Tours With an Educational Slant Draw People With a Yen to Learn

For the discriminating mature traveler looking for European tours with a more learned, scholarly approach rather than the typical off-the-rack tour, take a look at these offered by the Assn. of College and University Study/Travel Professors.

That august group has been running tours for four years, primarily as teacher development courses, but they have been drawing increased numbers of non-teachers interested in history, art history, geography, literature, education and travel.

Two 31-day European tours are offered for 1987, one each to Northern Europe and Southern Europe, and both are handled through Student Travel International of Northridge.

To stress the mature level of the tours, tour coordinator Joseph H. Jeppson notes that 80% of the participants are between the ages of 35 and 60.

Each tour is accompanied by a professor who gives lectures plus an escort from STI who handles the day-to-day travel arrangements. As a side bonus, three units of community college credit are free to California residents.

Highlights of 10 Countries

The Northern European tour, which departs June 21, takes in the highlights of 10 countries: the Netherlands, East and West Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Included is a four-day Rhine cruise from Amsterdam (where the tour starts) to Basel. As a further note to mature travelers, at least two nights are spent in each destination city.

The Southern European tour, leaving June 23, begins in London, then winds south through Paris, Avignon, Nice, Florence and Rome. Next is a seven-day cruise through the Adriatic and the Greek Islands.

The cruise ends up in Venice and the tour proceeds north to Milan, Lucerne, Heidelberg and Frankfurt.

Tour price for the Northern Europe tour is $3,395 from Los Angeles and the Southern European tour is priced at $3,095 from Los Angeles.

Included in Price

In addition to the round-trip air fare, tour prices include superior or tourist-class hotel rooms with private facilities, continental breakfast daily and some dinners (all meals on the cruises), transportation by private motorcoach, sightseeing by local guides in addition to the host professor’s input, baggage handling, tips and escort services from the STI tour manager along throughout the trip.

For more information write Student Travel International, 8619 Reseda Blvd., Suite 103, Northridge, Calif. 91324. Or phone (818) 886-0633 or (800) 637-7687 in California, (800) 225-2780 nationwide.

‘Campus in the Sky’

On a similar educational note--and one easier to reach physically and financially, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colo., has what it terms a Summer Getaway Educational Experience for “retired citizens” that draws mature and senior travelers from all over to spend several weeks at the “Campus in the Sky.”

The summer program is broken down into three sessions: one of two weeks during May 31 to June 13, two others of three weeks duration each during June 21 to July 11 and July 19 to Aug. 8.

Cost for the first session is $325; the two longer sessions are $475 each.

The price includes all lodging at the Fort Lewis College campus in three-story apartments (no elevators). Apartments include single bedrooms, plus a shared bathroom, kitchen and living area. Meals are included in the price and are served seven days a week in the college cafeteria.

Also included in each session is a choice of academic, non-credit courses in a variety of subjects that range from serious subjects like anthropology, great traditions in philosophy and world governments to others of the “Hollywood’s Heyday” nature and travel photography, chamber music, watercolor painting, yoga and papermaking in addition to many others.

Optional Activities

Classes are only in the morning or early afternoon, leaving the balance of the day and weekends to enjoy the many optional activities on the campus (tennis, swimming, theatrical productions) plus the many attractions of Durango and its environs.

These include the famous Silverton train, the narrow gauge adventure ride from Durango to Silverton; rafting trips on the Animas River; side tours to Mesa Verde National Park 45 miles to the west; and a lively cultural life in Durango that includes seven art galleries, three theater companies and more.

For more information and a free brochure that lists all the available courses and other details, write Fort Lewis College, Conference and Institute Office, Durango, Colo. 81301.