Up, Up and Away at an Annual Albuquerque Fest

If you’re a thrill seeker, you can soar aloft at dawn with hundreds of balloonists from around the world during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta from Oct. 5 to 13. If you’re happier with solid ground under your feet, you can watch the colorful spectacle from the safety of Balloon Fiesta Park.

The options come with a New Mexico tour planned from Oct. 5 to 11, during the annual festival, which draws more than 1,000 balloons and nearly a million spectators.

From a small gathering of 13 balloons in 1972, the festival has grown to become the largest ballooning event in the world. The schedule includes early-morning mass ascensions of balloons--with 500 or more usually taking part--and daily flying events.

The local tour, organized by a Del Mar agency, spends three days at the festival before moving on to Santa Fe. Excursions to the Taos and Acoma pueblos, Kit Carson’s home in Taos and Santa Fe, the capital, are included.

Cost: $1,500 per person, double occupancy, including transportation within New Mexico, accommodations, two meals daily, guides, entertainment, entrance fees to Balloon Fiesta Park, pueblos and museums. Transportation from Los Angeles to Albuquerque is not included. Balloon flights are additional.

Contact: Aventura Artistica; (800) 808-7352, www.newmexico tours.com.

Myanmar: Pagodas

A Huntington Beach travel photographer will guide a 21-day tour to some of the most exotic locales and richest archeological sites in Cambodia and Myanmar, formerly called Burma.

Among the highlights of the trip, which will depart Jan. 10, will be the temple ruins at Angkor, Cambodia, and extensive touring in Myanmar, including the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (Rangoon), the floating market at Inle Lake, historic Mandalay and the plains of Bagan (Pagan), a region known for its many temples and pagodas.

The group will attend the full moon festival at the temple Ananda, which usually attracts hundreds of Buddhist monks.

Leading the tour will be travel and wildlife photographer Michele Burgess, whose credits include Travel & Leisure, Outside, National Geographic Traveler and Travel Holiday magazines. This will be her third trip to the region.

Cost: $3,985, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, many meals and extensive sightseeing.

Contact: In Focus with Michele Burgess; (714) 536-6104, www.infocustravel.com.

Germany: Shopping

Shop for handcrafted holiday gifts and ornaments at Christmas markets along the Rhine during a seven-night German cruise that will glide by hills and castles as it takes passengers from Cologne to Nuremberg.

The tour, organized by Unique Vacations of Riverside, will depart Los Angeles on Nov. 29. The cruise will be aboard the 360-foot River Princess, one of Europe’s newest river cruise ships.

The ship will visit Christmas markets in Cologne, Rudesheim, Heidelberg, Rothenburg, Wurzburg and Nuremberg.

Cost: $2,377 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX to Cologne, outside cabin aboard the ship, seven guided shore excursions, visits to six Christmas markets, meals, transfers and port tax.

Contact: Caren Erickson, Unique Vacations; (800) 713-2207, www.uniquevacationsbycaren.net.

North America: Rail, Sail

A 22-day tour will focus on re-creating the golden age of travel, combining a first-class rail trip across Canada with a two-week Panama Canal cruise aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2.

The trip begins Dec. 28 in Vancouver, British Columbia, where passengers will board the vista-domed streamliner Canadian for a journey through the Rockies, ending in Toronto. From there they will transfer to the Maple Leaf train for New York City, where they will spend two nights before boarding the QE2.

The cruise segment of the trip includes stops at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Cartagena, Colombia; an overnight stay in Panama; and a stop in Acapulco. The cruise ends in Los Angeles.

Hotel accommodations along the route include one night at the Hotel Vancouver, two nights at the Royal York in Toronto and two nights at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Cost: From $3,695 to $14,995 per person, double occupancy, including rail and ship segments, hotels and meals aboard the train and ship. Other included excursions are a boat cruise on Panama’s Gatun Lake and a trip across the Isthmus of Panama aboard the newly revived Panama Railroad. Transportation to Vancouver is not included.

Contact: Uncommon Journeys; (800) 323-5893, www.uncommon journeys.com.

Montana: By Steam

If you enjoy vintage rail travel, a fall tour of Montana’s Big Sky country aboard a steam train might appeal to you.

The four-day tour, sponsored by Montana Rockies Rail Tours, crosses the Rockies and the Continental Divide and travels to the headwaters of the Missouri River. The eastbound trip begins Oct. 11 in Spokane, Wash., and ends in Bozeman, Mont. The westbound trip departs Bozeman on Oct. 17 for Spokane.

The trips mark the first time in nearly 50 years that a steam-powered train has traveled through the region, tracing the path of the original Northern Pacific Railroad.

Railroad cars have been fully restored and date from the golden era of railroading in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Tour participants will spend the night in cities along the route: Missoula, Bozeman and Billings, Mont. Guests are invited to take walking tours at the stops.

Cost: From $899 per person, double occupancy, for coach-class seats. Upgraded classes are available. Transportation, accommodations, breakfasts, lunches, transfers and narration are included. Transportation from Los Angeles to Spokane or Billings is not included.

Contact: Montana Rockies Rail Tours; (800) 519-7245, www.montanarailtours.com.

Italy: Housemates

Participants will stay in a medieval townhouse in the heart of Italy on an upcoming tour to Todi, an Umbrian hill town popular with foreign expatriates and Rome’s media and arts celebrities.

The package revolves around four to eight participants sharing the townhouse to keep prices down. Chores and driving are also shared.

Available dates are Sept. 7 to 18, Sept. 20 to Oct. 1 and Oct. 5 to 16.

Cost: From $1,490 per person depending on the number of participants. Included are accommodations, ground transportation, seven dinners, all breakfasts and excursions. Air fare from Los Angeles to Italy is not included.

Contact: Creative Travel; (310) 473-8581.

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