My wife, Bune, and I took the 18-day “Ancient Persia – Modern Iran” trip from MIR Corporation (Seattle, WA; 800/424-7289), April 3-20, 2012. The land price was $5,895 per person, and internal airfare was $150. All meals were included as well as first-class accommodations (or best-available).
Even though my wife and I are experienced independent travelers, we fully expected to join a group tour for our first visit to Israel in April ’12. But when it came time to select one, we found that most tours were oriented toward a particular religious denomination or had a specific, dominating agenda. We wanted a nondenominational tour that focused on history rather than doctrine.
by Marcia Brandes, Atlanta, GA
8-day / 6-night tour of TURKEY. Highlights: Selçuk Museum in Kuşadası / Greek ruins in Ephesus / Pergamum, capital of the Attalid Kingdom / Troy / in Istanbul, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia. From New York, from $1,799. Troy Tours (Los Angeles, CA; 800 / 748-6878).
• Turkey will join the list of countries valid for Eurail Global and Eurail Select Pass travel when TCDD, the Turkish railway company, becomes a member of the Eurail-pass system on Jan. 1, 2013. Although Turkey is accessible by train from Bulgaria, be aware that construction work will affect some routes until fall of 2013.
• Westbahn, which offers hourly passenger train service between Salzburg and Vienna, will be the first private railway company to join the Eurail community. Beginning in January, holders of Eurail passes can ride its high-speed trains between the two cities.
I took the “Exotic Lands” cruise of Oceania Cruises (800/386-9283), and what an appropriate title that was!
On Egypt’s Giza Plateau, six Old Kingdom tombs, constructed in the Fourth Dynasty (2890-2686 BC), are to be opened by the end of 2012. The most famous, that of Princess Meresankh III, granddaughter of the pharaoh Khufu, has been closed to the public for 25 years.
The other tombs were built for the overseer of the House of Life, the overseer of the soul priests, the overseer of the king’s farms, the overseer of the royal treasury and King Khufu’s treasurer. The restored tombs have façades, rock pillars, large chambers and decorated walls.
9-day / 7-night tour of TURKEY. Highlights: Istanbul / Troy / Pergamon / Seven Churches of the Revelation / theater in Ephesus where St. Paul preached. Land, $2,100. Single supp., $350. TEO World Culture Tours (New York, NY; 888 / 444-1110).
My husband, Tom, and I flew to Istanbul on Sept. 8, 2010, to join five other photo enthusiasts on a tour of Turkey. This was the fourth tour we had taken with Strabo International Tour Company (Dryden, NY), which limits each group to 12 travelers accompanied by a professional photographer and a local guide.
by Charlotte Temple, Framingham, MA