recommendations. One nearby place, Lucky’s Souvlaki, offered filling gyro souvlaki sandwiches for €1.50.

Villa Renos is located about a 10-minute walk from Fira’s bus station and about 30 steps down the hill from the main pedestrian walkway that borders the top of the cliffs. The hotels down this series of steps are not accessible by taxi. We saw some hotels farther down this path that were perhaps over a hundred steps away, so if your mobility is a bit limited, you should inquire about a hotel’s location and accessibility from the main road.

From our hotel room, we could see Santorini’s volcano top inside the caldera. There are many excursion options available to see the volcano, and we opted for the one that included a swim at the hot springs (€16, or $25, each).

We enjoyed the volcano but felt rushed, as we were allotted approximately an hour and a half to scurry to the top of the volcano and back down to our sailboat before heading out to the hot springs.

We would recommend skipping the hot springs. The water did not appear to be very clean and, due to the shallowness of the water, the excursion boats stopped about 30 meters short of the springs, requiring a swim and precluding nonswimmers from getting to the site.

Upon returning to the old port from the excursion, there were three options to get back up to the top of the caldera and the village of Fira: 1] taking a cable car (€4 per person), 2] riding a donkey up the stairs or 3] walking up the same set of stairs used by the donkeys (maybe 600 steps). We chose to take the donkeys and paid €5 per person, but others paid €4 per person the day prior, perhaps because of cruise ships tendering loads of tourists to the old port on the day we were there.

We traveled to Santorini primarily for relaxation and the views. As such, we sat on the beaches and took in every sunset, including one from Oia, a village about 25 minutes from Fira by bus. We paid €2.50 each for the round trip.

Many others had the same idea about traveling to Oia and returning immediately after sunset, so the 40- to 50-seat bus was crowded, with standing room only. Oia’s sunset was spectacular, and the effect of the setting rays on the primarily whitewashed stone facades of Oia’s buildings was no less dramatic.

Athens

In Athens, the sightseeing highlight was visiting the major archaeological sites, including the Acropolis, the Roman agora, the ancient agora, the Theater of Dionysus, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Keramikos (a cemetery) and the Theater of Herodes Atticus.

We purchased a combination ticket (€12, or $18.50) which provided access to all of these sites except Herodes Atticus, which is open only during live performances. However, we were able to stop and enjoy a view of the theater as we wound our way up the Acropolis from its northern entrance.

The combination ticket can be purchased from any of the six sites. Of those, we enjoyed the ancient agora the most as it was the best preserved, with a comprehensive museum and little ongoing renovation work. We skipped Keramikos since we could basically see the rows of ruins from the elevated street level.

While the major sites are located in a fairly compact area, we opted to buy the weekly public transport pass (€10 per person), entitling us to travel on the subway (which we used for multiple trips to the grocery store and sites), the tram (for a trip to the beachfront), trolley buses (to Panathinaiko Stadium) and blue buses (to Athens’ Bus Terminal B). We saved immeasurable time and gained convenience by not having to gather change and buy and validate tickets every time we stepped onto public transport.

Delphi day trip

As for the buses to Terminal B, we took No. 24 from Amalias Avenue, just west of the National Garden, to Terminal B to take a regional bus on a day trip to Delphi. Terminal B, on the Praktoria stop, is located off the bus route in a fairly nondescript group of buildings. We had the good fortune of finding a local who discerned that we were looking for Terminal B and alerted us as we arrived at the Praktoria stop.

Delphi is very much worth a visit, but be sure to plan enough time to visit the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, the old gymnasium and the Delphi museum. We took the second scheduled bus of the day from Athens and had only about 2½ hours to see Delphi. (We had to skip the museum.) Add the fact that the Delphi bus stop is about one kilometer (including hills) from the sanctuaries, and we felt rushed on our visit.

If you are planning a day trip, I’d recommend taking the very first bus of the day (7:30) from Athens to Delphi (€13 per person, one way) and the next-to-the-last bus on the return (departing at 4:00). I would advise against taking the last bus back to Athens in case it gets canceled unexpectedly. I’d also suggest buying your return ticket immediately upon arrival in Delphi.

The trip takes about three hours each way, with a stop at a small hotel just east of Livadia for a short break.

Final thoughts

As for general observations about travel in Greece, I would recommend having plenty of cash on hand. Lodging aside, plan on about 65% of your expenditures to be in cash, as many sites, shops and restaurants do not accept credit cards.

If you plan on significant walking, wear closed-toe shoes. (My wife packed just a pair of sandals for the entire trip.) The rocky paths and uneven terrain and simply the amount of walking exposes you to unintentionally stubbing your toes if they are not protected.

Lastly, use plenty of sunscreen and lip balm for protection.

Doing these few simple things will make your trip much more enjoyable.

by Susan Lowe, Covington, WA

“You’re stopping over in Hong Kong again?”

My husband and I must have heard this question a dozen times in the weeks leading up to the trip I had planned for us in January ’08. One well-meaning friend even asked, “What is there to do in Hong Kong besides shop?”

I had been in Hong Kong twice in the previous 12 months as stopovers on other Asian trips, but on this trip I would be heading for all the fascinating and inexpensive shopping available at the night bazaars in Bangkok and other Thailand destinations and I wanted to keep as many of my travel dollars in my pocket and as much luggage space as possible available for that. My husband has little, if any, interest in shopping.

What my friends didn’t know is that Hong Kong offers travelers much more than shopping, and I set out to prove it by including a 3-day Hong Kong stopover on this trip.

Getting settled

After arriving at Hong Kong International Airport, we used the incredibly efficient and self-explanatory Airport Express to Kowloon (HK$140, or US$18, for both of us), then took the complimentary hotel shuttle from there to the venerable Kimberley Hotel (phone 2723 3888, www.kimberley.com.hk), located just off Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Our first stop after checking into the hotel was the Hong Kong Tourism Board office at the Star Ferry concourse. I explained to the helpful tourist guide there that we had visited Hong Kong before and had seen most of the museums and “big sights” so were interested in tours that did not end up with several hours of “free time” at a shopping mall or outdoor market.

Together we selected the “Land Between” full-day coach tour (HK$420, or US$54, each, including lunch) for the second full day of our stopover. Tickets in hand, we finished the day with a quick, early-evening trip on the Star Ferry to view the city from the harbor and a nice dinner at P.J. Murphy’s Irish Country Pub (32 Nathan Rd.) near our hotel plus an attempt to adjust our sleep schedules to our new time zone.

Independent exploration

On our first full day, we ate well at the Kimberley Hotel’s excellent breakfast buffet, then headed to the Star Ferry concourse to catch a ferry to Lamma Island. The 40-minute transfer required two ferry trips, with little waiting. Views of the city were somewhat obstructed by fog on the trip to Lamma Island, but there was plenty of activity on the waterway to watch.

Once on Lamma Island, we set out to complete a well-signed, 90-minute walk from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan, the island’s two main villages. The trail took us by several nice beaches and residential areas. Cars are prohibited on the island, and most of it seemed nicely rural and slow paced.

The island is busiest on warm-weather weekends, when Hong Kong residents want to be out-of-doors and away from the heat of the city. Our walk — on a mid-January weekday — was not only pleasantly uncrowded but almost completely free of tourists.

Fresh air and the exposure to sunshine helped reset our body clocks, and the exercise felt great after the long flight the day before. At the end of the trail was an array of seafood restaurants, well stocked with refreshing cold drinks and snacks and convenient for either having lunch, as we did, or just awaiting the arrival of the ferry back to Hong Kong.

Later that afternoon we took the subway to the Jordan Road station, site of the Temple Street Night Market. In keeping with our pact to avoid shopping, we strolled among the vendors as they set up their open-air storefronts and unpacked goods to sell.

We spent a happy hour at the beautifully atmospheric Tai Pan Reflexology Beauty & Foot Spa (83 Nathan Road), receiving restorative foot massages from two handsome and skilled masseurs (about US$30). The spa provided us with a locker for our shoes and gave us slippers and tea, all of which added to the relaxing experience.

When we emerged, the sun had gone down and the Temple Street market was in full swing. Instead of shopping, we sampled steamed buns and other Chinese favorites prepared at some of the dozens of street food stalls, soaking up the street life on display. Slowly we made our way amidst a tide of shoppers and commuters along the mile or two back to our hotel.

Day tour

The next morning we joined about 15 others for the prearranged HKTB “Land Between” tour. Despite there being only a handful of Americans on the tour, the tour guide’s comments and prerecorded narrative were presented in excellent English.

The tour included stops at a series of interesting temples, lookouts, old villages and other sites in the New Territories, the “land between” Hong Kong and China.

Our young Hong Kong guide’s willingness to comment on the seemingly endless government highrise housing and the new developments that are displacing traditional ways of life provided a poignant point of view we wouldn’t have heard any other way.

The 6-hour tour ended with a communal Chinese-style late-afternoon meal for participants. We enjoyed comparing travel notes with the others, some of whom were on their first trip to Hong Kong and some who had been coming since the 1960s.

