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9 days / 8 nights, March 19-27, 2013. Highlights: Professional photographers tour with group and give tips / Cape Town / winery tour / Stellenbosch / penguins at Boulders Beach / Big Five at Sabi Sabi Game Reserve. $4,899 from New York. Single supp., $800. Lion World Tours (Toronto, ON, Canada; 800 / 387-2706, www.lionworldtours.com).
10 days / 9 nights, departing Oct. 30 & Nov. 11, 2012, and Nov. 10, 2013. Hike from two to eight miles per day. Highlights: Start in Christchurch, South Island / limestone caves in Paparoa National Park / hangi (earth oven) feast / kayak into Okarito Lagoon to see white herons, black swans / hike to Rob Roy Glacier / Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre in Aoraki. Land, $2,395 (2012) or $2,895 (2013). No single accommodations. Wilderness Inquiry (Minneapolis, MN; 800 / 728-0719, www.wildernessinquiry.org).
9-day / 7-night tour of Beijing and Shanghai. Highlights: In Beijing, Forbidden City, Sacred Way, Summer Palace / Great Wall / in Shanghai, the Bund, Temple of Heaven and Huangpu River cruise. From $999 from San Francisco; $100 more from New York. Single supp., $239. China Spree (Bellevue, WA; 855 / 556-6868, www.chinaspree.com).
8-day / 7-night walking tour of northern ITALY, Oct. 12, 2012, and June 14 & Oct. 11, 2013. Highlights: Medieval Saluzzo / walk to a 13th-century castle in Manta / walk with views of the Ligurian Alps / visit wine maker in Barolo / go truffle hunting / enjoy local cheeses, chocolates, snails, mushrooms, wine. Land, €2,425 (near $2,953). Single supp., €175. Hedonistic Hiking (Box 200, Porepunkah, VIC, 3740 Australia; phone +61 [0] 3 5755 2307, www.hedonistichiking.com).
14-day / 13-night cruise-tour, departing May 17 & Sept. 18, 2013. Highlights: Monte Carlo, MONACO / Chagall and Matisse artworks in Nice, FRANCE / Roman ruins in Arles / Cézanne works in Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence / Avignon / Dijon / Lyon / private tour of Marmottan Museum’s Monet collection in Paris. Cruise-tour, from $7,160. Note: no single supplement for Category 1 cabins for ANY Tauck Europe cruise in 2013. Tauck (Norwalk, CT; 800 / 788-7885, www.tauck.com).
10-day / 9-night tour of WWII sites, Aug. 17-27, 2013. Highlights: From Paris, FRANCE, coach to Calais / former V-2 rocket base at La Coupole / 101st and 82nd Airborne drop zones in the NETHERLANDS / Arnhem Bridge / in BELGIUM, Battle of the Bulge sites / in GERMANY, Hürtgen Forest, Remagen Bridge Museum. Land, $3,695. Single supp., $300. Alpventures Tours (Portland, OR; 888 / 991-6718, www.alpventures.com).
11-day / 8-night walking tour. Highlights: Edradour, Scotland’s smallest distillery / Loch Garten Osprey Centre / walk along Loch Ness / Isle of Skye / hike up Glen Nevis / on Kerrera island, look for otters, peregrine falcons, seals / Inverary. Land, from $4,295. Single supp., $625. Journeys International (Ann Arbor, MI; 800 / 255-8735, www.journeys.travel).
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is GEORGE COHEN of Warren, NJ:
The model for many open-air museums across Europe, the Nederlands Openluchtmuseum (Schelmsweg 89, Postbus 649, NL-6800 AP Arnhem, Netherlands; phone +31 [0]26-3576111) is the original folk museum in the Netherlands and the biggest. (In 2012, open March 30-Oct. 28. €14.95 [$18] adult, 10.50 child. Parking, €4.50.)
You’ll need a minimum of four hours to enjoy and completely immerse yourself in over 200 years of Dutch culture.
On a visit to Paris in April ’12, my wife, Anne, and I took the Métro to Bercy station and spent a number of hours in Parc de Bercy, comprised of three connected gardens.