Southern Comforts of Art and Gardens

An eight-day tour that explores the art, architecture and gardens of the Old South leaves March 19 for the historic cities of Savannah, Ga., and Beaufort and Charleston, S.C. In Savannah, participants will have lunch at Mrs. Wilkes’ Boarding House, take tours of private gardens, the Telfair Mansion & Art Museum, visit the Isle of Hope and visit a private home in Savannah’s historic district. In Beaufort, guests are taken to the historic area of town and will have lunch in a 1770 townhouse.

In Charleston, guests take a harbor cruise to Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney; a garden tour and lunch are planned at Middleton Place, a plantation with one of the oldest landscaped gardens in America, and tour Drayton Hall and the Gibbes Art Gallery.

Cost: $1,932 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, daily breakfast, some meals, ground transportation and guides. Not included: air fare from San Francisco where the group meets. Contact: Bryan International Travel, 98 Battery St., San Francisco, Calif. 94111; telephone (415) 986-0967.

New Year’s in London

Ring in 1995 with a teacup in hand on a nine-day trip to London that leaves LAX Dec. 26. Guests will take day trips from their base at the Washington Hotel in Mayfair. Participants will take a double-decker bus sightseeing tour of London, attend two theater productions, dress up for afternoon tea at Brown’s Hotel, and take a motor-coach tour to Salisbury Cathedral, artistic Georgian Bath and the mysterious Stonehenge.

On New Year’s Eve, guests will join the throngs at Trafalgar Square to greet 1995 with Big Ben. On New Year’s Day is a little parade on Piccadilly. Cost: $1,750 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX, transfers, hotel, some meals, sightseeing, seven-day London Travelcard for unlimited transportation on subways and buses, tickets for two shows and services of a guide.

Contact: John Shambra at Lee Hansen Travel Service, 248 Grace Drive, South Pasadena, Calif. 91030; tel. (818) 403-9113.

Finnish Line

A 14-day adventure in the Arctic wilderness of Finnish Lapland that includes dog-sledding, reindeer sleigh driving, snowmobiling, visits to Helsinki and Tapiola and a cruise aboard an ice-breaking ship leaves March 17.

Accommodations are in hotels along the way and include traditional Lapp fare such as salmon, grouse and other local game birds and fish. Travelers will have a chance to meet the Lapp people, learn about their culture and attend the festive Maria’s Day celebration in the village of Hetta near the borders of Norway and Sweden that annually draws Lapps from all three countries. The weekend festival includes dancing in traditional costumes, sports competitions and crafts fairs.

Cost: $6,295 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, meals and sightseeing. Not included: air fare to Helsinki. Contact: Travcoa, P.O. Box 2630, Newport Beach, Calif. 92660; tel. (800) 992-2003.

Galapagos Getaway

A 10-day tour to Quito, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands departs Jan. 2 from Los Angeles. Participants will spend three nights in Quito, high in the Andes, exploring the city, visiting the Otalavo market and Cotopaxi National Park.

After a flight to the Galapagos Islands, the group will board the MV Santa Cruz, a 90-passenger ship, which will cruise to five islands allowing observation of the famous Galapagos wildlife. Marine and land iguanas, penguins, sea lions, fur seals, tortoises, finches, flightless cormorants, prickly pear cactus “trees” and impressive volcanic and tropical landscapes will be seen.

Cost: $2,995, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, lodging, most meals, sightseeing and guides. The tour will be escorted by biology professor Norm Cole. Contact: Orange Coast College; tel. (714) 432-5880.

If I Had a Hammer

Escape to Belize, but bring your hammer on a cultural immersion and development assistance program Jan. 6 for 15 days.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the indigenous culture of Pueblo Viejo, a small village in the Maya Mountains, while helping the villagers build a house for the village nurse.

Volunteers will gather information for future teams and help establish a relationship with the villagers. A background in health care or carpentry is welcome but not required. Weekends are free to tour Belize.

Cost: $1,000 per person, double occupancy, including pre-trip training materials, accommodations and meals. Not included: air fare to Belize City. Contact: Global Citizens Network, 1931 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, Minn. 55104; tel. (800) 644-9292.

Kick Up a Cruise

A martial arts cruise to Catalina and Ensenada aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Southward leaves Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. and returns to Los Angeles Nov. 7 at 8 a.m.

Participants will see daily demonstrations of martial arts and karate. Classes on basic self-defense techniques for beginners and advanced students are offered. Demonstrations are led by Steve Kirkman, a third-degree black belt and founder of the United Self-Defense Organization.

Cost: $279 for an inside cabin and $339 for an outside cabin, per person, double occupancy. Contact: Cruise Holidays, 2907 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif. 90404; tel. (310) 582-8282 or (818) 889-0204.

Golf in Scotland

Go where the greens are really green on a weeklong golfing trip to Scotland that leaves any Tuesday or Thursday during October and November. The trip combines three nights in St. Andrews and three nights in the Highland’s golfing town of Nairn.

Participants are guaranteed starting times on the courses at Carnoustie, two St. Andrews courses, Nairn’s championship course and at Royal Dornoch.

Cost: $1,495 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, bed and breakfast accommodations, car rental, greens fees and local taxes. Not included: most meals. Contact: Value Golf Vacations, 260 5th Ave. New York, N.Y. 10001-6408; tel. (800) 786-7634.

By Rail, Mate

Sunshine Rail Experience Tour, operating between Brisbane, Queensland’s capital city, and Cairns to the north, offers six-day itineraries (northbound or southbound) over 1,000 miles of countryside.

Guests see the Great Barrier Reef, rain forests and the fabled Australian Outback. Accommodations are in resorts and hotels along the way, and there are day trips to such island retreats as the Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island, Daydream Island in the heart of the Whitsundays and Magnetic Island in the Coral Sea.

The tours run year-round. Cost: $867-$902, per person, double occupancy, depending on season, including accommodations, all meals and sightseeing fees. Not included: international air fare. Contact: Queensland Tourist Office, 1800 Century Park East, Suite 330, Los Angeles, Calif. 90067; tel. (310) 788-0997.

Trek to Mongolia

The South Gobi Desert and the spectacular 13th-Century ruins of Karakorum are two stops on an eight-day tour of Mongolia offered on various dates through the end of this year.

Travelers fly from Beijing to Mongolia’s ancient capital city of Ulan Bator and its renowned Gandan Monastery. From there, tourists fly to Khujirt and explore the Karakorum ruins. Then it’s on to the South Gobi and the Valley of the Eagles, where more than 300 varieties of fauna flourish, along with herds of wild horses, camels, leopards and gazelles. Local families host travelers and retrace the history of the area where the skeletons of dinosaurs and their petrified eggs are still preserved. The trip ends back at Ulan Bator for a visit to the Museum of Religion.

Cost: $1,840 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, ground transportation, meals and guides. Not included: international air fare. Contact: Absolute Asia; 180 Varck St., 16th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10014; tel. (800) 736-8187.

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