Tiptoeing Through Tulips and Barging in Holland

Explore Amsterdam while staying aboard a luxurious floating hotel. Caren Erickson, owner of Unique Vacations, will be escorting a group departing Los Angeles on May 5 to see the sights of the Dutch waterways.

Early May is tulip season in Holland, when blazing colors carpet the countryside. Excursion highlights include: city tour and canal cruise in Amsterdam, Kroller-Muller Museum in Arnhem, Kinderdijk windmills and Dordrecht walking tour. Guests will visit Zuiderzee villages of Volendam, Edam and Hoorn; the bulb fields of Noord Holland, Giethoorn and Flevoland; and the Keukenhof Gardens.

Cost: $2,636 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip flight to Amsterdam, seven-night cruise, all meals aboard the ship, one lunch and one dinner in a local restaurant and guided shore excursions.

Contact: Caren Erickson at Unique Vacations; telephone (800) 713-2207 or (909) 682-6101.

Italy: Art

Judith Corona, artist and instructor at Otis College of Art and Design and UCLA Extension, will lead a 14-day art study tour of Italy beginning June 25. This tour is open to all but will be especially interesting to artists, designers and architects.

The tour covers some of Italy’s important historic sites and museums and will focus on Roman, medieval and Renaissance art. Included are overnight stays in Rome to visit the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and the Borghese Gallery.

The tour continues on to Pompeii and Sorrento. In Florence, the group will examine the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael to study the techniques and iconography of the masters. Guided tours of the Uffizi, the Palazzo Davanzati, Santa Croce, the Accademia and the Duomo are planned. There will be an overnight stay in the medieval town of Siena and a tour of Padua and Venice.

Cost: $3,600 per person, double occupancy, including UCLA course fee, hotels, daily breakfast, several lunches and dinners, museum entrances and transportation while on tour. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Art Adventures International, 18139 Coastline Drive, Suite 2, Malibu, CA 90265; tel. (310) 230-9299.

France: Jewish History

A study tour escorted by Cal State Los Angeles professors will take participants to places of Jewish struggle for survival in France from 1940 to 1945. The tour is planned for June 18 to 29.

From Paris and Besancon to Lyons and Vichy, participants will visit sites of Jewish resistance and struggle, as well as such towns as Izieu and Le Chambon, where townspeople heroically hid and protected hundreds of Jews. Participants will also meet with survivors. Time is planned for visits to museums and historic sites.

Cost: $3,022 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, private motor coach in France, daily breakfast, all museum entrance fees, gratuities and one dinner. College credit is available for $375.

Contact: Carl Selkin, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, tel. (323) 343-4001. For travel information, contact Suzanne Allswang at Travel Store; tel. (310) 893-9309.

Britain: Theater

“Then and Now” is a two-week study tour of England’s theater heritage sponsored by Saddleback College from June 8 to 22. Traveling to the major provincial locations of early 20th century repertory and touring theatrical companies in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool as well as Stratford-upon-Avon, participants will attend presentations on the plays, performers, producers and playwrights.

Led by William G. Thomas, program director, the tour ends with five days of theater attendance and backstage and theater museum visits in London’s West End.

Cost: $2,525 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from L.A., hotel accommodations, admissions, some meals, city tours and a London tube/bus pass.

Contact: Saddleback College; tel. (949) 582-4347.

Japan: Mountains

Japan’s alpine mountains are the focus of an 11-night journey from May 6 to 18. The group will explore the inspiration for some of Japan’s art and literature. The tour begins with a full day of art, architecture and dining in Tokyo, then a visit to the coastal town of Kamakura with its historic temples, one of which houses one of the nation’s largest Buddhas.

Guests will travel northwest via train to Kamikochi and into the Japanese Alps and Chubu Sangaku National Park.

The group will board a train for Matsumoto for an afternoon visit to Matsumoto Castle, then dinner and a stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Another train ride takes the group to Tsumago in the Kiso River Valley, where there is a soothing bath in a natural hot spring. The tour ends with a train ride to Nagoya and then a city tour of Kyoto.

Cost: $4,025 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, most meals and entrance fees.

Contact: Esprit Travel (Rosie Mazzola), 2101 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 101, Santa Monica, CA 90403; tel. (310) 829-6060 or (800) 377-7481, Internet https://www.esprittravel.com.

Belize: Adventure

Island Expeditions, an adventure travel company, has a full schedule of activities planned in Belize. The nine-day “Ultimate Adventure” trip, which leaves frequently through April, includes sea kayaking, snorkeling, kayak sailing, scuba diving, windsurfing, fishing, hiking, Mayan ruins, caving, jungle travel and white-water paddling.

Guests stay in a luxury camp at Glover’s Atoll Marine Reserve.

Participants fly over the Maya Mountains into seldom-traveled, wild southern Belize. They descend deep into the lush jungle, enter the Hokeb Ha cave system, climb 120 feet into the rain forest canopy and explore ancient Mayan ruins. Travelers paddle for four days by inflatable kayak through canyons, flat water and rapids of the Upper Moho River.

This is an active holiday. Participants need to be in good physical condition and have a spirit of adventure, but no previous experience is required.

Cost: $1,899 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, meals, guides, transfers and charter flights within Belize. Air fare to Belize is extra.

Contact: Island Expeditions; tel. (800) 667-1630, https://www.islandexpeditions.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.