Royalty and Reality in Thailand and Cambodia

Thailand and Cambodia are combined on a tour offered by Asia specialists Innov-Asian Travel. The 13-day program begins with three nights in Bangkok, with visits to a floating market, the Vimanmek Teak Palace and the Grand Palace. The program continues north to Chiang Mai, where stops are made at Borsang, the handicraft capital of Thailand, and Wat Phra That at the peak of Doi Suthep. The group will spend a night in a hill-tribe village in northern Thailand and take a boat ride on the Mekong River, with views to Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Laos.

The program continues by air to central Cambodia to visit the jungle temples of Angkor Wat.

The tour ends with three nights on Phuket Island at the Dusit Laguna Resort.

Cost: $2,595 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from Los Angeles, regional air fares, 12 nights’ lodging, private sightseeing, all breakfasts, two lunches, one dinner, entrance fees and hotel taxes. Participants can begin the tour any day, subject to availability.

Contact: InnovAsian Travel, 40 Edgewood Road, Hartsdale, NY 10530; telephone (800) 553-4665, Internet https://www.InnovAsian.com.

Provence: Gardening

Mother Nature speaks French in a three-day garden workshop offered by Escapades Tours.

Guests will stay at La Bastide des Saveurs, an 18th century Provencal house in La Cadiere-d’Azur. Under the guidance of chef Rene Berard, they will learn how to create and maintain a vegetable and herb garden and experiment with Mediterranean herbs in Provencal cuisine. There will be garden visits, hands-on gardening sessions and cooking classes.

This three-day workshop is combined with three nights in Paris at the Hotel La Tour Notre Dame, with daily breakfast.

Cost: $970 per person, double occupancy, through October and again starting in April. Four-day car rental, some meals and an airport transfer are also included.

Contact: Escapades at (800) 725-7557, https://www.webscapades.com.

Morocco and the Sahara

“The Magic of Morocco” is a 10-day escorted tour that begins in Marrakech and its Djemaa el Fana square, a lively spot full of snake charmers, dancers, acrobats and merchants. The trip continues over the Atlas Mountains to the spectacular Todra Gorge. On the edge of the Sahara, group members will spend a night in a tented oasis camp. The next day they will visit a nomad family.

After exploring the imperial city of Meknes, the trip continues to the Roman ruins of Volubilis. Fes is the final stop. Tours depart Saturdays from Sept. 29 through April 13.

Cost: from $2,269 per person, including round-trip air fare from New York, all transfers and luggage handling, lodging, guides, daily breakfast and some dinners.

Contact: General Tours; tel. (800) 221-2216, https://www.generaltours.com.

Europe: Religion

Image Tours’ “Cradle of Catholicism,” a 16-day trip that focuses on the history of the Catholic Church in Europe, begins Oct. 7. Participants will travel through Italy and France, visiting churches and cathedrals and exploring ancient cities.

Rome is the first stop, with a papal audience and visits to St. Peter’s, the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. Roman history is explored in tours of the Trajan and Roman forums, the Arch of Constantine, the Appian Way and the Colosseum. Then the tour winds through Assisi, Siena, Florence, Genoa, Monaco, Nice, Avignon, Lourdes, Biarritz, Bordeaux and Chambord, ending in Paris.

Cost: from $2,780 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, land transport in Europe, hotels, driver/tour manager, 26 meals, airport transfers, tips, taxes and service charges.

Contact: Image Tours; tel. (800) 968-9161, https://www.imagetours.com.

London: New Year’s

Top Flight Travel is hosting a New Year’s 2002 tour to London with radio personality John Regan from San Diego’s KPOP-FM. The group will leave Dec. 26 and will stay at the deluxe Mountbatten Hotel for six nights.

Included is a pre-theater dinner, a New Year’s Eve gala with dinner and champagne, the best seats to three shows, London sightseeing, a private tour of the Crown Jewels, a visit to the Cotswolds, an atmospheric “ghost” walk and a behind-the-scenes theater tour.

Cost: $2,758 per person, double, including round-trip air fare, hotel, some meals and transfers.

Contact: Top Flight Travel, 2707 Congress St., San Diego, CA 92110; tel. (800) 274-4359 or (619) 299-3005, https://www.etopflight.com.

Down Under: On Foot

Stand on your own two feet on a variety of walking tours in Australia and New Zealand with Active Journeys Inc. Tours include lodgings, all meals, luggage transfers and van support. Air fare is extra.

Options include New Zealand’s Milford Track on a five-day tour offered daily from November to April. Rated moderate to intermediate, it begins and ends in Te Anau and can be extended to a 10-day itinerary that ends in Queenstown. Cost: $775 per person.

Also in New Zealand is the Grand Traverse escorted walking tour of the Routeburne Track, beginning and ending in Queenstown. This eight-day, moderate to intermediate tour is available Mondays and Fridays from October to April. Cost: $650 per person.

In Australia, guests can trek the Blue Mountains in seven days for $825. The tour begins and ends in Mount Victoria and is rated moderate in difficulty.

Also offered is a seven-day Great Ocean Road self-guided tour, departing daily year-round, at $650.

Contact: Active Journeys; tel. (800) 597-5594 or (416) 236-5011, https://www.activejourneys.com.

Patagonia: Hiking

An 11-day hiking excursion described as an introduction to the spectacular national parks of Argentine Patagonia is available from Worldwide Adventures of Toronto. The company notes that there are long bus trips over unpaved roads, but the mountain scenery makes them worthwhile.

The group assembles in Calafate and drives to El Chalten in Los Glaciares National Park for two days of hiking among glaciers and rock spires. Then it’s back to Calafate, trekking on the Perito Moreno Glacier and bird-watching on Lago Argentino. Following that is a ride to Puerto Natales in Chile and a cruise on Ultima Esperanza fiord to Torres del Paine National Park for two days of walks among granite pinnacles and glacial lakes. The 10 nights of lodging are in hotels and hostels.

Cost: $2,290 per person, double, including ground transport, daily breakfast, four lunches and five dinners. There are 10 departures, beginning Nov. 25 and concluding Feb. 28. Air travel is extra.

Contact: Worldwide Adventures; tel. (800) 387-1483, https://www.1000adventures.com.

Japan: Cuisine

The author of “The Japanese Kitchen” will lead a tour to the source in the fall. Hiroko Shimbo’s expedition, Nov. 8 to 19, serves up goodies such as the vast food department of Tokyo’s Mitsukoshi department store; Tsukiji, the huge fish market; a 300-year-old sake brewery; a miso factory; a wasabi farm; the Nishiki-koji produce market in Kyoto; a rice vinegar factory; and lessons in cooking and noodle making.

Cost: $7,500 per person, double occupancy, including 11 nights in hotels, classes and demonstrations, daily breakfast and lunch, and all but two dinners. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Variety Tours; tel. (888) 650-4227.

Bhutan: Festival

Bhutan is the focus of an Oct. 26-to-Nov. 6 tour by Bhutan Travel of New York. Participants will brush up against the Himalayas, drive down into balmy valleys, view cranes migrating from Tibet, stop at museums and Buddhist temples, visit markets, dine at local restaurants, sleep in a lodge at a monastery and attend the annual Tshechu festival at Jambe. The scenery and places are exotic: Punakha, Drukgyel Dzong and Thimphu.

Cost: $2,790 per person, double occupancy, with 11 nights’ accommodations and all meals. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Bhutan Travel; tel. (800) 950-9908, https://www.bhutantravel.com.