For Women, a Place to Be Home on the Horse

The Kay El Bar, a historic dude ranch on the banks of the Hassayampa River in Wickenburg, Ariz. (50 miles northwest of Phoenix), is hosting “Women’s Week” from Jan. 6 to 13. Activities include instruction for beginning to advanced riders, talk about tack and gear, guided rides through the Sonoran Desert and performances by cowgirl singers. The ranch, which can house 24 people in eight lodge rooms, a cottage and two casitas, has been hosting guests since 1926.

Cost: $1,100 per person, including accommodations, meals and riding instruction. Transportation to the ranch is extra.

Contact: Kay El Bar Guest Ranch; (800) 684-7583, www.kayebar.com.

China: Yangtze

Historian and former professor Bob Feldman has lost count of the trips he has taken to China. But he plans at least two more--on April 11 and Sept. 26. The highlight of the 17-day tours is a Yangtze River cruise. The itinerary includes well-known and little-known sites in Beijing, Xian, Wuhan, Guilin and Shanghai.

Cost: $4,090 per person, double occupancy, for the April trip, and $4,190 in September. Included are round-trip air fare, all meals, hotels, entrance fees, three theater performances, baggage handling and tips to guides.

Contact: East-West International Tours; (800) 359-6719, www.eastwest-tours.com.

West: Hike and Bike

From late May through September, Timberline Adventures of Denver, which operates hiking and cycling tours in the West, has planned excursions in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota and Alberta, Canada.

A sample of the wheeled offerings is the 335-mile “Glacier Park Alpiner” in Montana and Alberta from June 30 to July 6. The group will meet in Kalispell, Mont., and will ride beside Lake McDonald, up the Going-to-the-Sun Highway to Logan Pass (6,646 feet) and to Waterton Lakes. There also are August departures. The price is $1,695 per person.

An example for striders is the March 3-to-8 hike in Big Bend, Texas. The trip is timed for the spring bloom of plants and wildlife, with five nights at the Chisos Mountains Lodge. The rate is $1,495.

All tours include transfers, lodging, guides and support vans. Biking tours include breakfasts and dinners; all meals are included in the hiking tours. Bikes can be rented for $100 per trip. Transportation to the sites costs extra.

Contact: Timberline Adventures; (800) 417-2453, www.timbertours.com.

Atlantic: Sailing

A spring sail on the Chesapeake Bay, augmented with commentary by a maritime historian, is available from Smithsonian Study Tours. The 100-passenger Nantucket Clipper will depart April 27 from Alexandria, Va., and dock May 4 in New York. After sailing down the Potomac River, the vessel will dock at St. Mary’s City (Maryland’s first settlers landed nearby on St. Clemens Island in 1634).

Then the Clipper crosses the bay to St. Michaels, home of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Bird-watching is possible at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Wye River. A day each is spent in Annapolis and Baltimore in Maryland before the sail through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to Delaware Bay and New York.

Cost: from $1,980 to $3,500 per person, double occupancy, including all meals, shore excursions and guides. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Smithsonian Study Tours; (877) 338-8687, www.smithsonianstudytours.com.

Italy: Sicily

Sicily, melting pot of the ancient world, was first touched by the Greeks and Romans, then the Arabs and Normans, and finally the French, Spanish and Italians. Traces of its long history are evident in its art and architecture. Visit Italy Tours is featuring an in-depth trip to the archeological sights of the island. Besides ancient sites, the 16-day tour includes excursions to the islands of Lipari, Stromboli and Vulcano.

Tour dates are April 26 and May 10 and 31.

Cost: $2,399 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles or San Francisco, hotels, most meals and guides.

Contact: Visit Italy Tours; (800) 255-3537, www.visititalytours.com.

Hawaii: Wheelin’ Around

A bicycle tour around the Big Island of Hawaii is planned from March 10 to 16. Odyssey World Cycling Tours’ “Wheeling Hawaii” participants will begin their 256-mile adventure in Kailua and will camp in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and in the coastal towns of Punaluu, Hilo and Honokaa before pedaling back to Kailua. Another trip is scheduled from June 23 to 29.

Cost: $990 per person, including camping, most meals, entrance fees and guides. Bike rentals and air fare to Hawaii are extra. Hotel accommodations are available for an extra charge.

Contact: Tim Kneeland & Associates; (800) 433-0528, www.owct.com.

Africa: Wildlife

With the “Botswana and Victoria Falls” tour offered monthly by African Travel of Glendale, tourgoers will visit Nxai Pan and Chobe national parks, the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve. The 16-day game-viewing tour, by four-wheel-drive vehicle, includes bungee jumping, a safari by canoe and a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Cost: from $3,995 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, ground transportation, most meals and entrance fees to parks. Air fare to Johannesburg, South Africa, is extra.

Contact: African Travel; (800) 722-7755 or (818) 507-7893, www.africantravelinc.com or www.farandwide.com.

France: Canal Cruises

It hardly matters whether you choose Burgundy, Champagne or the Upper Loire Valley. In any region, French Country Waterways will take passengers aboard canal boats to historic cities, medieval towns, Gothic and Romanesque churches, castles and private wine tastings. Cruises are six nights each between April 7 and 28.

Cost: from $2,895 per person, double occupancy, including all meals on board, one dinner ashore at a two- or three-star restaurant, shore excursions, use of a bicycle, and transfers from Paris. Air fare to Paris is extra. Prices are higher after April.

Contact: French Country Waterways; (800) 222-1236, www.fcwl.com.

Peru: Trail Walks

A walking tour of Peru and Machu Picchu, operated from March 16 to 24 by Classic Journeys, begins in Cuzco, once the capital of the Incan empire. From there, walkers will wind through the Urubamba Valley and visit village markets. The trip will end at Machu Picchu, where tourgoers will spend two nights at the base of the ruins.

Cost: $2,595 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, most meals and guides. Air fare to Peru is extra.

Contact: Classic Journeys; (800) 200-3887, www.classicjourneys.com.

Belize: Sea Kayaking

Kayaking among uninhabited tropical cays and snorkeling in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea are part of an eco-tour to the Coral Islands of Belize departing Feb. 16 for eight days. The group will get instruction in sea kayaking and will go fishing and birding. Tourgoers will also visit the Cave of the Stone Sepulcher, a Mayan archeological site. Accommodations will be in lodges, hotels and tents.

Cost: $1,249 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, camping equipment, meals and ground transportation. Air fare to Belize is extra.

Contact: A World of Travel; (800) 247-6879, www.sendmeaway.com.

French Polynesia: Diving

For seven nights divers can explore French Polynesia’s lagoons, clear waters and marine life from a base aboard the catamaran Marquises 57. Departures are weekly from Jan. 28 to Dec. 16.

Divers will cruise the Tuamotu Archipelago, a large group of coral atolls near Tahiti, in search of manta rays, eels, turtles, tropical reef fish and gray sharks.

Cost: $2,150 per person, double occupancy, including an air-conditioned cabin with private bathroom, meals, guided dives, shore excursions and some equipment. Air fare to Papeete, Tahiti, is extra.

Contact: Islands in the Sun; (800) 828-6877, www.islandsinthesun.com.

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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.