Tours

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).

8 days / 7 nights, through March 2013. Highlights: San José / Tortugeuro National Park to see howler monkeys, egrets and toucans / pre-Columbian ruins at Alma Ata Archaeological Park / have lunch with a Tico family / Arenal Volcano / thermal pools at Tabacon Hot Springs / walk suspension bridges through the treetops at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Land, from $1,450. Single supp., $150. Grand European Tours (Lake Oswego, OR; 877/622-9109).

9-day / 8-night walking tour of NEW ZEALAND, Nov. 8-17, 2012, and March 7-16, 2013. Longest walking day, 6-7 hours; some steep tracks. Highlights: Ferry from Wellington to Picton / walk part of the Queen Charlotte Trail / Abel Tasman National Park / in Matukituki Valley, Rob Roy Glacier / Mount Aspiring National Park / Routeburn Track. Land, AUD7,595 (near $7,778). No single supp. Bill Peach Journeys (Alexandria, NSW, Australia; phone +61 2 9693 2233).

17 days / 16 nights, April 19-May 5, 2013. Highlights: Colonial Semarang in Java / eighth- to ninth-century Buddhist monument at Borobudur / visit Batak tribe in Sumatra highlands / batik workshop / houseboat up the Sekonyer River / Camp Leakey Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Land, approx. $5,975. Single supp., $800. Internal air, $947. Far Fung Places (San Francisco, CA; 415/386-8306).

6 days/5 nights. Highlights: View from Tokyo Tower / Meiji Shrine / shop the Ginza / drive to fifth station (halfway up) of Mt. Fuji / Owakudani Boiling Valley (aka Hell Valley) / cruise Lake Ashi / in Kyoto, Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji Temple / woodblock, cloisonné and doll making demos at Kyoto Handicraft Center. Land, $2,299. Single supp., $689. Pacific Delight Tours (New York, NY).

9 days / 7 nights. Highlights: In Tokyo, Imperial Palace, Sumida River cruise, Asakusa Kannon Buddhist temple, Nakamise shopping arcade / in Kyoto, Nijo Castle / 1,001 statues of Kannon, goddess of mercy, at Sanjusangendo. Land, from $2,229. From Los Angeles, from $3,099. Virgin Vacations (Ft. Washington, PA; 888/937-8474).