Our last evening in Hong Kong was spent strolling along the famed Hong Kong waterfront and selecting a restaurant from among the many offerings along Nathan Road. On our walk back to the Kimberley Hotel, we stopped at what must be the most glamorous YMCA in the world, the Salisbury YMCA (41 Salisbury Road), to use their excellent and well-priced Internet services. Confirmation of our Cathay Pacific flight to Bangkok at noon the next day was quick and easy.

One last stop

On our final morning in Hong Kong, we showered and packed. We both were pleased that after some moderate physical and mental stimulation over the past few days in Hong Kong, we felt our jet lag was mostly behind us.

After breakfast, I left my husband to check us out of the hotel while I had one last stroll down Nathan Road. I had a must-do stop in mind: Babila.

Babila (36-44 Nathan Rd.) is my favorite place in the world to buy handbags, wallets and other small leather goods. As any American female between 14 and 94 knows, a stylish handbag is the single most important accessory a fashion-conscious woman can own. In the U.S., a quality, trendy handbag, particularly a designer bag, can cost the price of an international airline ticket. And it’s not easy finding a bag that’s well designed and fashionable but also different from all the others.

Could I really pass up an opportunity to get a good-quality handbag that was fresh and up to date and looked almost as good as “the real thing” for a price as low as $25-$75?

Luckily, the Babila store opened promptly at 9 a.m. I quickly found the perfect “it” bag for spring and bought a couple of wallets for gifts, too, for a total of HK$540 (US$70).

Swinging down Nathan Road back to the hotel with my new Babila bag on my arm, ready for the Airport Express trip to the airport and then the banquet of shopping that awaited in Thailand, I thought of my determination to really follow through on making a stopover in Hong Kong that involved absolutely no shopping. Maybe next time.

by Richard Berner, San Diego, CA

Martha and I, like many travelers, are drawn to Paris and seem to return there more often than to any other European city. On a recent 3-week trip to France, we spent our first week in Paris.

Getting there

We left San Diego on American Airlines during the last week of April ’07, connecting to Paris through JFK. We were able to use frequent-flyer miles to book our flights.

We had a delay leaving New York due to a mechanical problem and landed an hour late in Paris the next morning. Other than that, the flight was fine, the personnel were friendly, our luggage arrived with us and the food was okay. The flight wasn’t full, so we were able to change seats and have more room to stretch out.

After clearing Customs and Immigration, we went to the RER (the suburban extension of the Métro system) station located in Terminal 2 at CDG Airport. There was a long line at the ticket counter, but I had enough euro coins left over from prior trips to buy tickets from the automated machine, which had no line. The machine didn’t accept American credit cards or euro bills. The cost of the train into central Paris was €8.10 ($12.70).

We rode the RER to Paris’ Gare du Nord train station, where I bought Carte Orange passes. These passes are one of Paris’ best bargains, at €16 ($25) for unlimited travel on both the central Paris Métro and buses for a week. They are available Monday through Wednesday and require an extra passport-sized photo.

Settling in

I tried to call Brigitte, the agent for the apartment we had rented, and got her voice mail. We hopped on the Métro and rode to the Richard Lenoir station in the 11th arrondissement, where I called again and did contact her.

We walked five blocks to the apartment and met Brigitte. We were pleased with the accommodations, where we would spend the next eight nights. We paid €108 ($170) per night for a one-bedroom apartment that was two to three times the size of most hotel rooms in Paris. Brigitte welcomed us with fresh flowers, a bottle of champagne and a large bottle of Coke.

The apartment had a small open kitchen, a dining area, and a sleeper sofa in the living room. The bathroom was spacious, with lots of storage, and the toilet was in a separate closet.

We had two large, almost-floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room and one in the bedroom, each with a view of the tree-filled Square Maurice Gardette across the street. The bedroom had two single beds that could be pushed together. The television in the apartment received 200 channels, including six in English.

The only negatives were the bright security light outside one window and the occasional noise from the park. Still, all in all, we found it far preferable to a hotel room.

Brigitte (phone 31 1 60753336) represents several apartments in that building plus a few others in Paris. This location (www.vrbo.com/23511) was out of the usual tourist flow, which we prefer. This is the third time we have rented an apartment in Paris for a week or more.

Communications

We carried an international cell phone with us on this trip. Talking was expensive at $1.50 per minute, but it was very handy when needed. The phone (www.mobalrental.com) cost $99 and there was no charge when not using it. We have found it easy to activate before departing on a trip.

There was a convenient cybercafé right around the corner, on rue St. Ambroise, for e-mails home.

In our neighborhood, our favorite café was La Tusain, on the corner of rue St. Ambroise and ave. Parmentier. We had lunch there a couple of times, and tartines (open-face sandwiches) cost about €7. Our dinners cost approximately €30 for two, including wine.

We had the same young waitress a few times and she remembered us and was very helpful but didn’t speak much more English than I spoke French.

New and familiar sights

While in Paris, we visited some new places and some familiar ones. We’d seen most of the city’s major sights and museums on past trips. One favorite of ours is the Rodin museum, Hôtel Biron. We have been there at least six or seven times and this trip was no exception.

It’s a treat to see Rodin’s art in the same place where much of it was created. The grounds are park-like and the café was a reasonably priced place for lunch (€20 for both of us).

We spent time wandering through Île de la Cité, Île St. Louis and the Latin Quarter. I had downloaded a free podcast of “Historic Paris” from Rick Steves’ website (www. ricksteves.com) and we both listened to it on my MP3 player with a splitter for two as we walked around.

We had our gelato fix at the Berthillon shop on Île St. Louis, a tradition for us. We also had a good dinner in the Latin Quarter at a vegetarian restaurant, La Grenier de Notre Dame (18, rue de la Bucherie; phone 01 43 29 98 29). Our two dinners cost €21 and a bottle of excellent organic wine was €16.

We visited the Musée Marmottan and admired their wonderful collection of over 100 Claude Monet paintings. They were arranged somewhat chronologically, so we could see how his style changed through the years. We had wanted to visit the Marmottan since seeing Monet’s home at Giverny last year.

From the museum, we walked back to the Métro through the Jardin du Ranelagh and stopped to watch young children enjoying the old-fashioned, hand-cranked carousel. They all had sharpened sticks to try to catch the brass rings as they went around. A few of the children were too small to reach the rings, so the operators would help them.

The Musée Jacquemart-André in the 8th arrondissement was another first-time visit for us. The lavish home and art collection of this wealthy couple now serve as a museum. It was an excellent insight into the good life of the 19th century.

Old vs. new

We are always attracted to marché aux puces (flea markets), so on this trip we visited the largest one in Paris, at St. Ouen. It is held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and features everything you can think of but primarily antiques. There are over 2,000 sellers. It is accessed by the Porte de Clignancourt Métro stop at the north end of line No. 4.

On the outskirts of Paris I visited La Défense. This collection of modern office buildings is controversial, but most Parisians appreciate that it was not built in the more historic center of the city.

The smoggy views from the observation level of the picture-frame-shaped La Grande Arche included the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.

There is an interesting museum along the Esplanade de la Defénse explaining the history and development of the area. I enjoyed visiting the modernistic buildings of La Defénse, but they are not to everyone’s taste.

Montmarte

We took a walk through Montmarte, somewhat following a tour from a Frommer’s “Walking Guide.” I have been interested in renting an apartment in Montmarte but was concerned by negative reports on parts of it. My conclusion was that the southern parts of the area appear questionable but the rest could be a good area to stay in.

We had lunch alfresco at La Maison Rose (2, rue de l’Abreuvoir). I had a very good salad with slices of turkey on it and Martha had an asparagus appetizer; we shared. With two glasses of wine, our lunch cost €22.

We had arranged to meet our neighbor from San Diego, Robert, as he was in Paris on business. We met at Willy’s Wine Bar (13, rue Petits Champs), just behind the Jardin du Palais Royal, and had a predinner glass of wine. Willy’s serves food, but on Robert’s recommendation we decided to go to a nearby Thai restaurant, Baan Boran (43, rue Montpensier; phone 01 40 15 90 45), and had an excellent dinner. The total for three people with wine was €120 — a minor splurge, for us, but not that bad by Parisian standards.

A few more sights

We also went to see Monet’s water lilies (“Les Nymphéas”) at the Musée de l’Orangerie. This museum had recently reopened with redesigned skylights to better illuminate the paintings. Eight beautiful paintings about seven feet tall and up to 50 feet long are displayed in two oval-shaped rooms arranged so you are surrounded by these impressive pieces of art.

One morning we took a cruise on the Canal St. Martin, boarding the canal boat at the Paris Arsenal Marina near the Bastille. Most of the first two kilometers were underground, below downtown Paris, with occasional openings for air and light. We came up near the Place de la République and traveled a few more miles to Parc de la Villette, on the northern edge of the city.

