Storming the Deserts of the Southwest

A nine-night springtime motor-coach tour, April 27-May 6, through northern New Mexico and Arizona’s canyonlands, features visits to private homes and artists’ studios in Santa Fe; open-air Jeep tours narrated by Navajo guides in Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley; walking tours of Bandelier National Monument; Los Alamos, N.M., and the historic plazas in Santa Fe, Taos and Las Vegas, N.M.

Also on the itinerary are visits to four museums in Santa Fe; Native American pueblos, ancient ruins, and tribal parks; the Bradbury Science Museum, Historical Museum and Fuller Lodge Art Center in Los Alamos; a private alpaca farm and historic raspberry ranch in Mora Valley; Tlaquepaque Village and Shrine of the Red Rocks in Sedona; the 100-year-old hillside mining town of Jerome, and a Victorian-era residential section of Prescott.

Drives along the southeast rim of the Grand Canyon and through Oak Creek Canyon are scenic highlights. Special meals are in historic properties such as the Plaza Hotel (Las Vegas, N.M.), Restaurante Rancho de Chimayo, Apple Tree Inn (Taos), Cameron Trading Post, El Tovar Hotel (Grand Canyon) and the more recently established Pietro’s (Sedona).

Cost: $1,140 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, eight meals, Jeep tours, museum and national park admissions, porterage, services of tour escort, ground transportation and airport transfers. Not included: round-trip air fare L.A.-Albuquerque-Phoenix-L.A. Contact: S.T.E.P. Tours, 6719 Abbottswood Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275; telephone (310) 377-1601.

Gardens of Provence

Private and public gardens in the south of France are the focus of a 12-night tour departing May 29 and led by garden writer Dick Tracy of the Sacramento Bee. The itinerary focuses on the contrasts between the Roman way of life in Provence and today’s glamour and luxury of the French Riviera. The group also takes excursions through several small French hill towns.

Cost: $4,515 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, daily breakfast, most dinners, all sightseeing and entrance fees. Contact: Lucas and Randall, 4208 N. Freeway Blvd., Suite 101, Sacramento, CA 95834; tel. (800) 505-2505.

Catalina Architecture

The Society of Architectural Historians, Southern California chapter, is hosting a tour of Catalina Island on March 22-24. On the first day, participants tour the casino and meet with individuals involved in the restoration of this historic building. They will hear a lecture on its tile and interior designer. Then the group takes an Avalon tram tour with stops at the Botanical Garden, Wrigley Memorial, Bird Aviary, Catalina Country Club and Cubs Village. The second day, members hear a lecture about Catalina tile and pottery from Lee Rosenthall, author of “Catalina Tile of the Magic Isle”; take a tram tour of Avalon’s private tile hideaways and gardens, and tour Rancho Escondido and the Airport in the Sky.

Accommodations are in the Zane Grey Bed & Breakfast, built by the author in 1926 as a rustic retreat, or in the Hotel St. Lauren, a Victorian house. Cost: from $386 per person, including transportation to Catalina, accommodations and some meals. Contact: Society of Architectural Historians; tel. (213) 243-5169.

Teeth in Transylvania

An eight-night tour of the land of Dracula leaves April 29 and begins in Bucharest, Romania. Participants will visit the castle in Poienari of Vlad Tepes, the historical Dracula who ruled Romania in the 15th century. Tour members will take a motor coach along the Carpathian Mountains and make stops at the Black Church at Brasov, the Princely Court at Tirgoviste, Castle Bran, and the village of Sighashora, where Vlad “The Impaler” was born. Members will also get a lecture on the history of the supernatural beliefs among the Romanian people.

Cost: $1,645 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, airport transfers, hotels, all meals and guides. Deposit ($200) deadline is March 10. Contact: Transylvania Awaits, 660 Venice Blvd., P.O. Box 199, Venice, CA 90291; tel. (310) 450-6661.

Amish Country

Lang’s Great Escapes is hosting several Amish Traditions Tour of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country for six days beginning on various dates from April through November. The tours include visits to the Chester County Historical Society Museum and the Historic Rock Ford, an 18th century home.

Participants will meet with Amish people and will visit the homes of Amish quilters and crafters, where they may purchase handcrafted items. Other stops include nearby Valley Forge National Historic Park, Brandywine Valley, Independence National Historic Park and the Longwood Gardens.

Group size is limited to 20. The tour begins and ends in Philadelphia.

Cost: $695 per person, double occupancy, including ground transportation, hotels and some meals. Contact: Lang’s Great Escapes, P.O. Box 117386, Burlingame, CA 94011-7386; tel. (800) 97-AMISH.

Portugal and Spain

A two-week tour to Portugal and Spain is scheduled for Oct. 3 to 17, and a singles tour with the same itinerary is slated for Oct. 17 to 31. Participants will meet with various professors at Coimbra and Seville universities and an international businessman in Madrid. Participants will also visit a pottery factory and attend a fado performance in Portugal and flamenco dancing in Seville.

Throughout the trip, tour host and professor Bob Feldman will provide a series of lectures on Portuguese and Spanish history. Some of areas to be visited in Portugal include Lisbon, Estoril, Fatima and Coimbra. Spanish destinations include Salamanca, Avila, Madrid, Toledo, Granada and Seville. Historic inns have been reserved for tour guests.

Cost: $3,495 per person, including all air and land transportation, hotels, two meals daily, sightseeing and two theater performances. Contact: East-West International Tours, 1248 Montevideo Ave., Placentia, CA 92670; tel. (800) 359-6719.

A Week in Provence

Spend a week in a restored 18th century farmhouse in the south of France 15 miles from Avignon beginning Aug. 31, Sept. 7, 14 and 21. Guests will take daily tours that include antique shopping in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, visiting the Roman ruins in St. Remy and Arles, picnicking at Pont-du-Gard, touring the Palace of Popes in Avignon and wine tasting in Cha^teaunef-du-Pape. Also included will be shopping in some of the ancient market towns such as the hill town of Gordes, and visiting designer shops and streets of Aix-en-Provence and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. Art and architecture will also be explored in Roussillon-de-Vaucluse and Les Baux.

Cost: $1,695 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, continental breakfasts, some meals, transportation to all scheduled sites, tips and entrance fees. Not included: air fare to France. Contact: Dwight and Barbara Bennett, 3855 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807; tel. (310) 426-4732.

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