Boston’s in Bloom Thanks to Monet’s Art

Join Gail Phinney, Palos Verdes Art Center program director, on a four-day Boston tour from Oct. 8 to 11. Guests will see New England fall foliage and the artistry of “Monet in the 20th Century” in its only American venue at the Museum of Fine Arts.

This exhibit is one of the largest ever mounted by the museum and includes 75 pieces of the artist’s work, many from private collections and being seen on exhibit for the first time. The itinerary also includes a guided tour of the Isabella Gardner Museum, afternoon tea, a Boston Trolley tour, welcome dinner and farewell breakfast, choice of a Boston Ballet or symphony performance and a fall colors tour.

Cost: $875 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, airport transfers, lodgings at the historic Omni Parker House, ground transportation and entrance fees.

Contact: Sharon Ryan at Uniglobe Travel; telephone (310) 543-4552, Ext. 104.

South Africa Hike

Take a 14-day environmental ranger course in South Africa. Based in Johannesburg, the once-a-month trip involves three days of hiking in the Drakensberg Range, where the group sleeps in caves, carries its own supplies and receives instruction in mountain travel, botany and zoology.

Other nights are spent in a tented camp, a native “beehive” hut in neighboring Swaziland and under the stars on the banks of the Blyde River. Day 11 may be the most strenuous: It features a leap into and swim down the Blyde, plus a rope descent. The tour includes training in four-wheel driving and stops in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi and Mpumalanga game reserves and Kruger National Park.

Cost: $895 per person, including ground transportation, equipment and nearly all meals. Air fare to Africa is extra.

Contact: Premier Tours; tel. (800) 545-1910.

Tennis Down Under

Advantage Tennis Tours is offering two tours to the 1999 Australian Tennis Open. One itinerary is a two-week excursion to Australia and New Zealand that runs Jan. 17 to 30. The tour begins in Christchurch, New Zealand, and culminates in Sydney, Australia. Highlights in New Zealand include an all-day trip to Lake Te Anau and a cruise on Milford Sound. In Australia, guests stay on a farm in Ashburton, attend the Australian Open in Melbourne for three days, play tennis at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club and take a Sydney Harbor tea cruise.

Cost: $3,795 per person, double occupancy.

The second itinerary is an 11-day tour of Australia from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1; it begins in Sydney and culminates in Melbourne. Highlights include four days of semifinals and finals at the Australian Open and the opportunity to play tennis at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.

Cost: $3,195 per person, double occupancy.

Both tours include round-trip air fare on Qantas from Los Angeles, hotel accommodations, daily buffet breakfast, reserved center court seats, private city tours and airport transfers. Land-only packages are available.

Contact: Advantage Tennis Tours; tel. (800) 341-8687.

Southeast Asia

A 20-day “Hanoi to Angkor Wat” excursion, departing from Los Angeles Nov. 2, features the major attractions of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Highlights include Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the imperial city of Hue, the scenic beauty of Ha Long Bay and historic Hoi An in Vietnam; the temple complex of Angkor Wat and the city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia; Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and Luang Prabang, the ancient capital on the Mekong River in Laos.

Cost: $6,240 per person, double occupancy, including best-available hotels, all meals, airport transfers and entrance fees. Air fare is not included.

Contact: First Cabin Tours; tel. (800) 752-3302.

Dancing in Costa Rica

A deluxe 10-day dance tour to Costa Rica departs from LAX on Oct. 16. The tour will combine opportunities to dance to Latin rhythms with excursions to enjoy Costa Rica’s natural wonders. The tour begins with arrival in San Jose. Guests then depart for the Pacific Coast town of Manuel Antonio and visit the Carara Biological Reserve, where scarlet macaws can be seen, and Manuel Antonio National Park, where the forest meets the sea. Evenings are reserved for dancing at the local disco.

The tour then travels farther up the Pacific Coast to the port city of Puntarenas. Guests will tour the Tempisque Conservation area, home to birds and other wildlife, and enjoy a free day to sightsee. Next, the group will travel inland to Sarchi, an artisan town noted for its brightly painted wooden oxcarts and other crafts. Participants will attend a folklorico dance performance in San Jose. A trip to the Arenal volcano includes bathing in the gardens of the Tabacon Hot Springs. The last full day will be spent at the Rain Forest Aerial Tram for a ride through the jungle treetops, and, in the evening, guests will attend a dance with live tropical music.

Cost: $2,000 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, hotel accommodations, all ground transportation and included activities, bilingual guides and 17 meals.

Contact: Tropical Eco-Tours at (805) 492-0365 or (888) 900-1-ECO.

Yellowstone Hotel

A March 1 to 5 “Yellowstone National Park in Winter” tour includes two nights at the all-nonsmoking Old Faithful Snow Lodge--the first new hotel to open in Yellowstone in more than 10 years--and two nights in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Guests will see Yellowstone when the crowds are gone and the roads are closed by winter snows.

Cost: $895 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare to Salt Lake City, bus transportation, lodging and some meals. The tour includes dinners at the Snow Lodge Restaurant and at the Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole, home of the Silver Dollar Bar.

Contact: Main Street Tours; tel. (800) 300-6246.

Day of the Dead

The Southwest Museum of Los Angeles is sponsoring an 11-day travel program exploring the Mexican tradition of honoring the departed souls of family and friends during Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The trip to San Miguel de Allende is scheduled for Oct. 29 to Nov. 8 and will be led by artist and Mexican art expert Raoul de la Sota.

This area, known for its textiles, costumes, lacquerware, ceramics, coppersmithing and wood carving, will be explored along with its music, dance, food and congenial people for a more complete perspective of the Mexican culture. Visits with artisans and festive cemeteries along with arts-and-crafts displays are planned in Guadalajara, Uruapan and Patzcuaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende and Queretaro. Participants will also attend a performance of the National Folkloric Ballet of Mexico.

Cost: $2,364 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, first-class to superior hotels, private bus, all guided sightseeing, all breakfasts, nine meals, entry fees, hotel tips and airport taxes.

Contact: Vanessa Acosta of the Southwest Museum; tel. (213) 221-2164, Ext. 236.

Biblical Beginnings

A 13-day journey to Israel and Jordan, scheduled to begin Nov. 4, will take participants to sites around the Sea of Galilee: Tiberias, Capernaum, Nazareth, the Jordan River, the Churches of the Beatitudes and the Primacy of Peter and Caesarea Philippi.

The tour will continue to Mt. Carmel, Caesarea and Jerusalem. Excursions from the Mount of Olives will include Qumran, Jericho, Bethlehem and places within the Old City such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and the Church of St. Anne.

With Amman, Jordan, as a base, the group will visit the rose-colored city of Petra; Jerash; Madaba, famous for the 6th-century Madaba mosaic map in St. George’s Church; and Mt. Nebo.

Cost: $2,424 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, hotels, most meals, guides, ground transportation, transfers, entrance fees and travel insurance.

Contact: Sister Thomas Bernard; tel. (213) 747-6508.

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