The Sounds of Music at Salzburg Summer Festival

The University of Redlands “Salzburg Summer Festival Tour” will offer 15 days in Europe featuring concerts and travel framed by informal lectures on both Austrian culture and the music that will be heard at concerts. Hosts and faculty for the Summer Festival Tour will be professors Peter Madler in Austria and James Keays from the University of Redlands School of Music. Participants will depart July 23 and return Aug. 8.

The first week will be dedicated to sightseeing in southern Germany and the Austrian Tyrol Mountains. Guests will visit Munich, the island city of Lindau, King Ludwig’s famous castle Neuschwanstein, Bregenz and Innsbruck. During this first week the group will see the Bregenz Festival’s staging of Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” and a Munich Opera Festival production of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.”

The second week will be spent entirely in Salzburg during the Salzburg Summer Festival. The group will stay at the Hotel Gablerbrau in the inner medieval section of the city. It is easy walking distance to concert halls, churches, woods, parks, gardens, shopping areas and the Salzach River promenades.

Cost: $3,995 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, concerts, some meals and tours. Air fare is not included.

Contact: James Keays at the University of Redlands School of Music; telephone (909) 793-2121, Ext. 3275.

Arizona: New Year’s

Celebrate the new year in “The Wild West,” a five-day tour to Arizona from Dec. 31 to Jan. 4 that starts in Scottsdale, Ariz. Guests will stay at the Radisson Hotel and enjoy a New Year’s Eve party and dancing with an 11-piece orchestra. On Jan. 1 participants will attend the Fiesta Bowl Parade in reserved grandstand seats. Touring includes Tucson, Tombstone and the OK Corral, Biosphere 2 and gambling in Laughlin, Nevada.

Cost: $599 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip bus service from Los Angeles, hotels, motor-coach transportation, baggage handling, four breakfasts and three dinners, entrance fees and guides.

Contact: Daphne Bendel at Fitzgerald Tours and Cruises; tel. (626) 358-7981.

Central Asia: History

“Legendary Persia and the Silk Route” will take travelers from Los Angeles through Iran and Uzbekistan along the paths of conquerors and ancient emperors. The tour runs April 7 to 30. Cyrus, Darius, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane trod these lands, leaving behind monuments to their exploits. The ancient heritage of Persians, Medes, Zoroastrians, Arabs and Armenians comes to life here in turquoise-tiled mausoleums and mosques, Persian gardens and medieval walled cities and citadels.

Around Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kerman and Yazd, group members will inspect ethnographic, art and carpet museums; palaces and crown jewels; bazaars; fire temples; wind tunnels and ancient stone bridges. The ruins of the palace complex at Persepolis and the well-preserved citadel in the old town of Bam are two highlights of the trip. In Uzbekistan, participants will travel the Silk Road. Group members will travel from the medieval walled city of Khiva to old Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent, which is the country’s capital city. Stops are scheduled at fortresses, palaces of the khans, mosques of the emirs and history and art museums.

Cost: $6,695 per person, double occupancy, or $5,245 for Iran only, including international air fare, all transportation abroad, hotels, most meals and sightseeing with local guides.

Contact: Glorious Adventures, 10007 Gaynor Ave., North Hills, CA 91343; tel. (818) 893-9030.

Switzerland: Cooking

A seven-day tour of French-, Italian- and German-speaking Switzerland is available June 6.

The tour includes overnight stays in Lausanne, Lugano and Bad Ragaz. Highlights include dining at five of Switzerland’s most acclaimed restaurants, private wine tastings and vineyard tours, as well as visits to Switzerland’s chocolate and cheese factories. In addition, special tours of the Embroidery Museum in St. Gallen and the Villa Favorita Museum in Lugano are planned. A private boat will be rented for guests to leisurely enjoy the beautiful towns and scenery along Lake Lugano. Additional meals will be arranged in a typical Swiss chalet, in an Italian grotto and on top of a mountain overlooking Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. Entertainment unique to each area will accompany the dining experience.

Cost: $2,599 per person, double occupancy, including luxury hotels, many meals and sightseeing tours. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Horizons Adventures, P.O. Box 670565, Marietta, GA 30066; tel. (800) 246-3180, Internet https://www.horizadv.com.

Old South: River Cruise

The Shirelles and the Jordanaires will highlight an “oldies” cruise on the Mississippi on the American Queen steamship next July 7 to 14. The cruise will go from Memphis to St. Louis. Stops will be made at Henderson and Paducah, Ky.; Cape Girardeau, Mo.; and Chester, Ill. Early American historical sites, Civil War sites and museums will be visited at port calls.

Cost: from $1,596 per person, double occupancy, including the cruise, air fare (if booked early), transfers, all meals and entertainment. Pre- and post-package tours are available.

Contact: Don Eslinger at Historic Tours of America, 16142 Woodstock Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647; tel. (714) 846-9595.

Africa: Fun and Game

The Okavango Delta and Etosha National Park are on the itinerary of a trip to Africa available May 2, 16 or 30 or June 13. The 16-day, 13-night excursion offers two days in remote Etosha, two in Victoria Falls, two in Chobe National Park, two in “sea of land, land of water” Okavango and two in Namibia’s capital, Windhoek.

Cost: $3,995 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip New York-Windhoek air fare via London, six internal flights, accommodations in hotels and safari lodges, 12 breakfasts, seven lunches, seven dinners and game-viewing drives. Trips are limited to eight travelers.

Contact: Acacia Travel; tel. (800) 243-6996.

France: Barging

Let history drift by aboard the Etoile de Champagne barge in Normandy. The barge carries 12 guests from Paris through the Seine Valley to the cathedral city of Rouen, where Joan of Arc was sentenced to death. Along the way, guests will stop at Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny, Napoleon’s home in Malmaison and a 12th century fort built by Richard the Lionhearted. On-board cuisine reflects this region with Camembert cheese, cider and brandy. The tour is offered on various dates.

Cost: $3,795 per person, double occupancy, including cruise, meals and some sightseeing. Air fare is extra.

Contact: The Barge Lady; tel. (800) 880-0071, Internet https:// www.bargelady.com.

Yellowstone: Photos

Take advantage of the stunning landscape and learn more about winter photography on a trip to Yellowstone National Park Dec. 29 to Jan. 3. Outdoor photographer Linda Delay-Joseph will give workshops on cold-weather metering and equipment handling as she guides participants through the park.

The group will meet in Gardner, Wyo., where students will shoot in the northwest part of the park. Members may sight bighorn sheep, moose, elk, bison, coyotes and wolves. The group will stay at a remote yurt camp. Meals are prepared on a wood-burning stove. Members will travel by cross-country skis or snow coach for photo sessions.

Cost: $995 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, all meals and classes. Transportation to Wyoming is extra.

Contact: Adventure Outfitters, 2137 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90815; tel. (800) 430-2544.

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