A selection of tours and cruise-tours
7 days, 6 nights on ITALY’s largest island, May 14-20, 2016. Highlights: Coach from Palermo to Valley of the Temples in Agrigento/ Audie Murphy landing beach/3rd Division Memorial/Scoglitti landing beaches/follow exploits of US 45th Infantry Division/landing beaches at Gela/Catania/Centuripe/Troina/Agira Canadian War Cemetery. Land, $2,950 ppdo. Single supp., $300. Valor Tours (Sausalito, CA; 800/842-4504, www.valortours.com).
8-day, 7-night, Level 1 (“easy,” average 28 miles a day) bicycle tour in the NETHERLANDS. Departures April, May 2016. Highlights: Ride 18-person barge from Amsterdam to Spaarndam/Haarlem/80 acres of tulips and other flowers at Keukenhof/Aalsmeer Flower Auction/Alkmaar, cheese city/17th-century Beemster Polder. Cabin, €780-€1,020 (near $877-$1,147) per person, double occupancy (ppdo). Single, €1,020-€1,474. Bike rental, €50-€140 per week. Age 3-11, 30% less.
8 days, 7 nights. Departures through Dec. 21, 2015. Highlights: Head from San José to Arenal area/visit country’s most active volcano, next to Lake Arenal/Arenal National Park, home to monkeys, toucans/in Guanacaste province, Tamarindo beach on the Pacific. Land, $997 ppdo or $1,690 single. Tara Tours (Miami, FL; 800/327-0080, www.taratours.com).
9-day, 8-night private tour for 2-6 people in BOTSWANA. Highlights: From Kasane Airport to Chobe National Park, home to elephants, for game drives/Chobe River cruise/Savute area, home to leopards, hyenas/in Okavango Delta, bush walks, mokoro rides, catch-and-release fishing/Moremi Game Reserve. Depart from Maun. Land, $5,050 ppdo (Feb.-May & Nov.-Dec. 2016) or $7,580 (June-Oct. 2016). Single supp., $3,190. andBeyond Expeditions (164 Katherine St., Pin Mill Farm, Block F, Sandown, Johannesburg, 2010, South Africa; 888/882-3742, www.andbeyond.com).
13-day, 12-night voyage to volcanic Pacific islands, May 27-June 8, 2016. Moderate-level fitness advised. Highlights: On Kamchatka Peninsula, board 50-passenger Spirit of Enderby/Avacha Bay, home to parakeet auklets, puffins/whale-watching/Commander Islands, home to dunlins, Lapland longspurs/Bering Island Museum/Kuril Islands, for sea otters/Alaid and Tyatya volcanoes. Cabin, from $7,300 pp, triple occupancy, to $11,000 ppdo, Heritage Suite. Single supp., multiply cabin price by 1.8. Landing fee, $500.
30 days, 29 nights. Departures April 16 & Sept. 17, 2016. Highlights: In UZBEKISTAN, Samarkand, Bukhara/ancient walled city of Khiva/in TURKMENISTAN, ancient city of Nisa/in IRAN, Shiraz, Persepolis, Isfahan/in Yazd, Zoroastrian Fire Temple/in ARMENIA, Monastery of Geghard/in GEORGIA, 10th-century city of Mtskheta/4x4 trip to Gergeti Trinity Church/in AZERBAIJAN, Baku, Gobustan Open-Air Museum. Land and internal air, $11,260 ppdo/single supp., $1,435… or Leg 1 (19 days, Central Asia & Iran), $6,650/$695, or Leg 2 (21 days, Iran & Caucasus), $8,250/$1,150.
8-day, 7-night gourmet walking tour of northern ITALY, May 18-25, 2016. Five days of walking (average of 8 miles a day). Highlights: In Milan, private tour of “Last Supper”/boat touring on Como, Maggiore, Orta lakes/walk through hamlets to Torno/climb to ridge of Triangolo Lariano/in Locarno, SWITZERLAND, ride funicular to start hike/on Isola Bella, 17th-century villa/climb Monte Mottarone/Basilica di San Giulio. Land, €2,895 (near $3,167) ppdo. Single supp., €275. Hedonistic Hiking (P.O.
12 days, 12 nights, May 1-13, 2016. Highlights: In Lyon, FRANCE, Museum of Fine Arts, Notre Dame de Fourvières/village of Pérouges/from Annecy, ride to Chamonix resort at foot of Mont Blanc/Mer de Glace (glacier)/Cluny Abbey/15th-century Beaune hospice/in Burgundy, Côte de Nuits wine villages/in SWITZERLAND, walled village of Yvoire/Château of Chillon fortress on Lake Geneva/cheese cuisine in Gruyère. Land, $3,995 per person, double occupancy (ppdo). Single supp., $550. Intimate France (Oakland, CA; 800/676-1247, www.intimatefrance.com).
17-day, 16-night family-focused luxury expedition cruise. Minimum age, 7. Highlights: Buenos Aires fly to Ushuaia, ARGENTINA; board Le Boreal/kids’ workshops on science, art, writing, seamanship, navigation/view whales/explore South Georgia/king penguins, elephant seals/Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetlands, Paradise Bay, Lemaire Channel (“Kodak Alley”). Dec. 19, 2015-Jan. 4, 2016, from $18,995 ppdo; single supp., from $9,950. Dec. 13-29, 2016, from $16,995 ppdo if booked by March 31, 2016; single supp., from $9,995.
12-day, 11-night tour in highlands of BOLIVIA, March 11-22 & March 25-April 5, 2016. Highlights: In La Paz, visit markets, organizations, restaurants/Santiago de Okola, fishing community at Lake Titicaca/Uyuni Salt Flats/hike on Island of the Sun/quinoa tour in Salinas de Garci Mendoza/farm tours in Jatun Yampara and Hampaturi Valley. Land, $2,000 ppdo. Single supp., $105. La Paz on Foot (710 Calle Indaburo, esq. Calle Jaen, La Paz, Bolivia; phone +591 71543918, www.lapazonfoot.com).