Taking the Slow Road Through Austria

An unhurried trip to Austria and Munich, Germany, leaves May 15 for 23 days and spends extended time in only four areas. Six nights are spent in the tiny town of Mutters near Innsbruck in the Tirolean Alps. Six nights are spent in the Salzkammergut Lake District, an area of mountains and 45 lakes near Salzburg. The last six nights in Austria are at Baden (Bei Wien), which is 14 miles south of Vienna. City tours of Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna are included. In Munich, participants stay at the Hotel Torbrau near the Marienplatz, where the Glockenspiel plays each day.

Cost: $2,095 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, two meals daily, ground transportation and guide. Not included: air fare to Austria. Contact: Global Adventures, 350 N. El Camino Real, No. 36, Encinitas, Calif. 92024; telephone (800) 347-9468.

French Art

An 11-day art tour of the French Riviera to visit Nice, Antibes, Biot, Vallauris and Monte Carlo leaves March 15. Participants will see the Picasso collection in the Grimaldi Chateau in Antibes, have lunch at the studio of artist Gilbert Valentin, visit the home of Renoir in Cagnes, the Ephrussi Villa on the slopes of Cap-Ferrat and a hilltop medieval village.

Cost: $4,391 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from San Francisco to Nice, hotels, most meals, entrance fees, guide and a tax-deductible donation to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the trip sponsor. Contact: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Travel Department, 151 3rd St., San Francisco, Calif. 94103-3159; tel. (415) 357-4190.

Gee, Fiji

Aqua-Trek will take groups of six divers on an eight-day cruise/dive program to explore the famed Astrolabe Reef in the Fiji Islands beginning April 6. The reef is famous for its soft coral, drop-offs and schools of barracuda, tuna, manta ray, turtles, dolphins and whales. Among the dive highlights are trips to “The Canyons,” a series of underground swim-throughs, and a shipwreck dive in the waters of Beqa Lagoon. Aboard ship, all cabins are air-conditioned, and the chef specializes in sashimi and fresh seafood dishes, including yellow tuna and mahi-mahi.

Cost: $2,300 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, five days of diving and all meals. Other dates are available. Not included: air fare to Fiji. Contact: Aqua-Trek, 110 Sutter St., Suite 811, San Francisco, Calif. 94104; tel. (800) 541-4334.

Working Vacation

A service trip to the shores of Siberia’s Lake Baikal will leave July 4 for 18 days. Sierra Club members (anyone is invited to apply for membership) join Russian environmentalists and national park personnel to carry out a trail and campsite restoration program (yes, you will use a shovel) that is now in its fourth year. Half of the days will be spent touring cultural sites and scenic areas. Endangered by pollution, Lake Baikal is the earth’s deepest body of fresh water and is inhabited by aquatic life usually found in the ocean. Participants will explore the lake, take day hikes on mountain trails, visit Buryat villages and do camp-outs and home stays.

Cost: $2,195 per person if 12 or more participants sign up, including ground transportation, meals, guides and luggage and equipment transfers. Participants need to bring their own camping equipment for those times they are on the trail. Not included: international air fare. Contact: Sierra Club Outing Department, 730 Polk St. San Francisco, Calif. 94109, or call Bud Bollock at (415) 326-3301.

Australia in Love

Two honeymoon vacation packages to Australia take couples to the Land Down Under. A five-night Reef Escape combines the city by day and the night life of Sydney with a cruise of the Great Barrier Reef. Rates start at $2,289 per person, double, through February, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles and hotels. The seven-night Dunk Island and Great Barrier Reef package combines the beaches and rain forest of an island resort with a stay in the town of Cairns on the coast of Australia near the Great Barrier Reef. On Dunk Island, couples get a beachfront unit. Rates start at $2,369 for the same period, including air fare from Los Angeles. Contact: Qantas Vacations; tel. (800) 722-5974.

African Elephants

Search for the last herd of elephants near Timbuktu, Mali, in Africa on an eight-day air safari that leaves Feb. 12. It is believed, but not confirmed, that there are only 300 elephants remaining in this area. Participants fly low over the countryside in search of the animals, returning to a hotel or guest house each night. There will be time to explore Timbuktu.

Cost: $2,387 per person, including accommodations, ground transportation, flight from Bamako (capital of Mali) to Timbuktu and small aircraft flights to search for elephants. Not included: air fare to Africa. Contact: Contact: Lost World Trading Co., P.O. Box 365, Oakdale, Calif. 95361; tel. (209) 847-5393.

Spanish Arts

A tour focusing on the cultures and arts of northern Spain will be led by artist-art professor Raoul De la Sota and Faith Flam of the Ethnic Experience, a program that introduces Los Angeles teachers to the different cultures within the city. The 17-day trip leaves July 2 and begins with stays in Madrid and Barcelona where the Prado, Dali and Picasso museums are visited as well as the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. The Basque city of San Sebastian is visited, and in Santillana del Mar, neolithic cave paintings are seen. The scenic northern coast is followed to Asturias to view some of Europe’s earliest churches. In Leon, the Gothic cathedral and the medieval murals in the King’s Pantheon introduce participants to Old Castille. The ancient pilgrimage route of St. James’ Way is followed as it enters the verdant region of Galicia with its Celtic ruins, Roman lighthouses and the city of Santiago de Compostela.

Cost: $3,199 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, daily breakfast and six meals, ground transportation and entrance fees. College credit is available through Los Angeles City College or Cal State Northridge. Contact: Raoul De la Sota, 5332 Abbott Place, Los Angeles, Calif. 90042; tel. (213) 255-9913.

Mayan Sites

Seldom-seen cities and well-known Mayan sites in the remote areas of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico are part of an ancient astronomy tour led by Griffith Park Observatory Director E.C. Krupp. The trip, which leaves March 18 for 11 days, begins with a flight into Cancun. Participants move on to Ikil, an unexcavated site featuring two 80-foot temples towering over the ancient city. A day is spent at Chichen Itza, where ancient astronomers created a vernal equinox site. The setting sun peeks through rocks to create the image of a snake atop a serpent-headed balustrade in the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. Also in this area, visits are made to the Temple of the Warriors, the Cenote of Sacrifice and the Caracol, a temple possibly used for tracing astronomical happenings. The group also tours Calakmul with its 79 carved monuments spanning 316 years of Mayan history.

Cost: $3,310 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, meals, guide, tuition and tips. Contact: UCLA Extension, Division of Science, 10995 Le Conte Ave., Suite 714, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024; tel. (310) 825-7093.

Budget Bulgaria

Six-night “Classic Bulgaria” tours leave on various dates throughout the year to see contemporary life as well as ancient cultures of this country. Participants visit Roman and Grecian structures and Byzantine mosques.

Cost: $985 per person (through April), double occupancy, including round-trip trans-Atlantic air fare from New York, hotels, breakfast and dinner daily, private coach transportation and a special folk song and dance show. Not included: air fare to New York. Contact: Balkan Holidays: (212) 573-5530.

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