Tour has animal magnetism

COSTA RICA

Ramble the wilds of Costa Rica on a 10-day family adventure designed for young explorers.

The Aug. 12 trip, sponsored by the Commonwealth Club of California, will visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in the Tileran Mountains and Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific Ocean.

Costa Rica “has become a world model for national park development, with over 25% of its land set aside in national parks and preserves,” said Lasse Lidstrom, director of travel for the Commonwealth Club, which is known for its public affairs forums.

The Monteverde reserve is home to howler moneys, jaguars, sloths and 400 species of birds, including the colorful quetzal. The group will hike and explore the reserve via a combination of suspended bridges and platforms built high in the forest canopy.

Other highlights include a visit to the Carara Biological Reserve, where the group will sail down the Tarcoles River to look for crocodiles, herons and storks, and a visit to Manuel Antonio Park, where participants will swim, hike and boat.

Cost: $3,150 per person, double occupancy (single surcharge $495) for adults, $1,190 per child (8 to 17 years old) when sharing a room with one or two adults. Included are accommodations, all meals, ground transportation, sightseeing and naturalist guide services. Round-trip airfare to Costa Rica is not included. Membership in the Commonwealth Club is required; the cost is $110 per person or $155 for families.

Contact: Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, (800) 933-7548, www.commonwealthclub.org or Royal Adventures, (800) 453-4754.

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ENGLAND, ROMANIA

Visit your favorite haunts

HOBNOB with ghosts, goblins and vampires this summer on two fright-filled tours to Europe.

From June 6 to 13, Troy Taylor, president of the American Ghost Society, will lead a tour of English castles and other locations believed to be haunted. Accompanying Taylor will be Kriss Stephens, paranormal investigator for the MTV program “Fear.”

If vampires are more to your liking, a July 11-18 trip to Transylvania will follow in the footsteps of Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula,” with an overnight masquerade ball in Dracula’s Castle included.

Cost: The British tour is $2,299 per person, double occupancy (single surcharge $534), including round-trip airfare from LAX, accommodations and some meals and activities. See www.ghostour.com.

The Transylvania tour is $1,999 per person, double occupancy (single surcharge $623), including round-trip airfare from LAX to Romania, accommodations and some meals and activities. See www.dractour.com.

Contact: Tours of Terror, (866) 837-7678.

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ALASKA

The Inside Passage by paddleboat

SeT sail into the past on a paddlewheel voyage through Alaska’s Inside Passage.

The July 18-26 voyage will be aboard the Empress of the North, which will be the first steamship to travel the passage in more than 100 years. The ship will visit Sitka, Ketchikan, Misty Fiords, Tracy Arm, Sawyer Glacier, Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier, Skagway and Glacier Bay.

The American West Steamboat Co. ship has all outside staterooms.

Cost: $2,911.35 per person, double occupancy (single surcharge $2,183.35), including first-class cabin with veranda, round-trip airfare to Sitka from Seattle and several shore tours. Airfare to Seattle is not included.

Contact: Historic Tours and Cruises Inc., Huntington Beach; (714) 536-3434 or www.empressofthenorth.com.

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CHINA

Tibetan cowboys on horseback

Discover a Far East version of the Wild West on a 20-day tour to China that includes the Gyalthang Horse Festival, where Tibetan cowboys compete in horsemanship contests.

The trip, which departs June 9, focuses on China’s ethnic minorities, touring Kunming, Xishuangbanna,Dali, Lijiang, Lugu Lake, Deqin and Shanghai.

Another trip is also scheduled Oct. 6 to 25.

Cost: $3,660 per person, double occupancy (single surcharge $585), including airfare within China, accommodations, many meals, guides, transfers, and entrance fees. International airfare is not included.

Contact: Asian Pacific Adventures, Tarzana; (800) 825-1680 or (818) 881-2745, www.asianpacificadventures.com.

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The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. Send information to Tours & Cruises, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 or write via e-mail to travel@latimes.com.