TOURS & CRUISES

MAMMOTH LAKES

Autumn’s palette

Catch the changing of the colors in the Eastern Sierra with a specialized map for doing just that -- and comfy accommodations too.

Info: Westin Monache ([866] 716-8132, mention code PKGFALL), www.westin.com/mammoth.

Dates: Through Nov. 6.

Price: $199 a night, double occupancy; $189 a night, single occupancy. Includes lodgings in a deluxe suite, daily breakfast at Whitebark Restaurant and a map directing guests to the region’s best fall color spots. Price does not include a $25-a-night resort fee.

VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA

Cultural encounter

Embark on an 18-day exploration that starts with cultural visits in Hanoi, heads to the ancient mountain village of Sapa, enters the old imperial city of Hue and makes stops in Hoi An and Saigon. Other highlights include boating on the Perfume River to the Thien Mu Pagoda, sailing on Halong Bay, seeing the Cu Chi tunnels and experiencing life on the Mekong. The tour ends amid Angkor’s temples in Cambodia. Your escort will be Dennis Berg, a Fulbright scholar who is chairman of Cal State Fullerton’s sociology department.

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

Dates: Dec. 28 to Jan. 14.

Price: $5,790 a person, including airfare from Los Angeles, ground transportation, accommodations, sightseeing tours, entrance fees, transfers, portage, taxes and most meals. Single supplement is $1,190.

THE ARCTIC

Climate for learning

The American Museum of Natural History’s travel arm presents ABC newsman Sam Donaldson and Ross MacPhee, the museum’s zoology curator, leading “Arctic Odyssey: A Symposium at Sea” to coincide with the museum’s new climate-change exhibit. See the effects of climate change firsthand aboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov, a vessel the company calls a “polar-class icebreaker.” Meet Chukchi and Siberian Yupik people and view polar bears, walruses, auklets, puffins and many others.

Info: AMNH Expeditions, New York; (800) 462-8687, www.amnhexpeditions.org.

Dates: July 8 to 20.

Itinerary: Anchorage, Anadyr, Chukchi Peninsula, Bering Strait, Cape Dezhneva, Wrangel Island, Siberian coast and back to Anchorage.

Price: Starting at $17,995, including sightseeing helicopter rides and most meals.

MEXICO

Pyramids and beaches

Educate yourself about the Mexican and Aztec cultures, see Teotihuacan’s pyramids, watch Taxco’s silversmiths and relax on Acapulco’s beaches on a nine-day tour.

Info: Go Ahead Tours, Cambridge, Mass.; (800) 590-1161, www.goaheadtours.com.

Dates: Departures throughout 2009.

Price: $1,499, which includes airfare from LAX and fuel surcharges; guided sightseeing tours of Mexico City, Taxco, Cuernavaca, Acapulco; a visit to the Basilica de Guadalupe; a ticket to La Quebrada’s cliff-diving show; and your choice of a dinner-and-mariachi show, an Acapulco Bay cruise or admission to the Frida Kahlo Museum.

LISBON

To Portugal with thrift

Go to Europe affordably by choosing Lisbon and staying at the recently renovated Hotel Eduardo VII.

Info: Hotel Eduardo VII; 011-351-21-356-88-22, www.hoteleduardovii.pt.

Dates: Indefinite.

Price: Starting about $110 a night, which includes two Lisboa Cards (the equivalent of getting admission to many of the city’s attractions), an airport transfer for those who stay two or more nights and 30% off dinner for two at the hotel’s Varanda Restaurant for those who stay three or more nights.

-- Avital Binshtock

--

itinerary@latimes.com