The narration, in accented English, was interesting, and the cruise gave us a different perspective of Paris. We went through several locks, rising 24 feet during the ride. The 2½-hour trip cost €15 each (phone 01 42 3915 00, www.canauxrama.com).

Summing up

During our week in Paris we ate in several locations, including having dinner in our apartment on two nights with food purchased from a neighborhood charcuterie and a restaurant.

We had breakfast daily in the apartment with yogurt and fruit from a nearby grocery store and/or croissants from our local boulangerie, plus coffee made in our American-style coffeemaker. We still would usually stop for café au lait or cappuccino in one of our local cafés when we left for the day.

Euros were readily available from ATMs all over Paris. I had an incident with an over-helpful bystander (scam artist) at one outside ATM, so I usually sought out ones inside.

We had nice weather every day except for one night when a storm moved in and we were treated to heavy rain and a thunder-and-lightning show. This was one of the nights we ate in the apartment, and it felt very cozy.

It was nice to have a park across the street rather than having a view of the next apartment building. The park was full of nannies and moms with young children plus elderly men playing boules, or petanque, the French version of bocce. There were very few homeless men in the park, fewer than I see at home.

We would recommend the restaurant guide “Eating and Drinking in Paris” by Andy Herbach and Michael Dillon. It is the most complete one I have seen.

Contrary to their reputation, we found people in Paris generally helpful and did not have any negative encounters. We saw occasional anti-American graffiti, generally having to do with the war in Iraq or our leaders. That animosity didn’t seem to carry over to American visitors. Paris was as wonderful as it has been on previous trips.

If anyone has any questions or wants further information, feel free to contact us c/o ITN.

Next month, Alsace and Burgundy.

by Marilyn Lutzker, Sunnyside, NY

Vienna is an urban delight. It is a majestic and opulent city for lovers of art, architecture, music, coffee and pastry.

Everywhere I went in this outdoor museum, something enticed me to look more closely. The city’s Baroque past was everywhere. Men and women of stone and marble stared out from doorways of elaborately ornamented buildings while carved faces peered down from amongst the swirls and curves above their windows. The statues that couldn’t fit at eye level adorned the parapets — a veritable army of warriors, saints and historic figures living at the rooflines.

Scattered throughout this Baroque extravaganza are works of the Secessionists, architects and designers of the turn of the 20th century who developed the Austrian version of an artistic style inspired by elements of Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement. Their buildings are simpler, more elegant and more colorful than the ornate structures which surround them. This diversity is one reason that UNESCO has declared the historic center of Vienna a World Heritage Site.

The glory of Vienna is that within this architectural splendor there is a vibrant, lively city.

I strolled along bustling pedestrian avenues lined with high-end shops and equally thriving neighborhood shopping streets catering to all tastes. I was constantly tempted throughout the city by restaurants and cafés. There were so many cafés with so many people sitting at tables on every possible piece of sidewalk or garden that I wondered if anyone in this city went to work.

Seeing the sights

Making a complete circle around Vienna’s historic city center is one of the biggest and most beautiful boulevards in Europe. The 2½-mile circumference of the Ringstrasse is a particular delight for visitors because it passes so many of the city’s cultural institutions.

Trams No. 1 and 2 run every few minutes in a continuous circle around the Ringstrasse, passing directly in front of the Art History Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Decorative Arts Museum, the Opera House, the National Theater, the Parliament building and several parks. It takes about 30 minutes to make the complete circle.

Several times when my feet needed a rest, I got on the tram and rode around the entire ring, enjoying the sights from the windows.

Pride of place amongst the institutions along the Ringstrasse goes to, in my mind, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). The imperial pomp and grandeur of this building overwhelm me every time I enter it. Majestic spaces, elaborate staircases, gold-encrusted stucco work and lusciously colored frescoes surrounded by a dozen varieties of marble panels, pilasters and columns are an appropriate introduction to rooms full of paintings that include works by Breugel, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Cranach, Hieronymus Bosch and Rubens.

Although it looks and feels like a palace, this museum is one of the greatest purpose-built museums in the world. Constructed in the 1880s with unlimited funds to glorify the collections of generations of Hapsburg emperors, the building and the works it houses rank with the British Museum and the Louvre.

Although the place is huge enough to guarantee museum feet if you try to see it all in a single visit, really comfortable sofas in the large painting galleries provide welcome relief. The café is good for a light lunch or not-so-light afternoon coffee and cake (except on Sunday, when only an expensive price-fixed brunch menu is available, at €47 per person).

The Gemäldegalerie

If you find the size and opulence of the Kunsthistorische Museum overwhelming, or you have time for only a few old masters, visit the Gemäldegalerie at the Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts). Situated on the top floor of a functioning art school with chipped plaster decorations, creaking wooden floors, and walls which look as if they haven’t been repainted since the building was constructed early in the last century, the Gemäldegalerie is one of Vienna’s hidden gems.

Not all of the 300 paintings which make up this collection are world-famous masterpieces, but I found enough works by Rembrandt, Ruisdael, Bouts and Cranach the Elder to sate my longing for great paintings for one day. The highlight of the collection is Hieronymus Bosch’s “Last Judgment.”

When I visited this gallery in 2006 I had it entirely to myself; on my May ’07 visit I went on a rainy Sunday afternoon and had to share these masterpieces with perhaps 10 other people.

When your eyes have had enough fine art, it’s time for the world-famous Naschmarkt, an outdoor market located near the Gemäldegalerie.

Naschmarkt

Six varieties of asparagus, five types of potatoes and six kinds of tomatoes — my favorite stand in the Naschmarkt rendered decision making difficult. Fortunately, I had decided not to buy lettuce; the next stall had 12 kinds of salad greens!

The Naschmarkt is a Viennese institution dating back to the 16th century. More than half a mile long with three rows of booths, this open-air market has room for breads, pastries, olives, cheese, meat, spices, ready-to-eat Middle Eastern specialties and every type of vegetable that Italian grocers could possibly stuff, plus fresh fruit and vegetables. On most visitors’ agendas and a photographer’s delight, it makes for a pleasant, leisurely stroll on weekdays. On Saturdays, by midday it sometimes feels as if every tour bus and every shopper in Vienna has landed there.

My preferred fast lunch while browsing the market is pickled herring on a roll. You might prefer a roll with schnitzel, or perhaps lamb or falafel on pita (each costs less than $4). For a full meal, there are restaurants featuring Viennese, Thai and Japanese food.

The market is open from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Some restaurants are open later.

The flea market

With its mounds of used clothes on one side and silver and fine porcelain on the other, I think of Vienna’s weekly Saturday flea market as either the world’s junk bin or the accumulation from the attics of hundreds of grandmothers.

I paid careful attention to each table as I moved between serious collectors and aimless browsers out to enjoy the sunny day and perhaps find that perfect bargain. Don’t expect to find a priceless 19th-century treasure for 5 euros; more likely, you will buy an odd piece of old lace for 5, a brass picture frame for 20, an intriguing piece of old hardware for 10 or perhaps a 1930s deco-style vase or bowl for 200.

Bargaining is part of the deal; offer half the asking price and go from there. Go early to avoid the crowds and the sun.

The flea market begins at the end of the Naschmarkt. If you are in Vienna for only a brief time, you may choose to visit both in the same day, but if you really enjoy a good flea market the combination might be too much.

Art and animals

In this city there is always another museum and it’s easy to overlook the lesser-known ones.

Away from the center but easily accessible from Tram D, the Liechtenstein Museum is a treasure of Baroque art, architecture and gardens. The princes of Liechtenstein have collected art for centuries, and early in the 18th century they had a palace and garden built for themselves in Vienna. In the 1960s, the family turned that palace into a museum for their masterpieces.

In an eye-boggling Baroque hall (the largest in Vienna), a performance of Baroque music is a rare treat which you can enjoy if you visit the Liechtenstein on a Sunday. There is no additional charge for the one-hour concert (2-3 p.m.), but performances are not given in July and August.

Giant pandas voraciously chomping on bamboo shoots made for a pleasant afternoon change from concrete, marble and old masters. Amongst tree-shaded paths and architectural reminders that the Vienna Zoo is over 250 years old, I relaxed in front of the expected elephants, gorillas, monkeys and giraffes. However, I did not expect the colony of king penguins or those giant pandas, each of which “agreed” to pose prettily for photographs.

Reputed to be the world’s oldest zoo, the Tiergarten is tucked away in one small corner of Schönbrunn Park, site of the 1,441-room Schön­brunn Palace. (If you haven’t had enough Baroque interiors, you can take a tour of part of the palace.)

KunstHaus Wien

Vienna also has room for the eccentric. I am always surprised each time I turn the corner and see the KunstHaus Wien. I have to suppress a laugh as I look at the fancifully shaped columns in front of the entrance and the abstract arrangement of black and white tiles and irregularly shaped windows on its oddly bulging façade. This place is truly quirky.

A former factory, the building has been transformed into a museum and repository for the drawings, paintings and architectural models of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000), and there is nothing else like it in the world. Inside, in accordance with Hundertwasser’s philosophy that nothing in nature is truly straight, there are undulating floors and very little that is truly perpendicular or parallel.

