Highlights of Thailand for Less Than $1,000

If the palaces, temples and beaches of Thailand are on your list of destinations to see, you might want to check out a couple of low-cost fall trips being organized by a San Francisco travel agency.

Thailand, or Siam as it was called until 1939, is one of Asia’s most popular tourist destinations. The two seven-night packages, one at $999 per person and the other at $1,199 per person, explore the nation’s most commonly visited regions. Both are available from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.

The $999 tour includes four nights in Bangkok, known for its canals, cultural heritage and 400 glittering temples, and three nights in Phuket, a resort area visited most often for its beaches, shopping and night life. It includes an excursion to the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha in Bangkok.

The $1,199 itinerary visits Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and the Golden Triangle region, where Myanmar (formerly Burma), Laos and Thailand meet at a wide bend in the Mekong River. While in Chiang Rai, travelers will stay at the Dusit Island Resort, taking tours that include an elephant camp and elephant ride, a Mae Kok River boat trip and a visit to the hill tribes.

Included: round-trip flight on China Air from Los Angeles or San Francisco to Bangkok, seven nights in hotels, all transfers within Thailand, tours, breakfasts and service charges. Both packages require double occupancy.

Contact: Natrabu Indo-America Travel Inc.; (800) NATRABU (628-7228), www.natrabu-usa.com.

Antarctica: By Ship

Explore the Antarctic Peninsula--kayaking among towering icebergs, camping out on the ice, taking a dip into thermal waters at the bottom of the world--on nine-and 10-night winter expeditions.

The trips, planned for Dec. 20 and Feb. 26, are aboard the 110-passenger Peregrine Mariner. Both tours begin at Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, and sail through the South Shetland Islands to the Antarctic Peninsula. Shore excursions, aboard Zodiac rafts, will be made at several islands known for their history and wildlife.

Polar photographer David McGonigal will accompany both tours, with photo excursions planned to help hobbyists. McGonigal was the principal photographer for “Antarctica and the Arctic--the Complete Encyclopedia” (Firefly Press, 2001).

The itinerary varies according to weather, but the focus will be on areas with the greatest promise of wildlife colonies. Penguins, seals and whales are commonly seen.

Cost: from $4,690 per person, double occupancy, for the nine-night tour, including transportation from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula, meals and shore excursions. Air fare add-on from Los Angeles is about $1,500.

Contact: Adventure Center; (800) 227-8747, www.adventurecenter.com.

Costa Rica: Gutsy Women

A tour group called Gutsy Women Travel is organizing weeklong nature tours to Costa Rica that include hiking, biking, horseback riding and a visit to a spa.

The Oct. 13 and Nov. 10 tours visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Lake Arenal and Arenal National Park. A naturalist guide will accompany the group.

Gutsy Women Travel offers small-group packages to a variety of U.S. and international destinations. Accommodations are usually upscale and include spa visits.

Cost: $2,995 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX, accommodations, transfers within Costa Rica, 16 meals, activities and guide. Spa treatments are separate. Land-only price is $2,290. In support of ovarian and breast cancer awareness, Gutsy Women Travel is donating $100 to women’s health organizations for each tour booked through Oct. 31.

Contact: Gutsy Women Travel; (866) IMGUTSY (464-8879), www.gutsywomentravel.com.

Washington: Surf’s Up

Southern California isn’t the only place to learn how to hang 10. A surf camp on the rugged Olympic Peninsula coastline offers five-night packages for novices.

Lost Coast Adventures surf school boasts of a 100% success rate in getting students up on their boards and surfing. The course covers weather, ocean currents, etiquette, paddling technique, duck diving, wave positioning, timing and surf theory.

Women’s camps will be held Sept. 9 and Oct. 14. Men’s camps are planned for Sept. 16 and 23. Camps for mixed groups of adults are on Oct. 7 and 21.

Besides the Washington state surf camps, Lost Coast Adventures operates year-round camps in Mexico and Costa Rica, as well as multi-sport adventures.

Cost: $800 per camper, including meals, accommodations in cabins, instruction, equipment use and local transportation. Round-trip air fare from Los Angeles to Port Angeles, Wash., is not included.

Contact: Lost Coast Adventures; (360) 808-8123, www.lcasurf.com.

New England: Fall Foliage

There’s a new way to see New England’s fall color--by luxury railcar.

The Acadian Railway Co., which began tours of New England and eastern Canada in June, is launching special autumn foliage excursions beginning Sept. 24.

Tours depart Penn Station in New York City on a circular route that runs along Lake Champlain through Albany, N.Y., to Montreal. The Acadian then takes in Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before linking up with Amtrak for the return to New York by way of Boston. On most tours, passengers spend one night in Portland, Maine, and two nights in Montreal. A guided tour of Montreal is included.

The Acadian has 10 renovated streamline railcars dating to the 1940s and ‘50s. A dome dining car allows 360-degree views of the passing scenery, and there are parlor cars, coaches and observation areas that have been restored in classic style. All rail travel is during daylight hours.

Cost: Three-night tours are $1,499 per person, double occupancy, and are available through late October. Included are rail transportation, accommodations in Montreal and Portland and meals aboard the train. Air fare from Los Angeles is not included.

Contact: Acadian Railway Co.; (800) 659-7602, www.acadianrailway.com.

England: Onstage

Celebrate New Year’s Eve in London during a low-cost theater tour headed by a professor from El Camino College in Torrance.

Theatrical director Ron Scarlata, who has been leading holiday-season theater tours for 25 years, has put together a varied itinerary for an excursion from Dec. 26 to Jan. 2. Included are tickets to three London productions, including a West End musical; tours to Stratford or Bath and Stonehenge; and several shorter tours, including trips to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Theatre Royal, National Theatre and the Theatre Museum, Britain’s national museum of the performing arts.

Cost: $1,749, per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare on Virgin Atlantic, accommodations at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, daily continental breakfast, London transportation pass, London guide for three days and airport transfers.

Contact: Ron Scarlata; (310) 660-3704, e-mail rscarlat@elcamino.cc.ca.us.

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