Ancient Stones and Artifacts in Malta

A nine-day Mediterranean Archeology travel study program hosted by the OTS Foundation for Education and Historic Preservation in Malta leaves Los Angeles May 9.

Participants will learn about civilizations that left behind stone monuments. The earliest structure has been dated back to nearly 6,000 years ago, and artifacts exist from 1,000 years before that.

Robert H. Tykot, assistant professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, will lead the group. Highlights of the program include seeing some of the oldest stone buildings in the world, examination of Neolithic pottery and sculpture in the National Museum of Archaeology, underground burial complexes and Bronze Age remains. Visits will be made to Ghar Dalam Cave, Skorba Temples, Hagar Qim, Kordin Temple, Tas-Silg excavations and the Brochtorff Circle. The group will also hear lectures from archeology professors from the University of Malta.

Time is provided for exploring artifacts from other historic periods on Malta, including Roman ruins and medieval walled cities.

Cost: $1,687 per person, double occupancy, including hotel accommodations, all meals, field trips and excursions, tips and taxes. Air fare to Malta is not included.

Contact: The OTS Foundation; telephone (800) 680-2766.

Solar Eclipse Sail

Choose a tall sailing ship operated by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises for a cruise to observe a total solar eclipse. Ships will be converging on the French island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Feb. 26 for the eclipse. The Legacy and Fantome depart Antigua on Feb. 22 and rendezvous at St. Barthelemy with the Polynesia, which starts from St. Maarten, also on Feb. 22. The Mandalay, which is sailing for 14 nights, will join the ships in Guadeloupe. Passenger capacity per ship ranges from 78 to 126 passengers. Other stops include Nevis and St. Kitts.

Cost: $975 to $1,225, and $1,895 on the Mandalay. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Tropical Adventures, 2516 Sea Palm Drive, El Paso, TX 79936; tel. (800) 595-1003.

Winter in Sicily

A 16-day tour leaves Jan. 3 to the mild Mediterranean and Sicily, Italy, a crossroads of Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman and Spanish cultural interaction. John Barker, a professor of classic and medieval history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will lead this tour. The itinerary starts in Sicily’s capital, Palermo, and continues on to Cefalu, with its Norman cathedral and mosaics, then onto the major Greek sites of Segesta, Selinunte, Agrigento and Siracusa. Also visited are Catania, Taormina, Messina and the Roman imperial villa at Casale near Piazza Armerina. After crossing the strait of Messina, participants will explore the Doric Greek temples of Paestum, the excavated Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the well-preserved Roman villa of Opolontis. They also travel through Sorrento and Naples, then to Rome.

Cost: $2,796 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, ground transportation, hotels, daily breakfast, some meals and admission fees.

Contact: University Educational Travel; tel. (800) 525-0525.

Dog Sleds in Minnesota

Four-day sled dog trips and winter wilderness retreats for women in northern Minnesota are being offered from December through March, sponsored by Women in the Wilderness. No previous dog sledding experience is required, and women of all ages are welcome. Other activities available include snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Some weekends are set aside for special programs, such as wolf ecology and writing workshops.

Cost: $465 per person, including cabin lodging, sauna, all meals and instruction.

Contact: Women in the Wilderness, 566 Ottawa Ave., St. Paul, MN 55107; tel. (612) 227-2284.

Christmas in Peru

Combine the delivery of school supplies to remote village children with rafting the Urubamba River in the valley of the Incas and hiking the ruins of Machu Picchu on a tour to Peru.

The trip runs Dec. 24 to Jan 2. Guests will begin in Lima, visiting Christmas creches and museums, and then fly to colonial Cuzco and explore the city and surrounding Incan ruins. Participants will depart by train to travel the Andes to Machu Picchu, where they will spend the night.

Guests will shop at the markets of Pisac and Chinchero. Then they will sample the mystic nature of Peru with a daylong visit to a pueblo of shamans.

Cost: $1,600 per person, double occupancy, including first-class accommodations; all planes, trains and private vans within Peru; breakfast daily and some meals; and entrance fees. International air fare is extra.

Contact: Newport Travel Concepts Inc., c/o Stacy Brower, 11181 Vista Del Lago, Santa Ana, CA 92705; tel. (714) 838-1070.

Enchanting India

A 19-day journey that links the exotic tropical south of India with the desert state of Rajasthan leaves Feb. 26. The tour visits palaces, temples and tropical lagoons, including visits to Madras on the Bay of Bengal, Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary and the cities of Mysore, Bangalore, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Delhi.

Participants will stay in the Lake Palace hotel featured in the “Masterpiece Theater” series “The Jewel and the Crown,” a royal hunting lodge and a Victorian British colonial hotel used as a backdrop in “Passage to India.”

Cost: $4,695 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip transportation to India on Singapore Airlines, accommodations, meals and local transportation, including three internal flights. An overnight stopover will be in Singapore.

Contact: Frank Tysen, 15012 Del Gado Drive, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403; tel. (818) 501-4100.

Eggnog in Santa Fe

See snowcapped adobes and smell the scent of crackling pin~on and ponderosa on a trip to northern New Mexico Dec. 11 to 16. The tour combines festive holiday activities with regional dining and touring in Santa Fe and Taos. Guests will attend the colorful dances of the San Ildefonso Feast Day, enjoy a morning tea at the governor’s mansion, take a cooking class and listen to a chamber music concert. Along the way, guests will meet guides and docents who are experts on local history, cuisine and art. There will also be time to shop in Santa Fe.

Cost: $916 per person, double occupancy, including land transportation, lodging, most meals, a cooking class, day trips, entrance into Georgia O’Keeffe’s home, museum entrance, guides, wine and eggnog. The trip does not include transportation to Albuquerque.

Contact: Aventura Artistica, 151 Sherry Lane, Del Mar, CA 92014; tel. (800) 808-7352.

Vietnam Study

Cal State Long Beach is offering a Vietnam study tour Dec. 27 to Jan. 16 in cooperation with Vietnam National University. The three-week program will be a traveling course, including lectures at four Vietnamese universities, meetings with government officials, regional experts and local organizations, and sightseeing along the country’s coastline from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

Kathryn McMahon, who will lead the tour, teaches courses on Vietnamese history and contemporary affairs at Cal State Long Beach, and has both researched and taught in Vietnam.

Cost: $3,606 per person, including round-trip air fare to Vietnam, transportation, housing and meals.

Contact: Cecilia Fidora at the CSULB Center for International Education; tel. (562) 985-8429 or McMahon at (562) 985-4418.

Mexico’s Monarchs

See 250 million monarch butterflies in Mexico’s Michoacan mountains. The monarch’s wintering grounds were discovered in 1975. They migrate from as far as Canada. Natural Habitat Adventures’ journeys run Feb. 15 to 26 and March 1 to 12. The tours begin and end in Mexico City, and include Toluca; the Rosario and Chincua butterfly sanctuaries; the Mazunte ecological village; the Huatulco beach resort; and the Indian center of Oaxaca.

Cost: $2,895 per person, double occupancy, including ground and air transportation in Mexico, 11 nights’ lodging, 11 breakfasts, eight lunches and 11 dinners.

Contact: Natural Habitat Adventures; tel. (800) 543-8917.

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