A Multi-Sport Adventure Around New Zealand

Outdoor Travel Adventures has a two-week tour to New Zealand starting Feb. 22. The itinerary was designed with the adventure enthusiast in mind, exploring highlights of New Zealand’s North and South islands.

The small group will take on the challenges of sailing, white-water rafting, mountain biking, sea kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, canoeing, swimming with dolphins, boating and glacier hiking. Start off sailing in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbor, and continue through the North Island to the small agricultural town of Te Kuiti for a farm stay.

Participants will experience “‘cave-tubing” in the Waitomo Caves and venture to Rotorua, the heart of New Zealand’s native Maori culture.

On the South Island, guests will visit Abel Tasman National Park, then continue to Paparoa National Park and the shore of Punakalki, overlooking the Tasman Sea. Finally, venture to Westland National Park for a stunning heli-hike on Fox Glacier before ending in Queenstown.

Cost: $3,199 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX, activities, local guides, accommodations, most meals, ground and air transfers. (Price excluding international air is $2,199.)

Contact: Outdoor Travel Adventures; tel. (858) 454-2188 or (877) 682-5433, Internet https://www.otadventures.com.

Peru: Rain Forest

Manu, one of the the world’s largest rain forest preserves, in the remote southeastern corner of Peru, will be visited on a trip offered monthly by Southwind Adventures from May through October. The 12-day Manu Rain Forest Adventure is a low-impact, soft-adventure expedition that reaches into the heart of this reserve.

Highlights include a two-day journey into the park, starting from the highlands at Tres Cruces and descending through the cloud forest into the lowland Amazon. Activities include a visit to the lakes at Cocha Salvador and an opportunity to witness the colorful spectacle of the macaws near Blanquillo. Accommodations include hotels, lodges and four nights of comfortable camping.

Cost: from $2,865 per person, double occupancy, including most meals, hotel and jungle lodge accommodations, group camping gear, river transportation within the reserve, one-way return air to Cuzco, all transfers and a local naturalist guide. Air fare to Peru is extra.

Contact: Southwind Adventures; tel. (800) 377-9463, Internet https://www.southwindadventures.com.

Mexico: Mayan World

Explore the history of the Maya on a five-night “Yucatan Overture,” which departs weekly from Cancun on Thursdays. A bus takes clients on a journey through the state of Yucatan beginning in Valladolid, a charming colonial city. Then guests will visit a grotto to swim in an underground spring inside a cave. Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Kabah, Labna and Dzibichaltun and its Temple of the Seven Dolls are also on the itinerary.

The package includes a boat tour through Celestun, a bird sanctuary known for its pink flamingos; a visit to the town of Izamal and its impressive convent, built in 1561; and lunch at one of the many rustic beachfront restaurants known for seafood in Puerto Progreso.

Fruit markets in a village, a tour of the city of Merida and its colonial architecture, shopping venues and cultural entertainment are among other highlights of the tour.

Cost: $1,353 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, all meals and entrance fees. International air fare is extra.

Contact: (800) 392-6292, Internet https://www.mayatour.com.

Canada: Wilderness

Venture into the Canadian wilderness in search of the shy timber wolf. Join Acacia Travel on March 3 for six nights on a tour to Haliburton Wildlife and Wolf Reserve, on the edge of Algonquin National Park in Canada. Beginning from Toronto, participants will spend three nights in a rustic lodge at the reserve’s headquarters.

A museum, theater, informal lectures by naturalists and a viewing platform are tools for learning more about the wolf, including a guided nocturnal walk to decipher calls and howls.

Participants will also spend a day mushing their way via dog sled into the deep woods, where a hunter’s cabin is outfitted for an overnight stay.

Cost: $1,979 per person, double occupancy, including two nights in Toronto with guided city tour and a visit to the Toronto Zoo, four nights in the woods, transportation via bus and dog sled, and most meals. Air fare to Toronto is extra.

Contact: Acacia Travel; tel. (800) 243-6996, Internet https://www.acaciatravel.com.

Florida: Architecture

The Society of Architectural Historians is sponsoring a three-day home tour called “On Parallel Lines: The Sarasota Modern Movement and the Case Study House Program” in Sarasota, Fla., from Jan. 12 to 14.

The tour will compare and contrast explorations in postwar housing that took shape simultaneously at opposite ends of the country. It will focus on a range of new building materials that were combined with new ways of thinking about lifestyle and technology.

There will be commentary by scholars and architects as well as private tours and discussions of residences.

Tour host and architect Rob Rothblatt will lead discussions about the Sarasota Movement.

Cost: $169 for members, $200 for nonmembers, including two days of on-site lectures, lunchtime presentation, and ground transportation via air-conditioned coach.

That price does not include air fare, accommodations, meals or airport transfers. Group rates are available at the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel in Sarasota.

Contact: Society of Architectural Historians, Southern California Chapter; tel. (310) 472-4799.

Italy: Cooking

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, who hosts a PBS series on Italian-American cuisine, is offering a tour to Tuscany and Umbria.

The May 20 to 27 excursion is based at Le Piazze, a converted farmhouse near Chianti, and the Villa Medici in Florence. Participants will meet with a butcher, engage in wine and cheese tastings, join a cooking demonstration and audit lectures on the art of Siena and Florence.

Cost: $4,025 per person, double, covering six nights’ lodging, daily breakfast, some meals and classes.

A similar tour is offered Sept. 30 to Oct. 7. Another outing, June 10 to 17 to Tuscany and Umbria, is based at the Fattoria Vignale farmhouse, also near Chianti. Cost for these two trips: $3,550 per person, double occupancy, including six nights’ lodging, daily breakfast, guided tours and some meals. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Experienze Italiane; tel. (800) 480-2426, Internet https://www.lidiasitaly.com.

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