Flying in the Face of History in Britain

The San Diego Aerospace Museum is sponsoring a British Aviation Tour Sept. 30 to Oct. 13 featuring a full day at the Shuttleworth Air Show. Local British aviation historians will join the group to provide lectures and discussions. This tour is designed for aviation enthusiasts and their companions.

The tour visits Cambridge, Salisbury and London, and features aircraft and hardware from every era of aviation history. The tour visits numerous aviation museums, including the Museum of Army Flying, the Fleet Air Army Museum, the Royal Air Force Museum and the new American Air Museum.

Also included are tours of the Bletchley Park Trust, where British intelligence broke the “unbreakable” enemy codes, and the Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his advisors mapped strategy during World War II. The trip is highlighted by visits to the Shuttleworth Air Show and the museum complex at Duxford Airfield.

Cost: $4,350 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, deluxe hotels, two meals daily, all tours and entrance fees, and all taxes and portage.

Contact: East-West International Tours, 925 Acapulco St., Laguna Beach, CA 92651; telephone (800) 359-6719, Internet https://www.east west-tours.com.

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Arizona: New Year’s

Adventure into the wild, wild West on a five-day tour of Arizona that leaves Dec. 30 and returns Jan. 3. The tour includes the Fiesta Bowl Parade with grandstand seating, a city tour of Scottsdale, the OK Corral, Sabino Canyon Tram, Biosphere II, Tombstone, cowboy dinner and show, Mission Xavier del Bac and the Old Tucson Studios. For New Year’s Eve, guests will enjoy a three-course dinner and entertainment to ring in the new millennium.

Cost: $1,299 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, four nights at the Doubletree Hotel in Tucson, baggage handling, tour guide, motor coach, daily sightseeing and seven meals.

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

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National Parks: Bicycling

WomanTours (a bicycle touring company for women) of Coleman Falls, Va., is offering a 16-day inn-to-inn bicycle tour through six national parks and monuments of southwestern Utah and Arizona Sept. 18 to Oct. 3. This road bike tour, planned for women riders of all levels of experience, visits Zion, the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks as well as Cedar Breaks and Grand Staircase/Escalante national monuments. A support van accompanies the tour to transport luggage and cyclists who want a break from pedaling.

Cost: $1,965 per person, double occupancy, including lodgings for 15 nights, some meals, guides, maps and the support van. The trip begins and ends in Cedar City, Utah.

Contact: WomanTours, P.O. Box 68, Coleman Falls, VA 24536; tel. (800) 247-1444.

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New Zealand: By Plane

Tour the arts and gardens of New Zealand by private plane on a visit from Oct. 21 to Nov. 5, co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Guests will focus on the natural beauty of both islands during springtime in the Southern Hemisphere, when gardens are in bloom. The tour is limited to a small group of 25 people and will be escorted by guest lecturer Edward Schneider, director of the Botanic Garden, and New Zealander Tim Scott.

The tour covers formal gardens to virgin rain forests, from geysers and volcanoes to whale watching, from rushing rivers to the Bay of Islands area and the cities of Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and Auckland. Adventures will include a Dart River Jet Safari into the wilderness of Mt. Aspiring Park, a sailboat journey across Lake Gastineau, a Jeep tour of a private sheep station, a ski plane to the Tasman Glacier and, optionally, a chance to bungee-jump.

Cost: $8,959 per person, including lodging, all meals, coach and internal air transportation.

Contact: Santa Barbara Museum of Art; tel. (805) 884-6436.

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California: Redwoods

Join AFC Tours & Cruises Sept. 12 to 17 for an excursion to Northern California wine country during the wine harvest season. Participants will fly to Oakland and return from San Jose for a tour that includes Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz and San Jose. Members will tour four wineries in Napa Valley and travel on three railroads, including the Skunk Train through the redwoods from Fort Bragg to Willits, the Napa Valley Wine Train and the Roaring Camp Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Cost: $1,199 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip shuttle service from your home to LAX, round-trip air fare from LAX, admissions to all attractions, gratuities and some meals.

Contact: AFC Tours, 11555 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite B, San Diego, CA 92121; tel. (619) 481-8188 or (800) 369-3693.

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Europe: Shopping

The “European Resale Shopping Tour” is designed to help shoppers find bargains in London and Paris. Clothing store owner Nicole Christ and Carolyn Schneider, author of “The Ultimate Consignment & Thrift Store Guide,” will lead the tour Sept. 30 to Oct. 7. In Paris, guests will peruse the racks of Dior, Chanel and others in Paris’ finest resale shops. There is also time to visit the sights of Paris. In London, guests will tour Buckingham Palace, take a cruise down the River Thames and visit secondhand stores throughout the city.

Contact: Carolyn Schneider; tel. (908) 781-2589, Internet https://www.consignmentguide.com.

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Italy: Po River Cruise

Spend seven nights cruising the Po River in Italy aboard the Venezia on a trip that runs Oct. 1 to 15. Starting with a morning city tour, guests will spend two days in Venice before sailing across the lagoon of Venice to the town of Chioggia, Italy’s largest fishing port. Next, guests will leave the Adriatic Coast and sail to Ferrara and Revere. They will disembark for an excursion to the walled city of Mantua, with its many 15th and 16th century buildings. After the short sail to Boretto, passengers will take an excursion to Parma, known for its Parmesan cheese. Next is a morning cruise to Cremona to visit a violin maker’s workshop and explore the city. Then a scenic tour to Pisa, with its leaning tower, is followed by a three-day stay in Florence. Driving through Tuscany, the group will tour Siena, then continue to Rome for a two-night stay with guided tours of the city and the Vatican.

Cost: $3,538 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, all shore excursions, hotels for two nights in Florence and two nights in Rome with daily buffet breakfast.

Contact: Claudette Crowther at Carlson-Wagonlit Travel; tel. (800) 549-7233.

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Japan: Fine Arts

Ceramic and fine arts, festivals and hot springs are highlights of a tour to Japan, beginning Oct. 6, hosted by Yoshino Japanese Antiques in Pasadena. The 10-day tour will begin in Nagoya and travel northward to Takayama to experience the Hachiman Shrine Festival. During the festival, large, decorated floats called yatai are paraded through the streets. After all the partying, the tour will spend the evening at the Gero Spa, a hot springs area. Guests will stay at a ryokan overnight and sleep on the traditional tatami, straw floor mats, or futon, padded bedding. The following several days the group will be visiting the Tajimi, Seto and Minoo areas visiting various museums and learning about the ceramics of those regions. The last several days will be spent sightseeing in Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. There will be an excursion to Shigaraki, one of Japan’s oldest pottery areas, for a lecture by one of the local potters, an exhibition at his gallery and a chance for the group to make their own ceramics.

Cost: $3,400 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, ground transportation, daily breakfasts and some meals

Contact: Gary Myers at Yoshino Japanese Antiques; tel. (626) 356-0588.

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