Nuggets of History in California Gold Country

The Banning Residence Museum is sponsoring a trip to explore historic Sacramento and the Mother Lode Country from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1. In Sacramento the group will visit the California State Railroad Museum, Sutter’s Fort, the California State Indian Museum, the State Capitol Building and the Crocker Art Museum. A highlight will be an evening spent at the recently restored historic governor’s mansion.

Participants will explore several of the atmospheric small towns and historic attractions that line California Highway 49, the original route of the “forty-niners,” who came to seek their fortunes in the Gold Rush. Highlights include stays in country inns in Sutter Creek and Georgetown as well as a tour of private homes and gardens in Nevada City. The group will eat lunch and tour a winery established in 1856, and then spend an afternoon at Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, which incorporates several museums and the site of Sutter’s Mill on the banks of the American River.

Cost: $1,795 per person, double occupancy, including first-class hotel accommodations, some meals, motor-coach transportation, entrance fees, gratuities and tour escort. Round-trip air fare to Sacramento is extra.

Contact: Spectrum Tours, P.O. Box 50608, Santa Barbara, CA 93150; telephone (800) 974-7132.

Montana, Idaho: Scenery

The natural wonders and mountain scenery of Montana and Idaho via motor coach, boat and train are featured on a nine-day vacation offered by CIE Tours International.

The itinerary, which begins in Boise, Idaho, and ends in Billings, Mont., explores Sun Valley, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Nez Perce National Historical Park.

Activities include a cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene and two days of travel aboard the American Spirit train through big sky country and the Continental Divide.

The tour is available weekly through Sept. 3.

Cost: from $1,679 per person, double occupancy, including bus, rail and boat transportation; guide services; hotel accommodations for seven nights; airport transfers; daily breakfast, two lunches and four dinners; entrance fees; and luggage handling. Air fare is extra.

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

New England: Fall Foliage

A seven-day tour to New England, departing Oct. 8, will visit Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and New York state. An 11-day version of the tour begins Oct. 6.

Both tours start in Boston and continue on a journey into the colorful countryside to see the leaves. Scenic stops include Franconia Notch in New Hampshire, the coastline of Maine, Lake Champlain, Lake Placid, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and Niagara Falls.

Cost: $1,885 per person, double occupancy, for the seven-day tour, including air fare from Los Angeles. The 11-day tour is $2,199 per person, double, and adds Lexington, Concord and Old Sturbridge Village, Mass.; the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.; Bennington Battle Monument, Vermont; Boothbay Harbor, Maine; Cape Cod; and a boat excursion to Martha’s Vineyard.

Both tours include accommodations, motor coach transportation, entrance fees, daily breakfast and most dinners, baggage handling and guide services.

Contact: Corliss Tours; P.O. Box 4042, Huntington Beach, CA 92605; tel. (800) 482-4597, Internet https://www.corlisstours.com.

Vietnam: Culture

Cooking fans can learn the secrets of Vietnamese cuisine in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and visit Vietnam’s well-known sites, including Hue, Hoi An, Danang and Halong Bay. The two-week trip is scheduled for Oct. 20. Cooking classes will be hosted at two restaurants. Guests will shop at local markets and prepare meals under the supervision of a local chef. Visits to schools to distribute school supplies in the ethnic villages of Vietnam will also be scheduled.

Cost: $2,799 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from LAX, lodging, sightseeing, flights within Vietnam and two meals per day.

Contact: Escapes Unlimited, 17842 Irvine Blvd., Suite 232, Tustin, CA 92780; tel. (800) 243-7227.

England: Beatles History

Liverpool Entertainment Group’s 17th annual Magical Mystery Tour will visit the historic haunts where the Beatles started their careers. The 12-day tour begins Aug. 19 in Hamburg, Germany, where the group--then the Beat Brothers--first took center stage in nightclubs. Participants will see the clubs they performed in and the studio where they recorded their first album.

Then the group flies to London to see the Abbey Road studio, where most of the group’s classics were recorded. There is time to also take in the city sights.

In Liverpool, the Beatles’ hometown, guests will stop at an auction of Beatles memorabilia. Participants also will attend a party at Liverpool’s Casbah Club with special guest Pete Best, the Beatles’ first drummer, who will perform with his current band. Other highlights include visits to the Beatles’ original homes and the places immortalized in their songs, such as Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.

Cost: $2,499 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, accommodations, admissions and full breakfast daily.

Contact: Liverpool Productions, 315 Derby Ave., Orange, CT 06477; tel. (800) 777-5295, Internet https://www.toursandevents.com.

Sierra: Fly Fishing

Sierra Pacific Fishing Adventures is hosting a fly-fishing journey to the Eastern Sierra, Aug. 25 to 27. Two nights are spent in a condominium near Mammoth Lakes. Fly-fishing lessons are given by a Fly-Fishing Federation expert.

Cost: $485 per person, double occupancy, including lodging and all meals. Transportation to Mammoth is not included. Participants bring their own equipment.

Contact: Sierra Pacific Fishing Adventures; tel. (562) 493-7942.

Middle East: Nomads

“People of the Wind: Nomads of Iran” is a 16-day journey departing Sept. 26 this year and Sept. 25, 2001. Sixteen participants will travel to the Zagros Mountains to encounter Bakhtiari, Lurs and Qashqai nomads and observe their daily lives and traditional ways. The women of these tribes weave beautiful rugs with patterns that have been handed down from generation to generation.

Other stops on the journey include visits to the ancient capitals of Persepolis and Pasargadae and to two of Iran’s most beautiful and historic cities, Shiraz and Isfahan. Isfahan is a 17th century town with gardens and blue-tiled mosques.

The journey begins and ends in Tehran, the capital. Participants should be in good physical condition because the trip includes a lot of walking.

Cost: from $2,595 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, all meals and ground transportation. International air fare is extra.

Contact: Brid Beeler, Worlds Apart; tel. (510) 836-2952, Internet https://www.worldsapart.org.

Alaska: Astronomy Cruise

The Alaskan skies are ideal for seeing the aurora borealis, changing moon phases, meteor showers, planets, constellations and galaxies, says astronomy author and instructor Richard Moeschl, who will be the guest lecturer on World Explorer Cruises’ nine-night Alaska sailing.

The Universe Explorer will depart Vancouver on Aug. 31 and call at Misty Fiords, Metlakatla (the only remaining Tsimshian Indian reservation in Alaska), Wrangell, Skagway, Haines, Sitka and Ketchikan before returning to Vancouver Sept. 9.

Cost: from $1,345 per person, double occupancy. Third and fourth persons in a cabin are $295 each. Air fare to Vancouver is extra.

Contact: World Explorer Cruises; tel. (800) 854-3835, Internet https://www.wecruise.com.

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