Brilliant colors and whimsical shapes characterize Hundertwasser’s style. His paintings are vibrant and frequently playful, and his architectural models are imaginative. Some would characterize both as eccentric.

The museum always has a special exhibition in addition to displaying works of the master. If you go, plan on lunch in the café, whose decor continues the playful theme of the building. Each table is different, the floor is uneven and there are trees in unexpected places. And don’t miss the bathrooms! They are a bit out of the way but are among my favorite places.

The Museum Quarter

The MuseumsQuartier (Museum Quarter) is a superb example of architectural adaptation. The buildings and courtyards which were built by 18th-century Hapsburgs for their horses have been transformed into one of the largest cultural complexes in the world.

The apricot-colored buildings of the original stables now serve as workshops and exhibition space for more than 40 different cultural organizations.

On a sunny day the quarter becomes the scene of a big party. Cafés and park benches border the old buildings, and adults and children sit in and on the odd-looking fiberglass structures that fill the center. It’s like a park without grass.

Sitting a bit awkwardly at either end of this Baroque courtyard are two art museums, either one of which should be a destination on its own. It’s possible for those with strong feet and stronger eyes to visit both in the same afternoon; I never managed it.

The Leopold Museum is devoted to the masterpieces of the Vienna Secession and Austrian Expressionists. With the world’s largest collection of works by Egon Schiele and important works by Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and other notable representatives of Austrian art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Leopold is one of the major attractions of Vienna.

The Museum of Modern Art/Ludwig Collection (MUMOK) contains a collection of classic modern art, ranging from Picasso to Warhol. One of the joys of my visits to Vienna is that, despite the quality of the collections in these museums, I have never found them crowded.

Vienna’s art scene is not all old masters or masterpieces of the last century. Kunsthalle Wien, situated within the old stables, is a major venue for contemporary art, photography and multimedia installations.

A night out

Vienna is heaven for music lovers. There are operas, symphonies and chamber music every evening. Offerings range from “tourist shows” featuring brief excerpts of familiar works to serious but lesser-known groups, not to mention Vienna’s world-famous companies.

If you are interested in the latter, buy your tickets online as early as you can; seats not taken by subscribers sell out quickly. We had no trouble getting tickets for superb performances by some lesser-known groups.

Be alert to performance times. Many concerts start at 7 p.m.

Vienna is full of good restaurants, with enough variety (Balkan, Greek, Italian, Thai, Japanese) for every taste and budget. We had many delightful meals at modest establishments and usually spent between $12 and $20 each for a main dish and wine.

Prices listed on menus always include tax and usually a tip. When a tip is included, it’s customary to “round up,” adding an additional 5%-10%. In cafés and bars, prices seemed more uniform. Expect to pay $3-$4 for a small beer (there appear to be no bad beers in Vienna) and $3-$5 for cake (there are no bad cakes, either). There are many varieties of coffee, most about the same price as the cake. There were days when our afternoon cappuccino and sachertorte cost as much as our dinner.

For the best sachertorte in Vienna, go to Café Sperl (11, Gumpendorf­erstrasse); take Girardigasse north from the Naschmarkt to the corner of Gumpendorferstrasse. This historic café has old-world elegance and a ban on cell phones.

Restaurant recommendations

Zum Sopherl am Naschmarkt (Linke Wienzeile, 34), across the street from the Naschmarkt, is a traditional Viennese Beisl, with dark wood, a mural painted on the back wall, and locals drinking beer in the front. Service is pleasant, and the food is as tasty as it is plentiful.

My favorites are Eiernockerl, a traditional dish of small dumplings, scrambled eggs and fried onions (about $8 for a serving that would do easily for two people), and goulash, the small order of which is sufficient for one (about $4). Do not resist the temptation to use the bread to sop up the gravy!

Even though the sign on the outside of Hansen (Wipplingerstr. 34), in the cellar of the Börsegebäude (Vienna Stock Exchange), indicated we were in the correct place, I kept thinking there was something wrong as we walked through aisles of flowers, plants and garden sculpture, but it all made sense when I discovered that Hansen is situated in one corner of a large garden supply store.

We went for a late breakfast of orange juice, French toast, bacon and cappuccino, which cost $20 for two. Typical for Vienna, the French toast and the cappuccino were the same price.

One block from the Naschmarkt is Crossover Café (Schleifmühlgasse 16/A). In this land of schnitzel and goulash, it was nice to find a comfortable nontouristy café/restaurant that included lighter fare and many vegetarian dishes. We had many meals here and they all were good. Main dishes and drinks for two averaged $20-$30. Crossover is open Sundays and they have menus in English.

If you can’t resist good ice cream, don’t miss Eissalon am Schwedenplatz, conveniently located directly on tram routes 1 and 2 at Schwedenplatz. The menu depicts in luscious color at least 60 ways in which their 18 ice cream flavors can be combined with syrups, garnishes, whipped cream and fruit.

I resisted the banana split and the half pineapple filled with ice cream, assorted fruits, syrups and whipped cream ($7) and opted for three unadorned scoops of ice cream ($4). You can also choose from a variety of cones if you don’t want to sit down, and there are some sugar-free options.

So much more

It’s frustrating not to be able to describe more of Vienna. Here are a few additional places to consider, if you have the time: the Belevedere Palace, with the world’s largest collection of Klimt paintings in a Baroque palace to rival the best of them; the Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), housed in a building which mirrors the Kunsthistorische Museum, which it faces; the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), with unparalleled collections of Art Deco glass and silver; the Albertina, with one of the world’s greatest collections of graphic arts, and the specialized museums within the imperial Hofburg complex.

Getting around

It is easy to get around in Vienna. The U-bahn is clean, mostly air-conditioned and fast. Their map is a model of clarity, electronic signs tell you when the next train is due, and every station seems to have access by escalator or elevator.

Buses and trams are equally convenient. Stations are clearly marked and each has either an electronic sign or a posted schedule of arrival times. Amazingly (at least to a New Yorker), buses and trams always come on time.

The city is comfortable also for the mobility challenged. In addition to elevators and escalators in the U-bahn, there are curb cuts, traffic lights which provide enough time to cross, a driving code that appears to mandate that cars stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, and elevators in almost every museum. (If you don’t see any elevators, ask; they are frequently hidden in corners.)

We were in Vienna for a month, so we purchased a one-month transportation pass. There is an odd sense of freedom in being able to get on any bus, tram or train without paying or even showing the card. Theoretically, there are occasional inspections, but we never saw one. Weekly passes are also available, and, for those with less time, the 3-day Vienna Pass is a good bet.

The maps and travel directions in the guidebook “Time Out Vienna” were most helpful. The plasticized Vienna map from Streetwise Maps is useful because it indicates the major tram lines.

The events listings at www.vienna.info are useful for planning ahead, especially if you want to purchase concert tickets.

I would like to share my love of Vienna with other ITN readers and am happy to answer any questions; e-mail me c/o ITN.

by Beth Habian, Features Editor

Looking for some royal treatment on your next trip overseas? What better place to be treated like a royal than London, where they’ve been perfecting the art of luxury for centuries?

Granted, with current exchange rates, it’s not the first destination that comes to mind for those on a tight budget, but if you’re ready for a bit of a splurge, perhaps an account of my September ’07 visit will provide a few suggestions to make your trip a more memorable one.

Arriving in the city

After an enjoyable flight from JFK to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic, the first flight I’ve been on in years that hasn’t been packed to bursting in coach, a 45-minute drive brought me to The Goring Hotel (Beeston Place, Grosvenor Gardens; phone +44 [0] 20 7396 9000, www.goringhotel.co.uk).

Self-described as a “quintessentially English hotel,” The Goring is centrally located, practically next door to Buckingham Palace, and is the only 5-star deluxe property in London that is still family run, today by the fourth generation to do so, in the person of Jeremy Goring.

With its history of prominent guests, such as Winston Churchill, I was expecting a posh, somewhat stuffy establishment. What I found was indeed posh, but “stuffy” was definitely not part of the equation here. The hotel is beautifully appointed, having recently undergone an extensive remodel (some of the bedrooms are still scheduled to be revamped), but it is attention to service for which the hotel is noted — unobtrusive but assiduous and delivered with a wonderful sense of humor.

Managing Director David Morgan-Hewitt, recognizable by his trademark pink socks, is a larger-than-life character, his delightfully boisterous presence putting smiles on the faces of guests and staff alike. For all the tradition of the place (The Queen has been known to “pop ’round” for tea on occasion), I felt immediately at home.

Off to the palace

Following a good night’s sleep, I met the rest of my group for breakfast before we headed out in the drizzle for the few minutes’ walk to Buckingham Palace. Our day was scheduled to begin with a visit to The Queen’s Gallery, which features changing exhibitions of works from The Royal Collection.

