Full Throttle to Paris Air Show, Normandy

See aircraft from around the world at the Paris Air Show, visit the beaches of Normandy and explore Paris on a tour to France June 11 to 20. Participants will take half-day tours of Paris and Versailles and attend the air show for one day with the next day free for reentry on your own. Also on the itinerary is an evening Seine River cruise, the Caen Museum, D-day beaches, Pegasus Bridge, St. Mare Eglise, a stop in Honfleur, and Monet’s house and garden in Giverney.

Cost: $2,187 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air on AOM French Airlines, four-star hotel with breakfast daily, transfers, porterage and tour guide. Contact: Jerren Travel Service; telephone (714) 731-8020.

Italian Gardens

Join landscape architecture and design professors on a Gardens of the Italian Renaissance tour June 22 to July 6 in Italy. The tour includes seminars and excursions to public and private gardens of Rome, Siena, Florence, Lake Maggiore and Milan.

Cost: $3,895 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Atlanta, transfers, hotels, ground transportation, daily breakfast and three meals. Contact: Design With Nature and Educational Travel, Joy Dorst, 1312 Milton St., Tallahassee, FL 32303-5445; tel. (904) 681-0778.

Costa Rica Adventure

Three 15-day tours to Costa Rica are available from LAX June 26 to July 10, July 14 to 28 and July 31 to Aug. 14. Guests will visit six national parks and reserves, including the Arenal Volcano, a continuously active volcano with displays of lava. Other activities include: Look for crocodiles and scarlet macaws at the Tarcoles river; tour Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific Coast; and explore the Carara National Biological Reserve. On the Atlantic coast, guests visit Cahuita National Park, with its warm water and snorkeling reefs. They will spend three days and two nights at Tortuguero National Park, where sea turtles lay eggs on the beach. Also included is a ride on the Rain Forest Aerial Tram next to Braulilo Carrillo National Park to get a treetop view of the hanging gardens of epiphytes. During all activities, the group is accompanied by bilingual naturalist guides, who will point out monkeys, sloths and other animals as well as birds and plant life.

The tour includes five free days to try optional activities such as white-water rafting, bathing in the mineral hot springs that flow from Arenal Volcano to Tabacon Hot Springs, and boating at Can~o Negro National Wildlife Refuge. Other options include a visit to the Britt coffee plantation and rain forest tree climbing.

Cost: $1,850 per person, double occupancy. Eight-day trips depart on the same dates and cost $1,450. Included are round-trip air fare from LAX to Costa Rica, all hotel accommodations, ground and boat transportation, bilingual naturalist guides and 13 meals. Contact: Paul Abravaya of Tropical Eco-Tours, 1333 Calle Pimiento, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360; tel. (805) 492-0365.

Rockin’ Britain

See the places that have helped make rock ‘n’ roll’ history on a 14-day tour to London, Liverpool and points between, with emphasis on visits to sites related to British rock music heroes and their haunts. The Rock Over Britain tour will concentrate on all aspects of British rock music development and history into the current music scene with the tour’s culmination at FLEADH, the annual Irish music festival in London.

The tour leaves May 29 and returns June 11. Participants will take tours of London, the south coast, including Brighton, and Stratford-Upon-Avon, Liverpool, and Birmingham with optional side trips to North Wales and Chester, or a “Magical Mystery Tour” to Blackpool and the Lake District. Sites will include London Rock Circus, Camden Market, Cavern Club, Beatles’ homes and London’s Hard Rock Cafe. Options include a medieval banquet at Ruthin Castle in North Wales, tours of Portmerion and the Granada TV Studios in Manchester.

Cost: $2,500 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, hotels, tickets to concerts, transfers and some meals.

Contact: Mark Anthony Promotion in conjunction with Tuttle Travel; tel. (508) 945-0146.

Rome’s Birthday

Help Rome celebrate its 2,750th year April 21 on a trip to Italy that leaves April 17. The city’s mayor has promised that the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius will be placed on the long-empty pedestal in the Campidoglio overlooking the Roman Forum. The Campidoglio (the Capitoline Hill) is the traditional site of the founding of Rome by the fabled twin brothers Romulus and Remus. The original ancient bronze of the Roman emperor is now permanently housed in the Palazzo del Museo Capitolino to protect it from the elements. But the people of the Netherlands have donated a copy to the Eternal City. The city will celebrate with fireworks and free access to several museums.

Cost: $1,199 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, transfers, four nights’ accommodations and guides. Contact: Jeffrey Kennedy at Creative Travel Unlimited; tel. (310) 454-4463 or (800) 231-3596.

Hale-Bopp Comet

A spring photography and sightseeing tour of Death Valley, including a look at the Hale-Bopp Comet, will run April 4 to 6. During the daytime, participants will tour Zabriskie Point, the giant sand dunes and Badwater, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. In the evening, there will be sessions to view Hale-Bopp, which scientists are labeling as one of the “great comets” of recorded history.

Cost: $270 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations at the Stovepipe Wells motel; most meals; and instruction in landscape, wildflower and travel photography techniques. Contact: Image Quest Tours, 1164 Alvira St., Los Angeles, CA 90035; tel. (213) 939-2819.

South African Flowers

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is offering a botanical discovery tour of the spring flora and landscapes of western South Africa, Sept. 4 to 23. The tour will be led by Bob Haller, professor emeritus at UC Santa Barbara and travel botanist and plant geographer at the Botanic Garden. He will be joined by Mike Viviers, a South African plant ecologist, horticulturist and nurseryman. An optional tour to Namibia leaves Sept. 22 to 30.

Cost: $4,860 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Miami, lodging, most meals, sightseeing and entrance fees. Namibian addition is $1,735 per person.

Contact: Geostar Travel, 1224 Century Court, Suite C, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; tel. (800) 624-6633.

Hawaiian Rock Art

Join an expedition to study the ancient rock art of Hawaii April 28 to May 11 and May 12 to 25. Participants will see some of the thousands of rock art figures carved into ancient lava flows and rocky outcrops throughout the Big Island of Hawaii. These carvings are endangered due to development and tourism.

Participants will work with Georgia Lee, known for her work on the rock art of Easter Island. No archeological experience is necessary.

Cost: $1,290 per person, including lodgings, meals and local transportation. Contact: University Research Expeditions Program, University of California, 2223 Fulton St., Desk D5W Berkeley, CA 94720-7050; tel. (510) 642-6586.

Bible History

A 15-day tour of historic Israel and Jordan that departs June 29 will be led by professor Robert Blackey of the history department at Cal State San Bernardino. The tour includes extensive sightseeing in and around Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea and Masada, Jericho, Capernaum, Tiberias, Nazareth, Megiddo, the Golan Heights, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Amman, Petra, Jerash and Mt. Nebo.

Cost: $2,695 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from California, airport transfers in Tel Aviv, first-class hotels, daily breakfasts, two dinners, air-conditioned coach and a multilingual tour director.

Contact: Robert Blackey; tel. (909) 880-5550.

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