The Pages of Storybooks Spring to Life in Europe

The Alpine places made popular in storybooks and movies are part of a 13-day trip to Austria and Switzerland that departs Aug. 3. The trip will begin in “Sound of Music” country with tours to Salzburg, where the film was made, and the historic city of Vienna. The itinerary includes Schonbrunn Palace and the State Opera House in Vienna; a day cruise down the Danube River with a stop at Melk Abbey; a tour of Mozart’s home in Salzburg; and the resort town of Innsbruck.

In the land of “Heidi,” Switzerland, the group will visit the Engadine mountains, St. Moritz, the capital city of Bern, a glass factory in Lucerne and Zurich. In Zermatt, they will ride on the Glacier Express train. A three-night Rhine River cruise, which ends in Amsterdam, can be added.

Cost: $2,399 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, ground transportation, daily breakfast, many meals, guides and entrance fees. The add-on cruise is $610.

Contact: Rich Robinson at Santa Monica College; (310) 434-4731.

Turkey and Greece

Author Charles Frazee, a scholar of Greek and Turkish history, will lead a tour to both countries from May 27 to June 10.

The trip begins in Istanbul with a five-day visit to Turkey. In Istanbul, the tour will include the Topkapi Museum, the Blue Mosque, the Princes’ Islands and the Grand Bazaar. The group will travel to Canakkale, with side trips to the ancient site of Troy and the Gallipoli Memorial.

Then the group will board the Stella Solaris cruise ship for a six-night trip to the Greek islands of Delos, Mykonos, Patmos, Santorini, Rhodes and Crete, as well as Kusadasi (Ephesus) in Turkey. Passengers will disembark on the mainland for a three-day tour of Athens and Corinth, with visits to the Acropolis, the National Museum and the Agora.

Cost: $4,690 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations in hotels, upgraded cabins, all meals on the cruise and two meals daily in Turkey and Greece, most cruise excursions and all ground transportation.

Contact: East-West International Tours; (800) 359-6719, www.eastwest-tours.com.

France: Land and River

“The French Connection” is a two-week tour departing July 2 that covers land and rivers. First are six nights in Paris with a Seine River dinner cruise on the Bateaux Mouches; tours of Paris, Versailles, Giverny and the Loire Valley; passes to the Orsay Museum; and a free-entrance pass to 70 museums and other attractions.

Next, the group will board a bus to Lyon for a one-week tour on the Saone and Rhone rivers aboard the Cezanne, a riverboat. The cruise will travel from Lyon to the south of France and back. Stops include a visit to the marshes of the Camargue Nature Reserve and a scenic train ride through the town of Vienne, followed by a wine tasting. On July 14 the group will attend a Bastille Day fireworks celebration.

Cost: from $3,758 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, some meals, guided tours and cruise. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Great American Travel; (800) 929-8638, www.greattravel.com.

Southwest: National Parks

The national park-rich Southwest can be explored on Trafalgar’s eight-day “Trailblazer” tour visiting Las Vegas; Zion, Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon national parks; and Sedona, Ariz. A dinner cruise on Lake Powell is included.

Departures for the tour are frequent between May 4 and Oct. 26.

Cost: $1,020 per person, double occupancy; $615 for children ages 5 to 12. Transportation to Las Vegas is extra.

Make reservations with a travel agent. For a brochure, call Trafalgar Tours at (800) 648-1638, www.trafalgar.com.

Peru: River Cruise

The Santa Ana Zoo is hosting a nine-day cruise on the Amazon River in Peru beginning July 6. The tour will explore the heart of the Amazon rain forest. Naturalist guides will interpret the sights in the tropical forests and wetlands and talk about the animals that live there. Guests will likely see monkeys, parrots and pink Amazon River dolphins near the boat.

Accommodations are aboard a 115-foot riverboat. The 27-passenger vessel has air-conditioned cabins with private baths and hot showers. Shore visits and excursions in small boats on tributaries of the Amazon are included.

Cost: $3,995 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, riverboat, all meals on the cruise and guides.

Contact: Ron Glazier, Santa Ana Zoo; (714) 647-6598.

Paris: Springtime

Adventure Vacations of La Jolla is offering a “Springtime in Paris” tour for any dates during April and May. Guests will stay four nights at the Hotel Victoria in the Opera District, in rooms with private baths. Participants will take a Seine River cruise and receive discount shopping coupons and maps of Paris for individual exploration.

Cost: from $575 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, hotel, daily breakfast, guides and airport transfers.

Contact: Adventure Vacations, (800) 600-5587 or (858) 459-1065.

Hawaii: Four Islands

A 13-day visit to Maui, Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island is available year-round from Tauck World Discovery of Connecticut. Highlights include Volcanoes National Park, a helicopter flight over the Na Pali coast, a luau and a visit to a coffee plantation. Time is set aside for lounging on the beach.

Cost: from $4,110 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals, inter-island flights, ground transportation and guides. Air fare to Hawaii is extra.

Contact: Tauck World Discovery; (800) 788-7885, www.tauck.com.

Scotland: Festival

The Edinburgh Festival is the setting for a tour with Gilner International Travels of Beverly Hills from Aug. 17 to 23. The festival will feature five performances as well as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. There will be a day trip to Glasgow, including lunch and museum visits. Arts writer and lecturer Barbara Isenberg will lead the tour, which will include an interview with a theater artist and festival tips from Edinburgh-based drama critic Joyce McMillan.

Cost: $2,939 per person, double occupancy, including a room at the Roxburgh Hotel in central Edinburgh, full English breakfast daily, five performances, Edinburgh Military Tattoo and group excursions. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Susan Holden, Gilner International Travels; (310) 273-6161 or (800) 782-4750.

Africa: Roots

Celebrate your roots at the annual Homecoming Festival in Senegal and Gambia on a trip to Africa that runs from May 28 to June 8. The first night will be spent in Casablanca, Morocco, and there will be time to visit the medina and enjoy Moroccan food. Visitors will then spend two nights in Dakar, Senegal, for a tour of the city, a stop at Goree Island and some shopping time at the Sandaga Market to find African fabrics and other handcrafted items.

Next, a bus will depart for Banjul, where tour goers will visit Ft. James (a slave transit point) and the Alebreda Slave Museum and take a boat ride down the Gambia River. On African Redemption Day, travelers will participate in traditional, cultural and educational events, such as initiation and rites-of-passage ceremonies.

Cost: $2,495 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, beachside resort hotels, daily breakfast, all transportation and guides. Air fare to New York is extra.

Contact: African Festival Hotline; (310) 726-9230, www.galleryasha.com.

Newfoundland: Hike

A walking tour will take travelers 50 or older to Newfoundland. The excursion, July 6 to 13, will begin and end at Deer Lake. Walkers will cross the tablelands of Gros Morne National Park. Other places on the itinerary are the Green Gardens, which is really a forest; Western Brook Pond, a nine-mile-long fiord; Broom Point, a fishing village; 2,640-foot-high Gros Morne Mountain; the National Historic Site Interpretation Centre, to learn about ancient Indian and Eskimo groups; St. Anthony Harbor, for a boat trip out into the Atlantic; and the Viking settlement site at l’Anse aux Meadows.

Cost: $1,895 per person, double occupancy, including seven nights’ lodging in motels or cottages, most meals, transfers, boat and ferry rides and entry fees. Air fare is additional.

Contact: Walking the World; (800) 340-9255, www.walkingtheworld.com.

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The Times is not responsible for changes in tour prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with travel agents or tour operators.