Way to Ireland’s Heart Is Through Its Cooking

Irish cuisine? It exists, and from Oct. 9 to 20 Margaret Johnson, author of “Cooking With Irish Spirits” and “The Irish Heritage Cookbook,” will introduce travelers to it. On the menu are apple pie and scones at Bunratty Castle; wine and cheese tasting and a cooking demonstration at Kinsale (where three days will be spent at the Kinsale International Gourmet festival); dinner at Ballymaloe House in Shanagarry; a visit to a salmon smokehouse; a lecture on organic, free-range and wild cookery in Wicklow; and a morning tour of the Dublin food markets.

Cost: $2,350 per person, double occupancy, including 10 nights’ lodging, all breakfasts, eight dinners and a three-day ticket to the festival. Air fare is additional.

Contact: Focus on Travel; telephone (877) 828-4746.

Italy: More Cooking

A seven-day cooking course offered by Tuscan Way Tours immerses its participants in the foods and culture of southern Tuscany.

Staying at Casa Innocenti, the medieval home of chef-host Carlo Innocenti in the small village of Arcidosso, guests are taught the simple style of southern Tuscan dishes. A maximum of eight guests will attend daily classes and tour local markets, restaurants and vineyards.

Four excursions are planned to nearby villages: Montalcino, known for the vineyards that produce Brunello wine; the seaside village of Castiglione della Pescaia; and Sovana and Pitigliano, with their ancient ghettos and Etruscan tombs. Tour dates are available throughout the year.

Cost: $2,090 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, meals with wine, airport transfers and local transportation for scheduled excursions. A four-day course is also available for $1,140 per person, double. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Tuscan Way, 2829 Bird Ave., No. 242, Coconut Grove, FL 33133; tel. (800) 766-2390, Internet https://www.tuscanway.com.

Egypt: Tombs, Temples

Follow the footsteps of Agatha Christie and Lawrence of Arabia on a trip to Egypt from Oct. 25 to Nov. 5. The group will explore Alexandria, Cairo, the Great Pyramid, pharaohs’ tombs, the Temple of Luxor and the Nile Valley.

An extension is available to cross the Red Sea to see Mt. Sinai and visit St. Catherine’s monastery, which dates back to the 6th century. Participants will then journey to Jordan to see the city of Petra, lost to the world for 500 years, and will visit Amman before returning home.

Cost $3,815 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, three internal flights in Egypt, hotel accommodations, daily breakfast and dinner and all sightseeing. The Sinai and Jordan extension Nov. 5 to 9 is $595.

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

Canada: Bears

Photographing or just gazing at grizzly bears is the purpose of a five-night expedition into the British Columbia rain forest. The tour is based at the Tweedsmuir Lodge near Bella Coola--about 240 miles northwest of Vancouver. The bears can sometimes be seen from the lodge’s deck. But on the third day, the group (10 to 12 people) will go by aircraft, boat or vehicle to search for grizzlies in the forest. The other days will be spent on the Bella Coola River, looking for spawning salmon and predators such as eagles and bears; traveling to the Monarch Glacier Fields or 500-foot-high Hunlen Falls (via an optional helicopter trip priced at $350 to $500); visiting the local Nuxalk Indians; and sailing along the Pacific Coast.

Cost: from $2,695 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, all meals, guides and local transport. There are several departures between Aug. 17 and Oct. 11. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Natural Habitat Adventures of Boulder, Colo.; tel. (800) 543-8917, Internet https://www.nathab.com.

Scotland: Savoring It

CIE Tours International is offering a “Taste of Scotland” tour, a compact five-day trip that can also be used as an add-on for a visit to London or other transatlantic destinations.

A tour of Glasgow begins the itinerary, followed by a circular scenic route that takes in Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, Glencoe, Fort William, Fort Augustus, Loch Ness, the Grampian Mountains, Blair Atholl, Perth and Sterling, and ending at Edinburgh. Activities include a scenic cruise on Loch Ness and a whiskey distillery tour and tasting, as well as admission to the Burrell Collection, Blair Castle, Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle.

The tour operates weekly on Saturdays through Oct. 21.

Cost: $599 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations for four nights in first-class hotels, full Scottish breakfasts, three dinners, escorted sightseeing, hotel gratuities and taxes. Air fare is extra.

Contact: CIE Tours International; tel. (800) CIE-TOUR (243-8687), Internet https://www.cietours.com.

Germany: Markets

An Old World German Christmas market tour is being hosted Dec. 1 to 9 by My Travel Co. of Avalon. The tour will visit the Christmas markets of Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Ulm and Heidelberg. Also visited is the medieval town of Rothenburg, known for the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas Shop, which specializes in wooden ornaments, nutcrackers and music boxes.

Two festive dinners and a Christmas tea party with traditional German cookies are included.

Cost: $1,875 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, seven nights’ hotel accommodations in Stuttgart, transfers and ground transportation, daily breakfast, two dinners, one lunch, all entrance fees and guide.

Contact: Edie Hugo at My Travel Co.; tel. (310) 510-0119.

Bhutan: Mountains

Tours of Exploration is hosting a tour to Bhutan from Oct. 5 to 12. Mountaineer Dr. Jan Arnold will lead the tour. She has traveled widely throughout the Himalayas and has worked as a volunteer doctor at a high-altitude medical clinic in Nepal. Guests will attend the Wangdue and Thimphu Tshechu festivals. The tour departs Katmandu, Nepal, and sets out across snowcapped mountain peaks, lakes, green terraced fields and flower-strewn valleys. During the eight-day journey the group will see ancient Buddhist art and sculpture and explore monasteries and traditional Bhutanese villages.

Cost: $2,375 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, meals and guides. International air fare is extra.

Contact: Tours of Exploration, P.O. Box 48225, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V7X 1N8; tel. (800) 690-7887.

Asia: Three Lands

“Orient Splendors,” a 14-day excursion offered by WindSong Tours, visits Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore from Nov. 28 to Dec. 11. The group will fly from Los Angeles and visit Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in Thailand; Hong Kong; and Singapore. Activities include an elephant ride and raft trip in Chiang Mai and a “long-tailed” motorboat excursion in Chiang Rai.

Cost: $2,699 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, hotels, all ground transportation, daily buffet breakfast and city tours. A nine-day extension is available to Myanmar (formerly Burma) for an additional $1,289. This itinerary includes Yangon (formerly Rangoon), Mandalay, Bagan, Amarapura, Sagaing, Inle Lake and Mt. Popa. All meals are included in this segment of the tour.

Contact: WindSong Tours and Travel; tel. (562) 691-0458.

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