If Someone Says Take a Hike, Try Arizona

Volcanoes, lost gold mines and prehistoric Native American ruins are part of the Museum of Northern Arizona’s Ventures hiking trip March 11-15. Geologist Wayne Ranney will guide the five-day expedition into the Superstition Mountains and explore the geology, prehistory and history of this Sonoran Desert wilderness area. Spring wildflowers, little-used trails, cliff dwellings and beautiful scenery in four vegetation zones are seen on this 35-mile hike. Cost: $335, per person including most meals, guide and ground transportation. Not included: transportation to Arizona, backpack, sleeping bags and tents. More trips are available on other dates. Contact: Museum of Northern Arizona, Route 4, Box 720. Flagstaff, Ariz. 86001; telephone (602) 774-5211, Ext. 220.

Salzburg Festival

The University of Redlands is sponsoring a 15-day trip to the Salzburg Summer Festival to hear music and get informal lectures on Austrian culture and the music that will be heard at concerts. Hosts and faculty for the Summer Festival Tour will be professors Peter Madler in Austria and James Keays from the University of Redlands School of Music. The tour departs July 20. The first week focuses on sightseeing in southern Germany and the Austrian Tirol. Days will be spent visiting Munich, Oberammergau, Lindau, King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein castle, Bregenz, Garmisch, Innsbruck and the Austrian Alps. The group will see the Bregenz Festival’s staging of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” The second week will be spent in the city of Salzburg during the Salzburg Summer Festival. The group will reside at Hotel Gablerbrau in the medieval section of the city, walking distance to concert halls, churches and shopping areas and the Salzach River promenades.

Cost: $4,495 per person, double occupancy including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, two meals per day, tickets and ground transportation. Contact: James Keays at the University of Redlands School of Music: tel. (909) 793-2121, Ext. 3275.

French Cooking

Chef Roland Solenthaler will lead a Provencale cooking tour, May 11-18, which includes five nights at the Chateau de Montcaud, a country mansion between Cevennes and Avignon, surrounded by parklands and the Cotes du Rhone vineyards. Visits are made to the market of Uzes, Luberon, Gordes for lunch, the Abbaye de Senanque and the ruins of the ancient theater of the Roman city of Orange. Chef Roland will host cooking sessions on Southern French cuisine and prepare a traditional five-course dinner and other regional specialties. Cost: $2,065 (land only) per person, double occupancy, including hotels (one night in Paris on the return) breakfast daily, some dinners and ground transportation. Contact: Rosedale Universal Travel, 920 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4W. tel: (416) 968-2636.

Art in France

Take a 16-day art tour of France led by Louise Lewis, professor of art history at Cal State Northridge. The tour, which departs Los Angeles June 19, travels by motor coach from Nice through Provence and the Loire Valley visiting many chateaux and museums along the way. Excursions out of Paris along the “Impressionist circuit” are planned. The tour ends in Paris on July 4. Cost: $3,725 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, most meals and guides. Contact: June Davis, Wide World Travel, 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park, Calif. 91303; tel. (818) 883-3220.

Film Fest

If you can’t make it to the French Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival, Pierce College Extension has an overnight trip March 4-5 to Santa Barbara, which also stages a film festival. There will be a group lunch with a lecture on how to best enjoy the festival and Santa Barbara. The group will see films on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. In addition, there will be some time for everyone to choose their own activities.

Cost: $220 per person, double occupancy, including motor-coach transportation to Santa Barbara, lodging, film tickets, Saturday group lunch and lecture, continental breakfast and guide. Contact: Pierce College Extension, (818) 719-6425.

Philly Fun

An eight-day tour to Philadelphia to see a performance of the Mummers (a civic organization) annual Show of Shows at the Civic Center leaves April 2. The Mummers String Band is known for participation in the Philadelphia New Year’s Day Parade. Guests stay in one hotel throughout, located in the city’s Historic District. In addition to extensive local sightseeing of Philadelphia’s Historic District, guests visit the Mummer Museum, and take escorted day trips to Valley Forge; Pennsylvania Dutch Country, with a tour of an Amish farm and house; Cape May, N.J.; Atlantic City; Winterthur Museum and Gardens, former country estate of H.F. du Pont, and Hershey Chocolate World. Cost: $960 per person, double occupancy including motor-coach transportation, hotel, four meals, and all sightseeing admissions and day trips. Not included: air fare to Philadelphia. Contact: Corliss Tours, 436 W. Foothill Blvd., Monrovia, Calif. 91016; tel. (800) 456-5717.Paris by Design

San Francisco designer Kenneth King will lead a “Paris by Design” tour April 1-9. The tour will include visits to Hermes’ saddlery workroom, boutique and museum; Trousselier, a maker of artificial flowers for couturieres; Esmod, an international private school for hat designers; Lesage, a source of centuries-old embroidery for Haute Couture; the atelier of a designer to view the latest collections and a guided tour of buttons, trims and laces.

Cost: $3,395 from San Francisco including round-trip air fare on Air France, seven nights accommodations, daily continental breakfast, a cocktail party and four meals. Contact: ImageArts Custom Tours & Cruises, 3324 Divisadero, San Francisco, Calif. 94123; tel. (800) 741-4161.

Easter in Spain

The culture and history of Spain will be the focus of an Easter holiday tour April 7-17 led by San Diego State University professor Thomas Case. Several of the royal palaces and castles, including the great El Escorial, a monastery as well as a 16th-Century palace, are scheduled. Easter festivals and processions are anticipated at major centers such as Granada, Seville and Madrid. The tour will also visit the medieval monuments of Segovia, Avila and Cordoba as well as the Moorish Alhambra Citadel and Palace. The countryside will be viewed by motor coach with several stops to see major art collections. Cost: $2,568, including air fare from L.A., hotels, most meals and sightseeing. Trip cancellation insurance up to $2,000 is also included. Units of credit in the Humanities are available through San Diego State University. Contact: Charles Smith, Classical Alliance of the Western States, P.O. Box 3494, Anaheim, Calif. 92803; tel. (714) 956-2067.

African Art

The curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum, William Siegmann, will lead a two-week excursion to the Ivory Coast and Ghana, March 18 to April 3. Participants will study West African art by touring museums and galleries, meeting with curators and art directors and visiting the villages where artisans make wood carvings, pottery, sculptures, brass castings and weave kente cloth. On the itinerary are visits to Senufo villages, Abidjan and Grand Bassam in Ivory Coast, and to the historic castles of Ghana’s Gold Coast, the palaces of the Ashanti Kings at Kumasi and Accra. Cost: $4,995 per person, including round-trip air fare from New York, travel in Africa, lodging, all meals, admissions and a $500 donation to the museum. Contact: Brooklyn Museum, tel. (718) 638-5000, Ext. 326.

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