Cycling Over Hill and Dale in Berkshires

Several biking tours through western Massachusetts are scheduled for this summer and fall. Tour dates are set for July 26-30, Aug. 31-Sept. 4, Sept. 27-Oct. 1 and Oct. 18-22. The five-day cycling routes take riders through the Berkshires’ valleys, with farmlands and streams, graceful 19th-Century estates and the quaint New England villages of Lenox and Stockbridge. In the autumn, the region is famed for its outstanding foliage. Stops are made at the Tanglewood Music Festival (July) for a picnic and Boston Symphony Orchestra concert; a visit to the studio where Norman Rockwell painted his portraits of Americana; a stop at Chesterwood, the estate of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, and a hike along a stretch of the Appalachian Trail to Bash Bish Falls, a cascade in the Berkshire range. There are several opportunities to sample local ice cream and hidden swimming holes, browse antique stores, craft shops and galleries. Terrain ranges from gentle to hilly, with options for all abilities of 25 to 60 miles per day.

Cost: $775 per person, including accommodations, breakfasts and dinners. Top-quality 21-speed bicycles can be rented for $79. Not included: air fare to Massachusetts. Contact: Easy Rider Tours, P.O. Box 228, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (800) 488-8332.

Scottish Highlands

The remote, rugged Scottish Highlands can be seen from horseback on five- or 10-day trips that leave throughout the year. Participants stay in historic hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns. The ride begins in Huntly, on Scotland’s northeast border, 200 miles north of Edinburgh, and traverses the country to the Atlantic coast, ending at Shiel Bridge over Loch Duich, gateway to the island of Skye.

Riders go through mountain passes, open glens and peat bogs, and cross rivers and streams. Other trail sights include the Cairn River valley, the Caledonian Forest, Deeside and Braemar, near the royal family’s famous summer home, Balmoral Castle.

Cobb horses and long-distance saddles smooth the way to cover 30 miles in about seven hours of riding each day. The long distances and open terrain offer the experienced rider many chances for fast gallops. Groups of no more than 10 riders are led by an experienced guide. Built into the itinerary is a day of leisure in Kingussie, where one can explore ancient churches, a fort, whiskey distilleries and shops.

Cost: $1,895 for a 10-day trip, or $1,050 for a five-day ride, including use of horse and equipment, luggage transfer, guide, overnight accommodations, all meals and tax. Not included: air fare to Scotland. Arrangements can be made to be picked up and/or dropped off at Aberdeen airport. Contact: Cross Country International Equestrian Vacations, P.O. Box 1170, Millbrook, NY 12545; tel. (800) 828-8768.

Biking to Ruins

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colo., is offering a blend of mountain biking and archeology in “Biking to Ancient Ruins,” Oct. 1 for seven days in the Four Corners region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

Participants will ride to remote archeological sites including Cannonball Ruins, Castle Rock Pueblo, Sand Canyon Pueblo and Hovenweep National Monument. Ricky Lightfoot, an avid biker and archeologist who has spent 15 years conducting research in this area, will lead the group.

Bikers will pedal along Jeep tracks, dirt roads and single track trails to the edges of deep canyons and the tops of high mesas, where ancient ruins stand. The program will involve moderately strenuous rides of six to 12 miles a day over uneven terrain at altitudes of 6,000 feet or higher.

Cost: $995 per person, double occupancy, including cabin accommodations at the Crow Canyon campus and all meals. Not included: transportation to Colorado. Bike rental is $100. Crow Canyon membership fee is $65 per couple, $40 single. Contact: Crow Canyon Cultural Explorations, 23390 Road K, Cortez, CO 81321; tel. (800) 422-8975, Ext. 146.

Amish Country

A tour of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country to see Amish life is offered on five-day excursions that leave weekly through Nov. 15. Participants share a traditional dinner as the guests of an Amish family in their home. Visits are made to the homes of Amish quilters and crafters, and members will have the chance to purchase items.

The tour also includes visits to nearby Valley Forge National Historic Park, Brandywine Valley and Independence National Historic Park. Longwood Gardens, with more than 350 acres of outdoor gardens and woodlands, is also seen. The tour begins and ends in Philadelphia and is limited to 20 participants.

Cost: from $565 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, ground transportation, daily breakfast and two dinners. Contact: Lang’s Great Escapes, P.O. Box 117386, Burlingame, CA 94011-7386; tel. (800)-97AMISH.

North by Northwest

A 12-day cruise and motor-coach tour to Vancouver Island and up the Inside Passage departs Sept. 11. Participants will stay overnight in Victoria, British Columbia, before traveling the length of Vancouver Island by ferry to view eagles and killer whales.

Then by van, the group will travel remote highways in northern British Columbia and visit the ghost town of Hyder in Alaska, where the van will pass 22 glaciers hanging on cliffs over 6,000 feet, and stay two nights at a remote wilderness lodge for fishing and viewing wildlife and salmon spawning. Each tour takes up to eight guests per van and only two vans per tour.

Cost: $999, per person, double occupancy, including hotels, some meals and tours. Contact: Adventure Outdoors, P.O. Box 4461, Rolling Bay, WA 98061; tel. (206) 842-3189.

Mexican Ruins

UCLA Extension is sponsoring a field study tour to some of Mexico’s archeological sites along Gulf of Mexico, homeland of the Olmec civilization, Dec. 18-26, 1995.

Tour sites include Tres Zapotes, San Lorenzo, El Azuzul and La Benta as well as stops to important Maya sites of Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilan and the seaside city of Veracruz. The tour is led by anthropologist Karl Taube of the University of California, Riverside.

Cost: $2,490 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX, hotels, most meals, land travel and entrance to tour sites. Course fee is an additional $260. Christmas Eve includes a special holiday dinner at the Restaurant La Selva in Palenque, which serves the region’s indigenous cuisine. Contact: Humanities Program, UCLA Extension, 10995 Le Conte Ave., Room 760, Los Angeles, CA 90024; tel. (310) 825-2272.

Circling India

“Glorious India, From the Mountains to the Desert to the Sea,” departs from Los Angeles on Oct. 30 on a three-week grand circle tour from the northern reaches to the southern end of India. Participants will go to Calcutta, then to the hill stations of Darjiling and Kalimpang, where they will meet Tibetan, Nepali and Bhutanese people and see the world’s third highest peak, Kanchenjunga, from Tiger Hill. From the “Golden Triangle” of New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, participants will travel to the exotic camel fair on the sand dunes at Pushkar, then to the Arabian Sea to three ports: the former Portuguese enclave of Goa, cosmopolitan Bombay and Cochin, where a cruise is taken. Other highlights include the Ellora Caves and the Taj Mahal.

Cost: $5,095, per person, double occupancy, including international and domestic Indian air, deluxe hotels, two meals daily, all sightseeing with local guides. Contact: Glorious Adventures, 10007 Gaynor Ave., North Hills, CA 91343; tel. (818) 893-9030.

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