Passing through security more thorough than that at most airports, we were led to the intimate gallery, where visitors milled around in silence, most listening to the audio guide included in the price of admission (£8, or $16, adult or £7 senior). I opted to forgo the headphones and quietly wandered from room to room admiring the well-laid-out exhibition, which featured impressive Italian Renaissance and Baroque works from artists such as Caravaggio, Raphael and Tintoretto. (Information on upcoming exhibitions can be found at www.royalcollection.org.uk.)

For art lovers looking for a way to spend a few hours in the city, I highly recommend a visit to The Queen’s Gallery. Its size allows visitors to appreciate a wonderful array of works in an hour or two without feeling overwhelmed, and the quality of the pieces on display are, of course, outstanding.

The gallery is open daily from 10 to 5:30 (last admission is 4:30), and tickets can be purchased in advance (phone +44 [0] 20 7766 7301) or on the day of your visit. Admission is timed, with entry every 15 minutes, so be sure to note the time printed on your ticket. The gallery is wheelchair accessible.

The combo ticket “A Royal Day Out” (£28.50, or $56) provides entry to The Queen’s Gallery as well as The Royal Mews and The State Rooms, our next stop.

The State Rooms

From August through September, when The Queen is not in residence, Buckingham Palace opens its 19 State Rooms to the public. This time I chose to use the audio guide, something I would recommend for the first-time visitor. The commentary was informative and well paced, not too dry, and included options for further details.

However, I must admit that after my relatively quick walk-through of an hour or so (the usual visit takes around two to 2 1/2 hours), I was a bit overwhelmed by gilt.

For 2008, visitors can see the Palace’s Ballroom lavishly set up as it would be for a State Banquet, which usually includes about 160 guests. Also new for 2008, private guided tours are being offered on select dates in March and April, when the palace is not open to the public. The cost is £65 per person and tickets must be pre-booked (phone +44 [0] 20 7766 7322 to check availability).

The State Rooms will otherwise be open to the public daily from July 31 to Sept. 29, 2008, from 9:45 to 6 (last admission at 3:45). Individual tickets cost £15.50 (or £14 senior) and can be purchased in advance (phone +44 [0] 20 7766 7300) or on the day from the ticket office at the visitor entrance located on Buckingham Palace Road. (The ticket office is no longer situated in Green Park.)

A tasty afternoon

After stopping back at The Goring for some delicious hors d’oeuvres and a peek at the hotel’s lovely garden, one of the few privately owned green spaces of size left in the city, we were off for a short drive through the streets of London in Rolls-Royce Phantoms. Talk about top-notch transportation!

While I’m not hugely impressed by luxury cars, the highly polished wood interior and self-closing rear-hinged doors were striking. My lasting memory, however, is of sitting in the back of a $500,000 car with David Morgan-Hewitt joyously rambling off the answers to a round of questions from the game show “The Weakest Link,” which was showing on the drop-down telly. Absolutely surreal!

We were headed for Fortnum & Mason (181 Piccadilly; www.fortnumandmason.com), the über-department store that has supplied the best of the best to London’s elite for 300 years. Last year the store underwent a £24-million refurbishment to celebrate its tercentenary and, while I can’t comment on its previous appearance, it is a fabulous place to see.

However, I didn’t get too far past the ground-floor food hall. From English delicacies to an extensive selection of wine from around the world, it is a gourmand’s dream come true.

I did make it up the sweeping staircase to the confectionery counter, where I stood mesmerized by the cases full of champagne truffles, violet creams and pink and white sugar mice, all topped by gleaming glass jars filled with pastel-colored sweets. The kid in me was still giggling gleefully on the way out.

It doesn’t cost anything to look, and it’s a good place to find small gifts that won’t bust the budget. (I can personally recommend the tea, which, at £2.50 a box, has got to be one of the best souvenir values available in the city.) But if you love to shop, you definitely can set your credit card alight here!

A fond farewell

My appetite whetted, we returned to The Goring for dinner. The meal began with Eggs Drumkilbo, a Scottish dish said to be a favorite of the late Queen Mother. A cold concoction of lobster, tomatoes and mayonnaise in sherry-flavored aspic, it was a rich but rather enjoyable start.

My roast venison with mushrooms and red wine sauce was delicious, and, though full, I couldn’t pass up the lavender panna cotta that ended the evening.

Three-course dinners start at £44 ($88) per person and lunch at £32.50 per person, VAT included.

The next morning we were off to the country, sadly saying good-bye to our newfound friends at The Goring. Rooms here start at £295 ($590), single, and £320, double, although special promotional rates are regularly posted on their website. Children are welcome.

A French history lesson

Our next stop was a historical one, situated 40 miles northwest of London near the town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. A member of the group Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Hartwell House (phone +44 [0] 1296 747444, www.historichousehotels.com) is a restored 17th-century country house, let in the early 19th century to the exiled King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, before his return to France to finally take the throne in 1814.

The house was converted in the 1980s, from a girl’s finishing school and now offers 30 bedrooms and suites in its main house plus an on-site spa, Hartwell Court (a converted coach house) and the Old Rectory, a 4-bedroom Georgian house which stands alone — all on 90 acres of serene parkland.

I stayed in the Queen’s Bedroom and was incredibly impressed when I walked through the door. Light and bright and beautifully decorated, the room was enormous! Luxurious it was, but I must admit, climbing into the huge 4-poster bed and turning out the lights was a little creepy, being (hopefully) the only soul in the room. Still, it was the only night I slept through without suffering the effects of jet lag, and it was delightful waking up to the bucolic scene of morning mist rising above the trees and black-and-white cows grazing in the field just outside my window.

The public rooms, as well as the guest rooms, were filled with antiques, and signs asking visitors not to touch were scattered throughout. Children are welcome but only those over the age of six.

Rooms start at £160 single and £290 double, per night. The Old Rectory, which features a 2-acre garden and private swimming pool and can accommodate up to seven guests, is available for £2,500 per day (plus VAT), including all meals.

Waddesdon Manor

Our day here featured a tour of nearby Waddesdon Manor (www.waddesdon.org.uk), a property of the Rothschild family that was built in the 19th century to mimic a Renaissance-style French château. (The Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, is very similar in style.) Now a National Trust property, the manor house is chockablock with exquisite examples of 18th-century French furniture, textiles and porcelain plus English and Dutch paintings and Renaissance works of art.

To preserve the integrity of the priceless pieces within, the house is very dimly lit, the heavy curtains pulled to avoid exposure to the damaging rays of the sun. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust, but what was revealed when they did was extraordinary.

Most impressive was the marble-clad dining room complete with a table set with Sèvres porcelain, a dizzying array of 19th-century glassware and an elaborate gilt bronze centerpiece supporting a profusion of blooms that ran the length of the massive table. It was absolutely over the top.

In contrast, the Blue Dining Room was dressed plainly in cool, soothing shades, the intimate table crowned by a strikingly modern chandelier – an explosion of broken white china fashioned into a piece of art.

Other rooms boasted fine examples of 18th-century French furniture, including the delicately inlaid and surprisingly petite writing desk once belonging to Marie Antoinette.

Waddesdon Manor will be open for visits from March 19 to Oct. 26, 2008 (W-F 12-4, Sat. & Sun. 11-4; closed Monday and Tuesday). The gardens, aviary, shop, restaurant and Woodland playground also will be open, on weekends, from Jan. 5 to March 16.

Tickets for the house and gardens, also allowing admission to which includes the wine cellars stocked with one of the most extensive collections of Rothschild wine in the world, cost £13.20 on weekdays or £15, weekends. Tickets can be booked in advance (phone 01296 653226; allow at least 24 hours’ notice) or on the day of your visit outside the front of the house. Tickets are limited and can sell out.

A royal garden visit

Our final full day featured a visit to the gardens at Highgrove House, the country home of Prince Charles near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. This was a special treat indeed, as the gardens are open only for a limited number of tours each year from April to October.

The prince’s famous passion for gardening has created an incredible landscape here, varying from more formal layouts to refreshingly natural plantings. While the grounds feature pieces given to Prince Charles by important heads of state, there are also personal touches, like a memorial to a beloved family pet, that convey the sense that this is a family home, lovingly maintained.

Individual visits to Highgrove are not available, but if you are part of a group or organization interested in visiting (it is an ideal destination for gardening groups, especially), written requests can be submitted, on your organization’s letterhead, to the Gardens Tour Manager (Highgrove House, Doughton, Tetbuy, Gloucestershire GL8 8TN). Be sure to state the number of intended visitors, but do plan your visit far in advance; there is a 3-year waiting list for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A grand finale

After our garden tour we were driven to our final accommodation, Calcot Manor (phone 01666 890391, www.calcotmanor.co.uk), a former farmhouse dating back to the 14th century. This 220-acre estate, located three miles west of the Cotswold market town of Tetbury, boasts an absolutely charming hotel plus an on-site spa, a world-class restaurant and a cozy pub.

Our first stop was The Conservatory for lunch, and, while the meals on the rest of our tour were most enjoyable, the food here was a step above. The wood-roasted beetroot and goat cheese salad is one of the best starters I have ever tasted.

