When Grandparents Give Busy Parents a Break : Special trips with grandchildren can prove refreshing for more than just the travelers.

Norman Wertlieb was skeptical at first. “You sure know how to waste money,” he told his wife after she booked them and their grandson on an expensive tour of the U.S. Southwest designed for grandparents and grandchildren.

“But afterward, he said it was the best investment we’d made,” said Helen Wertlieb, a realtor from Chevy Chase, Md. “We had tears in our eyes it meant so much. It’s an experience we won’t forget.”

She’s already planning to take her younger granddaughters next time.

Josh Wertlieb, who lives in Boston, had a good time, too. But now that he’s older, the 12-year-old said, “I’d rather be with my friends.”

Grandparents across the country, meanwhile, are buying into the idea in growing numbers, travel industry experts say. Their children don’t have the time or money to visit as often as they’d like. And so those grandparents who do have the financial means, are packing off the grandkids for an adventure--while they’re still willing to leave their friends--and in the process, giving their own harried children a much-appreciated break.

Whether it’s a one-day tour of a nearby city or a two-week sojourn in Europe or a tour of Western U.S. national parks, this is one attempt at family togetherness that really seems to work. No matter what the budget, everybody wins.

“My grandma lets me get more stuff than my mom and dad,” explained 9-year-old Kyle Bruck, who lives in Tampa, Fla. and has gone with his grandparents and twin brother on two cruises. “I’d go again.”

“My outlook was so different with the boys,” added his grandmother, Lillian Gerber, also of Tampa. “Things I would have found ordinary were exciting.”

“It made me remember when my own children were young but you don’t have to be as strict, laughed Lucretia Alexander, a nurse from Brooklyn, N.Y. who took her 7-year-old granddaughter on a cruise last year. “It renewed my life’s energy.”

“It makes for a close relationship,” added Chris Murphy-Sargent, a Chicagoan who took her 8-year-old granddaughter to Club Med. “It was a real joint adventure.” Her tip: Take along a throw-away camera and a special book to keep a diary of the trip.

Grandparents give cruises and Club Med vacations high marks because they are all inclusive and typically have plenty of activities for the kids. (Be sure to check ahead that children’s programs are available. Even the most devoted grandparents need a break.)

But these days, there are scores of other options for doting grandmas and grandpas, too. If you’re itching to see Disney World through a child’s eyes, for example, Holiday Inn’s new Mature Traveler’s Club offered at Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista and Holiday Inn Main Gate East, both near Disney World, may be a good bet. This fall, you’ll save 10% off your room rate for each decade you’ve lived. (If you’re in your 60s that means 60% off.) Even better, both hotels offer free meals, child care and activity programs for the kids.

Wherever you want to go, you probably can find a special grandparents’ tour to take you and the grandkids there. More than a dozen tour companies across the country now are offering grandparents-grandchildren trips, according to the National Tour Assn., the trade group for the escorted tour business that caters to the needs of senior citizens. An extra plus of these tours: There will be other kids for your grandkids to play with--as well as other grandparents to exchange stories with.

“The kids are too busy to get into trouble,” laughed Beverly Garland, the Los Angeles actress who played Fred MacMurray’s Wife on “My Three Sons”. Garland serves as National Tour Assn. spokeswoman and just took her grandchildren on a one-day tour of San Francisco. Her tip: Make sure the kids have a belly pack and a jacket they can tie around their waist “so you don’t end up carrying all of their stuff.”

There are tours of Washington, D.C., New York and Boston, among others. Consider an “adventure” in the Black Hills of the Dakotas or a visit to Lake Tahoe. Tour New England or take a wagon train ride across the Great Plains. (To find the tour company closest to your home offering the trip you want, call the National Tour Assn. at 800-755-TOUR.)

The Wertliebs traveled with Grandtravel, a 5-year-old Chevy Chase, Md. firm (800-247-7651) known for its thoughtful itineraries and luxury accommodations. Grandtravel now offers more than 15 different escorted trips for grandparents and grandchildren planned so they are educational as well as fun. “All grandparents are interested in culturally enriching their grandchildren’s lives,” said Helena Koenig, a veteran travel agent who launched the firm after she became a grandmother.

Her suggestions: Grandparents and grandchildren should talk about their lifestyles before the trip. Do you sleep with the light off or on? What are your favorite foods? “The more you know about one another, the more fun it will be to travel together,” Koenig writes in a “Travel Hints” booklet she has prepared for her clients.

Make sure to read up on your destination ahead of time, Koenig suggests, and exchange information with the grandchildren. Make sure to discuss who is going to be the boss on the trip.