Tours in Review

It was a lucky day for me when, perusing the small ads at the back of ITN, I came across the one for Church House Tours of Shillingstone, Dorset, UK. I immediately e-mailed Susy and Paul Wilson, the proprietors, and thus began a year of planning and e-mails going back and forth across the Atlantic. Their company is now known as Discover England Tours (Church House, Church Road, Shillingstone, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 0SL, England; phone +44 1258 860646, www.

discoverenglandtours.co.uk. . . or U.S. agent, Wilson & Lake International, Phoenix, OR; 800/227-5550).

Varini de Silva of Ceylon Express International (9542 Dumbreck Dr., Huntington Beach, CA 92646; 800/423-9566, www.ceylonexpress.com) created an independent month-long trip to Asia for my wife, Barbara, and me. Land and internal air for the Feb. 19-March 19, 2007, trip cost $13,500.

Ceylon Express, using ground operators Rainbow Travel (Thimphu, Bhutan) in Bhutan and Indochina Services (San Francisco, CA) for the rest of the tour, went out of their way to give us a great itinerary that included all of the highlights.

Costa Rica is a nature lover’s paradise, as my husband, Gerald, and I, found while traveling Jan. 24-Feb. 2, 2007, with Caravan Tours (401 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611; 800/227-2826, www.caravantours.com). Our tour cost $995 plus $99 for insurance (land only).

Our group of 43 toured in an air-conditioned bus with reclining seats and a toilet on board. We rotated seats daily and there was extra space as well. Most meals were buffet, with a big variety of fresh fruit, juices, vegetables, meat and fish.

Ethiopia and its people are poor. There is malnourishment and there is begging, though it’s not as bad as in India.

I took the 15-day tour “Land of the Golden Fleece,” June 24-July 8, 2006, with Explore (booked through Adventure Center, 1311 63rd St., Ste. 200, Emeryville, CA 94608; 800/227-8747, www.adventurecenter.com).

Bora Özkök, the owner of Cultural Folk Tours (5631 Lincoln Ave., Ste. B, Cypress, CA 90630-3156; 800/935-8875, www.boraozkok.com), was the leader on our 20-day “Bora’s Eastern and Unknown Turkey,” July 15-Aug. 3, 2007.

Eastern Turkey, which we found safe and friendly, is unspoiled in its natural beauty and ancient sites. Bora’s knowledge and presentation of this fascinating area of Turkey made the ancient sites come alive. Every day was an adventure, and the 17 members of our group were the only tourists at each site.

I would highly recommend the 10-day “Irish Explorer” coach tour from CIE Tours International (Morristown, NJ). The overall tour, Sept. 1-10, 2007, was excellent and a good value for the money. It cost $1,568 per person plus $867 air from Los Angeles.

We had a direct flight to Dublin. Kudos to Aer Lingus, as the toilets were cleaned several times during the long flight and at each visit the facilities were as clean as at the start of the flight.

We highly recommend CIE Tours International (10 Park Place, Ste. 510, Morristown, NJ 07962-1965; 800/338-3964, www.cietours.com). We did their 12-day “Irish Odyssey” coach tour, May 19-30, 2007.

What really sold us on CIE was their “no options” policy. The cost of our tour was about $1,640 per person, land, and they did not ask us for extra money for dinners, tours, etc. We are getting weary of most tour companies asking for several hundred per person over and above the original tour price. Our price included an over-55 discount that is given on some tours.

I took a very interesting tour of the Gulf States with Adventures Abroad (1124 Fir Ave., Ste. 101, Blaine, WA 98230; 800/665-3998) and learned so much about a fascinating part of the world.

You can start the 13-day “Australian Highlights” tour anyday, as it is independent (you get a driver and guide each day). My wife, Helen, and I, took it Oct. 13-25, 2006, with AAT Kings Tours (U.S. office at 801 East Katella Ave., 3rd Floor, Anaheim, CA 92805; 714/456-0505, www.aatkings.com).