Daily lunches, featuring fresh local products, are available for £19 (two courses) and £23 (three courses).

Not to be outdone, the rooms at Calcot are fabulous in their own right. The integrity of the original stone structures has been maintained while inside the bedrooms and living spaces are modern and chic. Room rates start at £180 single and £220 double, including breakfast. Family suites are also available. Special offers are posted online.

While this is a place where one can indulge in some adult-style pampering — including spa treatments and fine dining — Calcot Manor prides itself on the attention it pays to families. The on-site Creche, open daily from 9 to 5:30, offers a secure place for young children to enjoy toys and games while being professionally supervised. Upstairs, a space for older kids provides X-boxes, computers and movies, allowing parents some time alone.

For our final evening in England, we had dinner at the hotel’s Gumstool Inn. The pub, frequented by locals, was pretty packed and the food was tasty (I had the fish and chips, £11.75, which included a good-sized chunk of crisp, lightly battered cod), but the service was a bit spotty. However, this in no way hampered my enjoyment of my stay here. I didn’t want to leave.

Beth Habian was a guest of The Goring, Hartwell House and Calcot Manor, all members of Pride of Britain Hotels (phone, within the UK, 0800 089 3929 or fax 01666 825779, www.prideofbritainhotels.com), a collection of privately owned British hotels.

by Julian Worker, New Westminster, B.C.

As the fiery ball of the sun began to rise over the eastern bank of the Ganges on our left-hand side, the lighted candles on banana leaves, offered in prayer to the gods, started to float past our boat. The oars lapped gently in the water as the high, stepped bank on our right-hand side gradually became a hive of industry.

Women’s saris, individually vivid as they were picked out by the sun’s earliest rays, were being readied for washing; men stood almost naked lathering themselves with soap; goats lay watching events unfold; religious rituals commenced; ablutions began; prayers were being said, and people immersed themselves and each other in the holy river as smoke drifted across from a nearby cremation. The day had begun on the ghats at Varanasi.

Seeking out an oarsman

A dawn boat ride on the Ganges is the highlight of any trip to Varanasi, also known as Banaras or Benares. Situated in India’s state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi is a sacred center of Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism. However, for over 2,000 years it has been the religious capital of Hinduism, more revered and sacred than all the other places of pilgrimage put together.

Varanasi is known to devout Hindus as Kashi — the Luminous or the City of Light — one of the oldest cities in the world.

Half an hour earlier, I had arrived at Dasasvamedha Ghat to find an oarsman for my boat ride. From the throng of potential rowers I decided to try Sandeep, whose salesman’s patter — “I am a strong boy who will get you where you want to go” — made me laugh.

The cost of the boat ride was the equivalent of $3 for two hours.

Diversity on the river

Heading upstream, we first passed the Munshi Ghat, where the city’s Muslim population, roughly one-third of the total, comes to bathe even though the river has no religious significance for them.

Dhobi wallahs, or professional washermen, then began to appear, standing in the water up to their knees in a long line, washing clothes and then slamming them repeatedly on large flat stones with such great force that I heard the sound echoing across the water almost before seeing the washermen themselves.

Large areas of the bank were covered with their laundry, drying already in the warm glow of early morning. There is religious merit in having your clothes washed here.

Just as we approached Harischandra Ghat, the most sacred smashan, or cremation area, I noticed two white bundles float past us.

“What were those?” I asked San-deep.

“They are children, sir; we do not burn children.”

I also found out that people who have died of a high fever — in the past it used to be smallpox — are not cremated but are instead thrown into the river, in deference to Sitala, the goddess of smallpox.

Daily chores

We stopped a moment to watch a group of women washing their saris in the water and rinsing them with the utmost care. One woman was cleaning her son, scrubbing him roughly, washing his hair and rinsing it with water from the Ganges poured out of a kettle.

Next door was a ghat for men, where a fully clothed man was standing with a beaker in his hand at waist height, letting some water fall from it gently whilst reciting a prayer. Next to him, a large, bearded man with a potbelly and holding a bowl over his head poured the water from it silently yet quite majestically over himself.

Sandeep turned the boat around and we moved downstream past our starting point to Man Mandir Ghat, where the Maharajah of Jaipur converted a palace into an astronomical observatory in 1710. Cricket matches were noisily being played on a flat stretch of the bank by the Dom Raja’s house.

The Doms are the “Untouchables” of Varanasi who perform the parts of the cremation service that all other Hindus would find ritually polluting.

People were enjoying themselves, swimming around the boat and smiling as I photographed them. Others were diving into the water from the stepped bank, where some Western tourists were sitting silently with their eyes closed facing the sun.

A sacred place

Shouts of “No photos” greeted our arrival at the principal burning ghat of the city, Jalasayin. From my vantage point in the boat I could see the bodies waiting to be cremated, wrapped in the most colorful sheets.

Relatives fussed around the grieving family members as the funeral pyre was being built a few meters away and children played on the huge pile of wood at the back of the ghat. Each log is weighed on giant scales to calculate the price of the cremation.

As a mark of respect, you should not take pictures of the burning ghats, even with a long lens. People have been handed over to the local police for ignoring the warnings.

The elderly come to Varanasi to seek refuge or to live out their final days, finding shelter in the temples and being assisted by alms from visiting pilgrims. Hindus believe that_anyone who dies in Varanasi attains instant moksha, or enlightenment.

As a result, cremation is big business. Outcasts, known as Chandal, carry bodies swathed in cloth on bamboo stretchers through the alleyways of the old city to the sacred Ganges.

A colorful journey’s end

Along the riverbank at the Panch-ganga Ghat, young boys were flying multicolored kites. Serious competitors try to bring down other flyers’ kites by coating their twine with a mixture of flour paste and crushed light bulbs to make it razor sharp.

Unbelievably, my two hours were almost over, so Sandeep rowed me back to the Dasavamedha Ghat — and the most photogenic vista of color I have ever witnessed came to an end. It was so awe inspiring that I got up even earlier the following day to view the ghats at sunrise once again.

by J. Norvill Jones, Alexandria, VA

Iran has been demonized by our government and the American news media, but is it really part of an “axis of evil”? As one who spent much of his working life dealing with foreign policy issues, I am inherently skeptical of government pronouncements. In April 2007 I went to Iran to see the country for myself.

The plan

Iran is an ancient land of proud and friendly people where many villages have been continuously inhabited for more than two millennia. Appropriately, the cypress tree, which bends but does not break, is Iran’s national tree.

This country of seventy million people, in an area nearly three times the size of France, initially succumbed to but ultimately prevailed over Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Mongols, Turks, Afghans, Russians and the British. After the Arab conquest, they bent by adopting Arabic script in their written language, but they kept their native Farsi as a spoken language. They are a resilient people.

For 13 days and 1,500 miles in an Iran-made Samand sedan (plus a 700-mile internal flight from Tehran to Shiraz), I saw much of the best of Iran’s cultural attractions and encountered a variety of its people.

Originally, a friend was to travel with me, but, unfortunately, one day after arrival he was hospitalized in Tehran’s Jam Hospital with a heart problem. So I traveled solo with Abbas Neshat as my informative and daredevil driver/guide.

Abbas, a native of Esfahan now living in Tehran, is a retired teacher of Persian literature and knowledgeable in all things Iranian, past and present. I learned much from him.

Tehran

Starting in Tehran, I flew south to Shiraz, continuing by car to Yazd, Na’in, Esfahan, Abyaneh, Kashan, Qom and, finally, Kijashahr on the Caspian Sea.

Other than serving as a gateway, Tehran has little of interest compared with other cities in Iran. On Tehran’s plus side, the streets were clean, no beggars deviled me and there were many lovely parks. Significant minuses, though, were congested streets and intense pollution.

The National Archaeological Museum, Shah Mohammad Reza’s palace complex, the Carpet Museum and Ayatollah Khomeini’s house and nearby mosque are some of the worthwhile places I visited, but they were hardly in the category of Persepolis or Esfahan’s Grand Square.

To me, the most unusual attraction in Tehran was a 6-foot-high pair of bronze boots at the deposed Shah’s palace, all that remains of a monumental statue of the Shah’s father; the rest was destroyed in the 1979 revolution.

A visit to Ayatollah Khomeini’s modest home gives one an understanding of why he is so revered by the Iranian people. The floor of his small living room was covered not with fine Persian carpets but threadbare machine-made rugs of Persian design. Across an alley stood the mosque where he delivered sermons sitting in a chair that looked like a Salvation Army reject.

Before his death, Khomeini asked that only a simple monument mark his tomb. But after he died, like bureaucrats everywhere, the mullahs took over and built a grandiose structure that would make any autocrat proud.

One truly memorable feature of Tehran is its traffic. Twelve million people live in the city and its suburbs, and it seems that every one of them owns a car or motorbike. Rules of the road we accept as normal do not apply here. Speed limits, traffic lanes, stoplights and pedestrian rights-of-way are ignored. However, in this dog-eat-dog scene, drivers take misses by inches with surprising equanimity.

