Tours

14 days/12 nights in Iraq, March 22-April 4, 2009. Highlights: Erbil Citadel, Civilization Museum/archaeological sites/picnic with locals/meet high-ranking Kurdish officials. Land only, $5,860; single supplement, $1,140. Distant Horizons (Long Beach, CA; 800/333-1240, www.distant-horizons.com).

19-day/18-night tour of IRAN, April 3-21 2009. Highlights: Six UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Persopolis/National Jewels Museum, Tehran/Isfahan/Yazd/Caspian Sea villages. Land and internal air, $5,495; single supplement, $795. ElderTreks (Toronto, ON, Canada; 800/741-7956, www.eldertreks.com).

16 days/15 nights, five Balkan countries. Highlights: In GREECE, Athens, Delphi, Kalambaka, Meteora/in MACEDONIA, Ohrid/in ALBANIA, Tirana, Shkodra/in CROATIA, Dubrovnik, Split, Plitvice Lakes National Park/in SLOVENIA, Lake Bled, Ljubjlana, Zagreb. Land only, $3,695; single supplement, $1,160. Bestway Tours & Safaris (Burnaby, B.C., Canada; 800/663-0844, www.bestway.com).

11-day/9-night cruise of NETHERLANDS and BELGIUM. Highlights: Rembrandts in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum/7,000,000 flowers in Keukenhof Gardens/van Gogh art in Kröller-Müller Museum, Nijmegen/in BELGIUM, Antwerp, Bruges. From $2,609 from East Coast; single supplement, from $1,899. Grand European Tours (Lake Oswego, OR; 800/552-5545, www.getours.com). 

11-day/10-night cruise, May 23-June 2, 2009. Highlights: Seabirds nesting on Hebrides islands/Neolithic sites/Iona Island/Orkneys/Shetlands/Isle of Lewis. Cruise only, from $3,495; single cabins, from $6,295. Elegant Cruises & Tours, Inc. (Port Washington, NY; 800/683-6767, www.elegantcruises.com).

8-day/7-night singles tour, Dec. 26, 2008-Jan. 2, 2009.

10-day/8-night wildlife safari, Dec. 21-30, 2008 (five departures in 2009).

Highlights: From Arusha, transfer to lodge with views of Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro/in Great Rift Valley and Lake Manyara National Park, game drives to see flamingoes, hippos, tree-climbing lions, cheetahs, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, black rhinos/visit traditional Maasai boma (family enclosure)/hike into Olduvai Gorge, “cradle of humanity”/game drives in Serengeti/fly to Arusha.

Land and internal flight, from $4,895. Single supplement, $750 ($1,000 in December). Park fee, $600.

14 days/12 nights in CHINA with 4-day cruise, March 5-18, 2009.

Highlights: In Beijing, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, day tour to Great Wall and Ming Tombs/terra-cotta warriors in Xi’an/pandas at zoo in Chongqing/board a 5-star Yangtze cruiser and pass through Three Gorges/shore excursion to Wanxian or Fengdu; kindergarten visit/Three Gorges Dam site/disembark in Wuhan; visit Historical Museum and Yellow Crane Pavilion/in Shanghai, shop in Pudong Economic Zone and on Nanjing Road; visit the Bund, Yu Garden and a silk factory. 

 11 days/9 nights in SWITZERLAND, ITALY and AUSTRIA.

10 days/8 nights, departing Nov. 29, Dec. 6 & Dec. 13, 2008.

Highlights: In Berlin, State Opera House, Kurfürstendamm district, Reichstag/Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, where Bach was cantor, and Leipzig Christmas market/Dresden’s Striezelmarkt, Germany’s oldest Christmas market, dating from 1434/enjoy Rostbratwürste and Glühwein at the Christkindlmarkt in Nuremberg/medieval Rothenburg, with its year-round Christmas Shop/Olympic Stadium, Frauenkirche and Rathaus in Munich/Mad King Ludwig’s Linderhof Castle/Oberammergau, home of the Passion Play/end tour in Munich.