Stepping Into Italy’s Historic Villages

Carlucci’s Italy is offering an 11-night vacation to the Italian Riviera and Lake Region from June 14 to 26. Participants will spend two nights in Bellagio on Lago di Como and visit Villa Serbelloni and Villa Melzi. Then guests will stay four nights in the secluded Cinque Terre at a beachfront hotel in Monterosso al Mare. From there they will explore other quaint fishing villages by hiking an ancient footpath above the sea through olive groves and vineyards. The next stop is three nights in the Riviera town of Santa Margherita Ligure at a seafront hotel on the Gulf of Tigullio. Participants will cruise along the Riviera to Portofino. The last two nights will be in Baveno on Lago Maggiore at a lakeside hotel and guests will visit the Borromean Islands. The tour is limited to 24 participants.

Cost: $2,699 per person, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all lodging, daily breakfast and two dinners, transfers and hosts. Contact: Carlucci’s Italy, 27121 Arena Lane, Mission Viejo, CA 92691; telephone (714) 707-5824.

More Italy

A 14-day tour beginning May 18 will explore Venice, the hinterland of the Veneto, at the foot of the Alps, and the cities of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy. The area is rich with medieval and Renaissance mosaics, frescoes, great churches and palaces, and buildings of the influential architect Andrea Palladio. The tour starts in Milan and visits Verona, Mantova, Venice, Padua, Ravenna and Pavia. Besides private palaces in Venice, Palladio’s famous Villa Rotunda, Villa Valmarana and Villa Foscari will be explored. Also included are visits to the grandiose Villa Pisani, Villa Barbaro with its magnificent frescoes by Veronese, Villa Emo and Villa Badoer.

Professor John Barker, an expert in classic and medieval history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will lead the tour and give lectures along the way.

Cost: $3,165 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, first-class hotel accommodations, daily breakfast, eight dinners, all ground transportation by private deluxe coach, entrance fees and sightseeing.

Group size is limited to 20. Contact: University Educational Travel, 19355 Business Center Drive, Northridge, CA 91324; tel. (800) 525-0525.

Still More Italy

Join artist Roberta Kritzia for a trip to see Italian villages that are off the beaten path. Two programs are being offered with several dates available:

Medieval hill towns of Umbria and Tuscany, including Siena and Florence: April 27 to May 8, Sept. 1 to 12, Sept. 19 to 30. Cost: $2,700 per person, double occupancy.

Northern Italian landscapes including Lake Garda, Palladian villas, Venice and a health spa: May 15 to May 27. Price: $3,225.

Visits to private homes and studios are on the itinerary. Groups are limited to 12 participants, and all trips include private transportation, hotels, meals and sightseeing. Air fare is not included. Contact: Personalized Travel, 5455 Sylmar Ave., No. 902, Sherman Oaks, CA 91401; tel. (818) 994-2402.

Olde England

Spend 13 days in merry, old England on a walking tour June 16 to 28. The walks take guests through 1,000-year-old villages next to Roman walls, along the seacoast and through the literature region of the Lake District. Participants explore northern England, from the Blue John Caverns of Castleton to the ancient fishing port of Whitby and on to a bird-watching area. The group will take a steam train through the Yorkshire Moors and ride aboard an 1850s Coniston Steamer on the waters of the Lake District. Guests stay in manor houses and inns.

Cost: $2,195 per person, double occupancy, including lodgings, daily breakfast and some meals, ground transportation and entrance fees. Contact: High Country Trekkers, 11950 Ventura Blvd., Suite 4, Studio City, CA 91604; tel. (800) 475-0004.

Austria’s Roses

Follow in the footsteps of Austrian royalty on the Imperial Gardens Tour sponsored by Herzerl Tours June 16 to 23. Guests can smell the roses in the gardens of Schonbrunn, Belvedere, Laxenburg and Esterhazy palaces while listening to lectures by Austrian rosarians about the care and cutting of roses. The trip occurs during the Rose Festival in the historic spa town of Baden. This annual festival takes place on the grounds (97,000 square feet) of the Baden Rosarium, where visitors can see 25,000 rose plants of 600 different varieties. Participants will also visit a medieval abbey and its herb garden and the Vienna Porcelain Manufacturer Augarten with its well-known rose designs. A Shubert concert is included.

Cost: $2,345 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, six nights’ lodging, daily breakfast, some meals, entrance fees and tours.

A portion of the profits from each tour will be donated to SOS Children’s Villages, USA. Contact: Herzerl Tours, 355 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10017; tel. (800) 684-8488.

Game for a Safari

Kenya Study Safaris is offering three wildlife safaris to the game parks of Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Two safaris combining Kenya and Tanzania are scheduled for June 10 to 30, and July 9 to 29. In Kenya, participants will visit the Mount Kenya Safari Club, the private game reserve of Ol Pejeta, Sweet Waters Tented Camp, Treetops Lodge, and the game parks of Samburu, Nakuru and Masai Mara.

In Tanzania, guests will see the game parks of Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti and pass through Olduvai Gorge. The tour offers an opportunity to see the wildebeest migration, and participants will spend three nights in tent camps.

The tour to South Africa runs Dec. 28 to Jan. 13 and will visit Johannesburg, Kruger National Park, Hluhluwe Game Reserve, Swaziland, Durban, Cape Town and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Tour leader Leonard Moite has scheduled visits to museums, schools, African villages and markets, tea and coffee plantations, and a wine country tour in Cape Province. A six-day expedition to climb Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,342 foot), in Tanzania may begin immediately before or at the end of each safari.

Cost: from $5,300 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare to Nairobi, Kenya, or Johannesburg, South Africa, ground transportation, hotels, most meals, and museum and park entrance fees. Contact: Kenya Study Safaris, 30037 Via Borica, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275; tel. (310) 377-6790.

Romania and Counting

For the 100th anniversary of the publication of “Dracula” by Bram Stoker, the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and Dream Tours International is offering tours throughout the year to Romania. The weeklong tour begins in Sinaia, for a visit of Peles Palace.

Then it is on to Brasov for a tour of Bran Castle, one of Count Dracula’s fortresses. The group continues to Sighisoara, one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe and Bistrita for a tour and overnight stay at Dracula’s Castle.

Participants travel on to the heart of Transylvania and through the Carpathian Mountains to Cluj, Alba Iulia and Sibiu, before heading south to Bucharest, the capital of Romania, for two days of sightseeing. Extensions are available to Budapest, Vienna and Prague, with prices starting at $129 per person for a three-night package.

Cost: $995 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, all meals, sightseeing, transportation by motor coach, guide, entrance fees and taxes. Air fare is extra. Contact: Dream Tours International, 431 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 211, Glendale, CA 91203; tel. (818) 956-8397.

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