Architectural Heritage of Victorian Melbourne

The Society of Architectural Historians, Southern California Chapter, is offering a tour of Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 2 to 10. Melbourne is known for its Victorian neighborhoods. Local architect, historian and heritage planner Timothy Hubbard, along with Los Angeles-based architect Jeff Samudio, will lead the tour and focus on the architecture of Melbourne’s past and present by visiting mansions and historic public buildings. Guests also have time for shopping at the Victorian Market and night-life activities.

Cost: $2,050 per person for accommodations in Newman College at the University of Melbourne or $2,300 for the Adelphi Hotel. The tour includes air fare from Los Angeles, transfers, accommodations, bus tours and some meals.

Contact: Steven Facer at Sundance Travel, 19800 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92715; telephone (800) 424-3434, Ext. 129.

More Down Under

A 13-day Rain Forest and Reef, City and Country itinerary offers the sights and sounds of Sydney, as well as walks in Australia’s tropical rain forests. The first week concentrates on North Queensland, with a crocodile-spotting cruise on the Daintree River, a visit to Cape Tribulation Beach and guided bush and rain forest walks. In Sydney, participants get an Explorer bus ticket so they can see the city’s notable sights on their own. From Sydney, guests will travel to Hunter Valley, Australia’s oldest wine-growing region.

Cost: from $2,899 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, transportation within Australia, some meals and sightseeing. Contact: ATS Tours; tel. (800) 423-2880.

Also Down Under

A trek to New Zealand that runs March 14 to 29 covers both the North and South islands. On the North Island, participants take an Auckland city tour and visit the Bay of Islands, including a boat trip from the historical village of Russell to one of the outlying islands.

After a short flight to Nelson, the group begins a coastal tour of the South Island with a visit to a local vineyard. Participants will see the Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers. There is an optional four-day trek to Milford Sound with an evening at Milford Lodge to celebrate the completion of the trek. The next morning the group travels to Queenstown, then visits the Hermitage at Mt. Cook before heading east to Canterbury Plains, where the group spends a night on a local farm. The final day is a city tour in Christchurch. An extension trip takes participants to Tasmania for four days of hiking in Cradle Mountain in Lake St. Clair National Park.

Trip dates for New Zealand are March 14 to 29 and for Tasmania March 30 to April 2. For anyone interested primarily in hiking, arrangements can be made to join the group for the Milford Track segment only of the New Zealand program and continue on to Tasmania.

Cost: $2,195 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, some meals and sightseeing. Add $500 for Tasmania. Air fare is not included. Contact: Jim Gurnham at High Country Trekkers, 11950 Ventura Blvd., Suite 4, Studio City, CA 91604; tel. (800) 475-0004.

Mighty Mississippi

Watch quaint towns along the Mississippi River drift lazily by on a cruise on the American Queen Oct. 13 to 20. The cruise also coincides with fall foliage. Guests begin the tour in St. Paul, Minn., and make stops at Winona, Minn.; Prairie du Chien, Wis.; Dubuque and Burlington, Iowa; and Hannibal, Mo., Mark Twain’s boyhood hometown. The cruise ends in St. Louis at the Gateway Arch.

Cost: $1,760 per person, double occupancy, including all meals and on-board naturalists. Contact: Don Eslinger at Historic Tours of America, 16142 Woodstock Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647; tel. (714) 846-9595.

Spain by Train

Ride the rails on a vintage train through Spain May 1 to 11. The train is outfitted with vintage equipment and all cars have been refurbished. Passengers will visit Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Ronda, Jerez and Marbella. In each city, participants take a tour and eat in the local restaurants. On the train there are five sleeping cars, two restaurant cars where breakfast is served, two shower cars, a lounge car and a club car with piano and dance floor. On-board amenities include robe, slippers, a selection of games and videos, and telephone.

Cost: from $3,165 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, two nights in Seville, all meals, sightseeing tours and taxes. Contact: Claudette Crowther, Your Travel Center, 1005 Casitas Pass Road, Carpinteria, CA 93013; tel. (805) 684-6685.

Textile History

Join Elizabeth Barber, archeologist and an authority on prehistoric textiles, on a cruise to explore the ancient wonders of the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. Barber will share her knowledge of the ancient art, archeology, textiles and costume history of Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea. She will also teach Greek dancing to the group. Participants will sail aboard Holland America’s Maasdam May 11 to 23 from Rome to Katakolon and Mykonos, Greece; Ephesus, Turkey; through the Dardanelles Strait and Sea of Marmara; Yalta and Odessa, Ukraine; Constanta, Romania; Nesebur, Bulgaria; Istanbul, Turkey; and Athens, Greece.

Cost: from $3,867 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, accommodations, all activities, meals, entertainment and recreational facilities. Contact: Adams’ World-Cruise Specialists, 219 Broadway, Suite 234, Laguna Beach, CA 92651; tel. (800) 240-2144 or (714) 499-5244.

Trekking in Peru

A wilderness hike through the Andean highlands, guided by a Peruvian-American, will be May 3 to May 16, May 17 to May 30 and July 5 to July 19. Participants will be traveling along Inca engineered trails, exploring Inca ruins and visiting native villages and traditional markets that feature original Peruvian ceramics, textiles, art and handicrafts.

Guests will interact with Quechua herders of llamas and alpacas in remote mountain communities. The trip includes visits to Cuzco and its surrounding Incan ruins, the sacred valley of the Incas called Urubamba and the legendary lost city of Machu Picchu.

Cost: $2,350 from Los Angeles or $2,250 from Miami per person, double occupancy, including air fare, all transportation and flights in Peru, sightseeing tours, hotels and all meals. Contact: Devy Reinstein, Andes Adventures, 1323 12th St., Suite F., Santa Monica, CA 90401; tel. (310) 395-5265.

Ecuadorean Crafts

Visit the craft shops of small villages on a trip to Ecuador April 3 to 13. Participants will also learn about Ecuadorean culture from visits at the homes of several artisans. The group is limited to eight.

Cost: from $1,995 per person, double occupancy, including most meals, hotels, sightseeing and ground transportation. Air fare is not included. Contact: Myths and Mountains, 976 Tee Court, Incline Village, NV 89451; tel. (800) 670-MYTH.

Eastern Europe

Global Adventures of Encinitas is offering a 22-day tour called the Three Jewels of Eastern Europe. The tour departs Sept. 16 and includes six nights each in Prague, Czech Republic; Krakow, Poland; and Budapest, Hungary, with one-night stopovers each in Olomouc, Czech Republic, and Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Among numerous day outings are tours to Bohemia’s town of Cesky Krumlov as well as a horse show on the Great Plains of Hungary. Guests also visit Budapest’s Danube Bend as well as Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camps and Poland’s sacred Black Madonna at Czestochowa. There are two meals daily, with a special dinner at Kazimierza near Krakow, where the movie “Schindler’s List” was filmed. Members also take a dinner cruise on Prague’s Vltava River.

Cost: $2,215 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, two meals daily, sightseeing and entrance fees. Air fare is extra. Contact: Global Adventures, 350 N. El Camino Real, No. 36, Encinitas, CA 92024; tel. (619) 436-9468.

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