In Search of Antiques in Very Olde England

An antiques and collectibles tour to England with Elizabeth Knight, author of “Tea With Friends,” mixes shopping with tea parties from Sept. 13 to 22. The tour includes the antiques shops of London and four nights at the Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel near Kensington Palace. Guests will attend the fall Chelsea Antique Faire and visit Bermondsey, Gray’s and Camden Passage markets. A private tour of the Victoria & Albert Museum with a guide is followed by a theater performance, a tour of Buckingham Palace and tea at the Waldorf Hotel.

Participants will travel to the heart of the Cotswolds for four nights at Calcot Manor in Tetbury and visits to Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Burford, Broadway, Chipping Camden, Stow-on-the-Wold and Moreton-on-the-Marsh.

A full day in the Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye, with more than 40 used bookstores and antiques shops, is scheduled. In Worcester, the group will visit the town’s museum and learn how its china is made. Guests will have time to explore the English countryside and learn about the custom of afternoon tea from an expert.

An optional three-night extension to Paris is offered with guided shopping to the Paris flea markets, a visit to Monet’s garden in Giverny, shopping for vintage fashions with a guide and taking tea at Mariage Freres.

Cost: $2,395 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, some meals and ground transportation. The Paris option is $715 per person. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Armstrong and Hedges, Purveyors of Fine Travel; telephone (877) 838-5142.

Sequoia: Camping

An old-fashioned camping trip to photograph Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada will be conducted July 28 to 30.

Cost: $130 per person, including a group campsite, two breakfasts and one dinner, and guided hikes through Sequoia groves. Participants need to bring their own camping equipment. Motel accommodations are available as an option. Transportation is extra.

Contact: Image Quest Photography, 1164 Alvira St., Los Angeles, CA 90035; tel. (323) 939-2819, Internet https://www.iqtours.com.

Greece: Writing

Enhance writing skills on a trip to Greece Sept. 10 to 20. Writers will spend four days in Athens and five days in Chania on the island of Crete. Novelist Terry Wolverton will give writing classes, and participants will also take guided day trips and go sightseeing. Included is a full day at Delphi before guests fly to Crete to stay in a harbor-side hotel.

Cost: $3,400 per person, double occupancy, including international and domestic air fare, accommodations, daily breakfasts, two dinners, guided city tour of Athens and day tour of Delphi. Group size is limited to 15.

Contact: Anne Block of Take My Mother Please Tours, P.O. Box 35219, Los Angeles, CA 90035; tel. (323) 737-2200, Internet https://www.takemymotherplease.com.

Japan: Gardens

A 10-day walking tour of Japanese gardens will be led by Makiko, who has been in the flower business for 15 years in Japan and the U.S. and also is a garden writer and flower arranger. Participants will visit the Cherry Tree Arboretum and nursery district in Tokyo, the Imperial Palace and Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, and the towns of Takayama and Matsumoto. Guests will also attend a Japanese garden lecture by a horticulture specialist.

The Japanese Garden Tour is available on various dates in October and November. Each tour is limited to 16 people.

Cost: $2,495 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, daily breakfast and some other meals, admissions to temples and museums, and lectures. Air fare is extra.

Contact: South Coast International Travel; tel. (800) 880-0329 or (714) 432-8747.

France: Burgundy

Join Novel Expeditions on an eight-day food and wine lovers’ tour of Burgundy. Guests will try local wines and cheeses and take hands-on cooking classes with several of Burgundy’s finest chefs. From their hotel room in a 15th century castle, day-trippers go to the towns of Vezelay, Chablis and Beaune. A barge trip on a canal is also planned. Available dates are Oct. 7 to 14; May 19 to 26, 2001; and Sept. 15 to 22, 2001.

Cost: $2,995 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, most meals, entrance fees, guides and guest lecturers, cooking classes and ground transportation. Air fare to France is extra. Group size is limited to 16.

Contact: Novel Expeditions, 140 Tunstead Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960; tel. (800) 820-8485, Internet https://www.novelexpeditions.com.

Southwest: Scenery

Open Road’s four-day Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Monument Valley package guides visitors through some of Arizona’s most scenic areas, including Sedona’s red rocks, the Grand Canyon rim at sunset, Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell and a trip across Navajo lands to Monument Valley Tribal Park. Departure dates are July 5, Aug. 2 and Sept. 6.

Cost: $535 per person, double occupancy, including all ground transportation (beginning and ending in Phoenix), three nights’ lodging, guide services, a Navajo-guided four-wheel-drive n to all attractions. Transportation to Phoenix is not included.

Contact: Open Road Tours; tel. (602) 997-6474 or (800) 766-7117, Internet https://www.openroadtours.com.

Israel: Biblical Sites

A Holy Land tour exploring sites of events in the Old and New Testaments departs Los Angeles on Nov. 6. Travelers of all denominations are welcome, and family and youth participation is encouraged.

The 10-day itinerary includes Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Capernaum, the Jordan River, Mount of Beatitudes, Bethany, Mount of Olives, Calvary, Gethsemane, Mt. Tabor and Cana. There will also be a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

Cost: $2,098 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, hotels, tips and taxes, buffet breakfast and dinner daily, motor coach transportation and entrance fees.

An optional two-day extension to Egypt for $648 is available to see the pyramids, the Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara, Giza, the Citadel, Mohammed Ali Mosque and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Contact: Travel coordinator Tess Poling; tel. (916) 933-5007, e-mail tesspoling@juno.com.

Ecuador: Adventure

Peruvian Adventures is offering an 18-day trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands leaving Jan. 31, 2001. It features seven nights aboard the Galapagos Adventure II with a four-night stay in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Preserve in the Ecuadorean rain forest. Several days will be spent on various activities in the highlands, which will include a stop at the Indian market in Otavalo, visits to artists’ studios, some time with a shaman and entrance to the Equatorial Solar Museum. Group maximum is 14 participants.

Cost: $2,695 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, some meals, ground transportation and guides. Price excludes air fare. Contact: Peruvian Adventures, 5042 Viewridge Drive S.E., Olympia, WA 98501; tel. (360) 413-9820.

New Zealand: Cruise

A nature-oriented cruise that circumnavigates New Zealand’s South Island Jan. 8 to 23 loops south to the country’s usually off-limits sub-Antarctic Islands. The cruise, aboard the 105-passenger Clipper Odyssey, crosses from Dunedin to Campbell Island, less than 1,000 miles from the Antarctic Circle. At Campbell, sea lions, elephant seals and the southern royal albatross, which often has a wingspan of 11 feet, can be seen. The next stop is Enderby in the Auckland Islands, home to the rare yellow-eyed penguin. The ship will also stop at Snares Island, which has indigenous bird species.

Cost: $7,390 to $8,880 per person, double occupancy. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Zegrahm Expeditions; tel. (800) 628-8747.

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