Some relief for urban congestion is on the way, as subways are being built in all major cites, but only Tehran’s was operational during my visit.

Shiraz

A comfortable 2-hour flight on Iran-Air took me from teeming Tehran to equally teeming Shiraz, a city of gardens and poets. It was once renowned as the Tuscany of Iran for its Shiraz wine grape, but the only wine now produced in this Muslim country is a small amount for foreign embassies.

Two of Iran’s most famous poets, Sa’di and Hafez, are buried in Shiraz.

At Sa’di’s tomb, set in a lovely garden, Iranians dip one hand in a pool of springwater and make a wish.

Hafez is even more revered. There is a saying that every Iranian home must have two things: the Koran and the works of Hafez. At his tomb, also set in a fine garden, pilgrims lovingly touched their fingertips to Hafez’s tomb while reciting his poetry.

The word “paradise” is derived from the Persian word “pairi-daeza,” meaning “walled garden,” and Shiraz has notable examples, especially the Eram Garden, known as the “Garden of Paradise.”

Persepolis

Leaving Shiraz, we drove past flocks of sheep and goats being herded by nomads to mountain pastures. An hour from Shiraz lies the famed Persepolis, one of the world’s great wonders.

Begun by Darius I as a summer palace in about 514 B.C., in its glory Persepolis spread over some 33 acres. Burned by Alexander the Great in about 331 B.C. (some say to avenge Persia’s burning of Athens while others say it happened by accident at a drunken party), it was soon buried under desert sands until excavation began in the 1930s.

The highlights of this grand complex are the many lifelike stone bas-reliefs, particularly those on the eastern staircase of the Apadana depicting delegations from 23 subject lands bearing gifts to the emperor.

Just northeast of Persepolis lies Naqsh-i-Rustam, the rock tombs of four Achaemenid emperors: Darius the Great, Darius II, Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I. Above and below each tomb, carved into a cliff, are fine stone bas-reliefs.

Farther on toward the Zagros Mountains lie the tomb of Cyrus the Great and his former palace complex, Pasargadae. His modest tomb stands alone, without adornment, in a barren field. Pasargadae, begun by Cyrus in about 546 B.C., was soon eclipsed by Darius’ palace at Persepolis. Now Pasargadae is little more than a jumble of stone.

Yazd

In the desert of Dasht-e-Lut lies Yazd, which claims to be the best- preserved continuously inhabited city in Iran. It is called the “Capital of the Desert,” but I would call it the “Capital of Motorbikes” — they swarm its streets like angry hornets.

Situated in an oasis fed by thousands of underground water conduits called qanats, some as long as 25 miles and in operation for over 2,500 years, Yazd was a stop on the Silk Road.

Besides the beautiful Jameh (Friday) Mosque, which boasts the highest arched portal of any mosque in Iran, Yazd is noted for its Zoroastrian sites and wind towers.

The Zoroastrian faith was Iran’s predominant religion until the Arab conquest, and some of its tenets, notably the notion of a “Messiah,” were incorporated into both Jewish and Christian faiths.

Pilgrims from throughout the world travel to the Zoroastrian Temple of Yazd to worship at the sacred, wood-fired flame which has been burning continuously since 470.

On to Esfahan

Next we crossed the desert to Na’in. It is said that in Na’in you can knock on any door and someone inside will be weaving a carpet. To put that to the test, Abbas knocked at random on the entrance to a small mud-brick home. Sure enough, it was opened by an elderly woman who was weaving a small, round carpet.

Traveling north from Na’in to Esfahan, the desert became greener from recent rains. Esfahan, the crown jewel of Iran’s cities, is home to magnificent mosques, enticing bazaars, ancient bridges and inviting teahouses. Seeing it, I was inclined to agree with the saying “Esfahan is half the world.”

Its grand Imam Khomeini Square of lawns and fountains (formerly Jahan Square), seven times the size of St. Mark’s Square in Venice, was laid out by Shah Abbas the Great in the early 17th century. With the blue and turquoise tiled, domed Imam Mosque on the south side, the cream tiled dome of Lotfallah Mosque on the east, Shah’s Ali Qapu Palace to the west and the Grand Bazaar to the north, Imam Square is arguably the most elegant in the world.

Esfahanis take great pride in their square, parading around it in family groups each evening. They also flock by day to the parks which line both sides of the Zayandeh River, which is spanned by 11 bridges.

One evening I witnessed an unusual demonstration of physical prowess in a small gymnasium-like building known as a zur-khaneh, or House of Strength. In a sunken circular pit, 10 young athletes performed displays of strength to the hypnotic beat of a drummer seated on a perch above them who, while playing, chanted poetry, recited verses from the Koran and led a call-and-response ceremony in which the athletes prayed for peace and friendship with all people. It is a ritual not to be missed.

Coming full circle

At 6,000 years of age, Kashan is one of the oldest cities in Iran. It is renowned for its carpets that improve with age, giving rise to the compliment “You look like a Kashan” (younger than your years).

Onward from Kashan, I stopped briefly in Qom, site of the gold-domed burial place of Fatimah, sister to the eighth Imam, Reza, who is buried in Mashhad, Iran’s holiest city.

I came through Qom on a Thursday, the beginning of the Iranian weekend, and the streets were thronged with pilgrims and white- and black-turbaned mullahs. (A black turban denotes a descendant of Mohammed.) Fifteen million pilgrims visit Fatimah’s tomb each year.

From Qom, a 6-lane highway, typical of Iran’s fine highway system, took me back to bustling Tehran.

Why visit?

Iran is one of the few inexpensive travel destinations left for Americans. There, the dollar is still king.

My hotel rooms were always clean and comfortable, with modern bath facilities. I do not know room-only costs, since my accommodations were included in my reasonably priced tour package.

Meals were quite inexpensive by American standards. Dinner in a good restaurant, for example, cost about $10. Iran’s food was not outstanding, but it was wholesome. Indistinguishable kebabs of lamb or chicken served with a heaping plate of rice, salads and flat bread in various forms made up the standard lunch and dinner fare. Alcohol is forbidden.

Persepolis, Esfahan and Yazd alone should be enough to entice even the most jaded traveler to visit Iran. But the real jewels of this country are its people. In all my travels, I have never found people more welcoming, kind or generous. They were kind to foreigners and each other.

Generosity and mutual respect are key facets of their culture. “A human must act human,” an Iranian saying goes.

Examples of their kindness to strangers abounded. I left for Iran on the very day in April that the Virginia Tech massacre occurred. Several people opened their conversation with me by expressing their sympathy for our national tragedy.

Once, while I was walking in a lane in remote Abyaneh, a man carrying an armload of flat bread passed, turned back and, with a smile, motioned for me to take some. In an unusual occurrence, a toilet attendant, recognizing me as a foreigner, led me to the only non-squat toilet there. My friend who spent five days in Tehran’s Jam Hospital told me that he had never been treated so well.

Recognizing me as a foreigner by my face and attire, young people in particular flocked around me wherever I went, saying “Hello” and “Welcome.”

Iranians clearly distinguish between the American people and our government. It seems they love Americans but dislike President Bush. “America okay; Bush no.” I heard repeatedly.

Everyone I met said they wanted better relations with the U.S., often professing puzzlement over why our government will not talk to their government, but they are also confident that the problems between our countries can be worked out peacefully.

Do not be intimidated by the political maneuverings between our two governments. Go to Iran and see what a magnificent travel opportunity Americans have been missing.

Americans are still a rarity in Iran. I met only one while I was there, a doctor who was returning to her homeland after 40 years in the U.S.

The details

I arranged my trip by e-mail with Iran Doostan Tours (#15 - 3rd St., Vali-e-Asr Ave., Tehran, Iran 14336; phone 011 98 21 8872 2975, www.idt.ir).

The per-person cost for the two of us for 11 nights in single rooms in first-class hotels, with breakfast and dinner daily, a car with a driver/guide, one internal flight and all entrance fees, was $1,400. For one person traveling alone, the cost would have been $1,976.

Everyone at Iran Doostan Tours did a fine job and I recommend them highly. Round-trip, economy-class airfare to Tehran from Washington, D.C., was $1,078 via KLM and IranAir.

On a March ’07 trip to Japan, my wife, Susan, and I wanted to experience something of the country’s hectic urban life as well as the slower pace of its small towns and countryside. We got both during our train trip through the heart of Honshu Island.

The small, sedate market town of Kurashiki, the vibrant city of Hiroshima and its solemn atomic bomb museum, the quiet majesty of Miyajima’s temple, the simple seaside village of Amanohashidate and the historic shrines of Kyoto: these special places gave us close-up views of old and new Japan.

Kurashiki
After arriving about midday at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, we caught the airport train to Osaka station. From there, we took an express train to the market town of Kurashiki, about two hours west near the seacoast. Before our trip, we bought Japan Rail Pass (www.jtbusa.com or www.japanrailpass.net) vouchers for just under $400 for two weeks of unlimited rail travel.

