Belfast Castle (Antrim Road, Belfast, BT15 5GR, Northern Ireland; phone +44 0 28 9077 6925, fax 28 9037 0228), completed in 1760 on 400-foot-high Cave Hill, offers panoramic views of the city. Admission is free to the grounds, the restaurant and the visitors’ center, with four rooms of exhibits on the castle’s history and open 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 9-6 Sunday.
Nara, the first capital of Japan, is celebrating its 1,300th anniversary in 2010 with a year of exhibits and events throughout Nara Prefecture.
13-day/12-night or 19-day/18-night tour of INDIA. Highlights: Siana leopard safari/Jodhpur/Jaipur/Taj Mahal/tiger safari in Kanha National Park. 13 days, $4,898 land plus $500 internal airfare. 19 days, $7,698 land plus $900 internal air. Single supp., $400.
Wild Planet Adventures (Sausalito, CA; 800/990-4376).
22 days/21 nights; departs Nov. 23, 2010, and Jan. 9, Sept. 26 & Nov. 24, 2011. Highlights: Ethnographic Museum in Addis Ababa/Blue Nile Falls/Gondar (City of Castles)/stelae and early Christian relics in Axum/rock-hewn churches in Lalibela/meet Dorze, Konso, Mursi and Hamar tribal peoples. Land, $4,487. Single supp., $707.
Adventures Abroad (Blaine, WA; 800/665-3998).
14 days/12 nights, April 10-23, 2011. Highlights: Neolithic round houses in Khirokitia, CYPRUS/Roman ruins, mosaics in Kourion/painted Byzantine churches in Troodos/in MALTA, Baracca Gardens in Valletta/5,000-year-old Hagar Qim temple/ferry to Gozo; Neolithic site of Ta’ Cenc. From New York, $9,995. Single supp., $595.
Far Horizons (San Anselmo, CA; 800/ 552-4575).
Seven days/six nights. Highlights: In Copenhagen, DENMARK, Amalienborg Palace, Christiansborg Palace, “Little Mermaid”/train to Stockholm, SWEDEN/City Hall, site of the Nobel Prize banquet/ferry to Helsinki, FINLAND/Finlandia Hall, President’s Palace. Land, from $1,599. Single supp., from $820.
General Tours (Keene, NH; 800/221-2216).
15 days/13 nights. Highlights: From Glasgow, SCOTLAND, visit Loch Lomond, Cawdor Castle/Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace/ferry across the channel to NORTHERN IRELAND/Belfast/Giant’s Causeway/in IRELAND, Dingle Peninsula/Dublin. Land, from $2,650. Single supp., $785.
Brendan Vacations (Chatsworth, CA; 800/421-8446).
11 days/10 nights, Oct. 25-Nov. 4, 2010. Highlights: Edinburgh Castle/Falkland Palace and St. Andrew’s Cathedral, where ghosts and phantoms are said to walk/“most-haunted” castle in Britain, Glamis Castle/Autumn Festival in Pitlochry/Glasgow/Paranormal Evening in Peebles. Land, $3,495. Single supp., $695.
Scottish Dream Tours (Cle Elum, WA; 800/511-7803).
13 days/12 nights. Highlights: In Vienna, AUSTRIA, Belvedere Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral/in Budapest, HUNGARY, Castle Hill, Parliament/Kraków, POLAND: Wawel Castle, Cloth Hall/Black Madonna of Czestochowa/Chopin Monument in Warsaw/Berlin, GERMANY/in Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC, Old Quarter, Jewish Ghetto. Land, single room, $3,561 or double, $5,054.
Tradesco Tours (Bonita Springs, FL; 800/448-4321).
19-day/18-night tour of RUSSIA and the BALTICS. Departs May 10 and Sept. 6, 2010. Highlights: in Kiev, UKRAINE, Chernobyl Museum/Kremlin diamonds, Fabergé eggs in Moscow, RUSSIA/Amber Room in St. Petersburg/in Vilnius, LITHUANIA, former KGB HQ/Riga, LATVIA’s, Opera House/torchlight monastery tour in Tallinn, ESTONIA. Land only, from $11,925. Single supp., $3,800.
Exeter International (Tampa, FL; 800/633-1008).