We wanted to begin our visit to Japan with a small-town experience. We chose the Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel (1-1-44 Chuo; www.kurashiki-kokusai-hotel.co.jp) as our base for its location near the heart of the Old Town district, a short walk from the train station. A clean, well-kept twin room cost $143 per night. A pleasant breakfast buffet cost an additional $14 per person.

Kurashiki was a good choice, as it was a fun place to explore on foot. Old granary and warehouse buildings along the back lanes and canal (actually, the Kurashiki River) have been transformed into trendy shops, stores and eateries. The shops turn out mochi (a sticky rice cake), manju (a traditional confection) and all manner of Japanese goodies, making for fascinating discoveries.

Kurashiki’s historic Old Town has many narrow lanes that provide a close look at everyday life in a typical market town, and there are textile, arts-and-crafts and specialty shops as well. The residential neighborhoods, with their rows of historic Edo-period houses, and the numerous shrines, temples, museums, gardens and other historic sites also are worth exploring.

Hiroshima

Our next stop was the bustling metropolis of Hiroshima — quite a contrast to Kurashiki. Due to time constraints and mixing business with pleasure on this visit, we stayed at the deluxe Rihga Royal Hotel Hiroshima (6-78 Motomachi, Naka-ku; www.rihga.com), located in midtown. A large twin room with a panoramic view of the city and nearby Hiroshima Castle was $177 per night, including a very nice breakfast buffet.

Hiroshima was, of course, totally destroyed by the atomic bomb that was dropped on it in 1945. A visit to the Peace Memorial Park and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial is a must. The park and museum, located at the confluence of the Honkawa and Motoyasu rivers, were a short walk away from our hotel. The park marks “ground zero” of the atomic bomb explosion.

At the museum (entry, about $1 per person plus $3 for audio tour), we took our time, moving slowly through each display, exhibit and photo of this very solemn memorial to those who perished.

The museum provides a sobering look at the impact of nuclear weapons. Regardless of one’s views, a visit here provides a healthy dose of reality on the horrors of nuclear war.

Just a block away from our hotel was the towering Hiroshima Castle, rebuilt after the war. Also known as the Carp Castle, it is completely surrounded by a moat and houses an interesting museum on early Japanese life and samurai culture and art. There are panoramic city views from the top level of the multitiered building.

Miyajima

One of Japan’s three most scenic sites is Miyajima Island, located just off Hiroshima’s shore. From Hiroshima station, it’s a 30-minute train ride to Miyajimaguchi, then a 10-minute ferryboat ride ($1.50 per person, one way).

“Miyajima” means “shrine island,” in recognition of the 1,400-year-old Itsukushima Shrine ($5 per person). The temple was built over the seashore, and the towering vermilion torii (gateway) that stands at the temple’s entrance is Miyajima’s symbol.

The Itsukushima Shrine is a 10-minute walk from the ferry pier. However, we were somewhat disappointed to discover how overly commercialized the area was. The Omotesando Street shopping arcade is a tourist trap, with numerous souvenir shops and eateries. With Miyajima promoted as a special sacred and historical site of Japanese culture, it was a bit of a surprise to find it a typically gaudy tourist center.

Miyajima also has several other shrines and temples and a challenging nature walk/climb to the summit of Mt. Misen (1,755 feet above sea level). The Miyajima History & Folklore Museum ($5 per person) has an extensive collection of cultural artifacts dating from the Edo Period (1603-1867) and is well worth a look.

Amanohashidate

The second of Japan’s three most scenic sites (the third is Matsushima, near Sendai, in northern Honshu) is on the western coast of central Honshu Island on the Sea of Japan. The quiet fishing village of Amanohashidate is a relaxing 2-hour train ride from Kyoto.

We opted to stay at a Japanese-style inn, the Taikyourou Inn (471 Monjyu Aza; e-mail info@taikyourou.com), located on the canal leading from the inner harbor to Miyazu Bay and the sea. The double room rate of $330 is considered moderately priced for this type of accommodation in early spring, the high-demand cherry blossom season. The rate included a traditional Japanese-style dinner and breakfast.

It was a very nice one-night experience sampling authentic local cuisine, bathing in an onsen (hot bath) and sleeping on a futon mattress on the floor.

We enjoyed the village for its quiet atmosphere, well away from the hustle and bustle of urbanized Japan. “Amanohashidate” means “bridge in the heaven,” and it was named for the 2-mile-long pine-tree-covered sandbar which majestically bisects Miyazu Bay. The sandbar makes for a pleasant walk to the other side of the bay and the Fuchu district.

For an unconventional view of the area, take the cable car or chairlift ($5 per person) at either the Fuchu or Monju (Amanohashidate) end to the lookout areas, then bend over and view the scene from between your legs. It’s said that the view looks like “a floating bridge to the heavens.”

The Amanohashidate area also has several temples and historic sites to visit_plus some interesting shops at which to pick up local mochi and other goodies. There are also fish markets with local seafood products and numerous noodle shops and other eateries.

Kyoto

Located in the south-central area of Honshu Island, Kyoto is a vibrant modern city imbued with an air of ancient Japanese culture. It’s colorful heritage is easily seen in the many temples and shrines that capture the city’s past.

The following are among the more popular and significant of Kyoto’s temples that our group visited. Many of the temples and shrines are open free to the public, but some do charge nominal admission fees, usually about $5 per person.

Located in the Sagano district of Kyoto, Tenryu-ji Temple (Temple of the Heavenly Dragon) has a long history, and its landscaped garden, one of Japan’s oldest, is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The temple was established in 1339 and has undergone several reconstructions. The present buildings date to the Meiji period (1868-1912). Be sure to take in the magnificent ceiling painting of the Cloud Dragon in the Dharma Hall.

The Ryoan-ji Temple (Temple of the Peaceful Dragon), established in 1473, is a Zen temple most famous for its rectangular rock garden created in the early 16th century. The garden, composed of 15 rocks set into a field of raked white gravel, is considered a masterpiece. Foot paths lead throughout the temple grounds and around the Kyoyochi Pond, providing varied views of the beautiful gardens and the temple grounds.

More Kyoto temples

Kiyomizu-dera Temple is located in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. Known as the Clear Water Temple, it was founded in the eighth century by a Buddhist priest. The temple buildings, most built in the early 17th century, are spread over a steep hillside offering panoramic views of the Kyoto metro area. Visitors seek out the temple waterfall for its pure water, said to have curative powers for all illnesses.

Daikaku-ji Temple, located in the Sagano area, was originally a palace of the Emperor Saga during the ninth century. It was later converted to a Shingon Buddhist temple. The temple buildings are noted for their exquisite traditional sliding doors and paneled paintings depicting scenes of early Japan.

Fronting the main building is an imperial court-styled garden flanked with orange and plum trees. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, with the Osawa Pond adding to the serene atmosphere.

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, in Kyoto’s suburban Fushimi-ku district, is one of Japan’s most important. This large Shinto shrine complex is spread over a wooded hillside with pathways running through tunnels of bright red-orange torii gateways, the temple’s most noted feature. There are numerous small shrines devoted to various deities, and many locals come here to pray, make offerings and ask for the blessings of the gods.

Kyoto details
Kyoto, the ancient imperial capital of Japan, didn’t disappoint. Thoroughly modern in every way and reflecting the fast-paced urban environment of today’s Japan, Kyoto retains its reputation as a center of Japanese culture and heritage.

Our hotel of choice in Kyoto was the New Miyako Hotel (17 Nishikujo-Inmachi, Minami-ku, Kyoto 601-8412, Japan; www.miyakohotels. ne.jp/newmiyako), where a twin room with private bath cost $167 per night. The hotel was clean and well kept. The full breakfast buffet, including Western and Asian cuisine, cost $17 per person.

We chose the hotel for its convenient location across the street from the main Kyoto train station, providing easy access to all of Kyoto’s attractions. The train station had numerous shops and restaurants as well.

We intended to spend our last night in Japan outside Kyoto, taking just a small overnight bag. The New Miyako Hotel held our luggage overnight at no charge, allowing us to pick up our bags on the way to the Kansai Airport the next day.

We found the Japan Travel Bureau website (www.jtbusa.com) helpful in making hotel reservations and getting good rates for the rest of our trip.

Because our group of five had limited time plus one senior with some mobility challenges, we opted to hire a private, English-speaking taxi guide for one day rather than rely on buses, subways, etc., to get around. It was an excellent decision. We visited many of Kyoto’s major temples and shrines quickly and comfortably and with excellent English narration on Kyoto’s culture and history.

Doi Taxi (phone 090 9596 5546, www3.ocn.ne.jp/~doitaxi) is operated by Mr. Naoki Doi, an expert English-speaking guide to Kyoto. A comfortable 6-passenger van was used for the tours, which cost ¥5,400, about $55, per hour. I highly recommend this company.

by Joyce Bruck, Ocean Ridge, FL