Restaurants and Retail Await in New York City

The Tasting Spoon of Los Angeles and Pleasanton, Calif., will lead a culinary and shopping tour to New York City from Nov. 6 to 10. Participants will spend five days and four nights exploring some of New York’s sights and eating at restaurants in multiethnic neighborhoods. They will also tour museums, markets and small shops and see the hit Broadway show “The Producers” from orchestra seats.

Cost: $1,300 per person, double occupancy, including daily continental breakfast, two dinners, tours, Broadway show and airport transfers. Air fare is additional.

Contact: the Tasting Spoon; (310) 306-8851, www.tasting spoon.com.

Italy: Art and Music

Endless Beginnings Tours has planned a trip that will visit some of the cities and towns of Italy’s Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna provinces. The trip, from Oct. 5 to 19, will be led by art historian Victoria Goyet. Cities on the itinerary include Parma, Mantua, Verona, Ferrara and Bologna. Besides visiting museums, participants will tour the home of composer Giuseppe Verdi, watch violin makers in Cremona and taste wines at vineyards.

Cost: $5,275 per person, double occupancy, including hotel accommodations, two meals daily, minivan transportation and guides. Air fare is extra.

Call: Endless Beginnings Tours; (800) 822-7855.

Africa: Botswana Safari

The Santa Ana Zoo is offering a 12-day safari to Botswana, departing Nov. 15. Participants will journey to the Okavango Delta, an oasis in the Kalahari Desert, Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls. Guests will glide on the delta in a dugout canoe and search the savanna in Land Rovers for wild dogs, leopards, cheetahs, buffalo and elephants on day and night game runs. Accommodations will be in luxury tented camps in Botswana and at the Sun International resort in Zambia. The trip is limited to 16.

Cost: $5,895 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX, ground transportation, accommodations, most meals and a donation to the Santa Ana Zoo.

Contact: Ron Glazier, Santa Ana Zoo; (714) 647-6598.

Southern Italy: Youth

Contiki’s 13-day tours to Sicily and southern Italy will depart July 1 and 15. The tours, geared for travelers between 18 and 35, will visit the Amalfi Coast and the island of Capri; Mt. Etna, a volcano; Palermo, capital of Sicily; the chic resort of Taormina; and Marsala, renowned for its sweet wine. The itinerary features a guided walking tour of Rome, a boat ride off the Amalfi Coast, a visit to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, wine tasting and a tour of Naples.

Cost: from $917 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, most meals, guided sightseeing, land transportation in an air-conditioned motor coach and guides. Air fare is extra.

Contact: (888) CONTIKI (266-8484), www.contiki.com.

Finland: Warmer Months

A nine-day excursion to Finland is available throughout the summer from Nordique Tours/Norvista of Los Angeles. The trip will focus on the countryside and smaller cities and towns. The first stop will be Porvoo, which provides a look back to 19th century Finland (when it was part of Russia) through a visit to the Valamo Monastery. A visit to a farmhouse near Joensuu will show participants the culture of the Karelians, a group of ethnic Finns.

At Vuonislahti there will be a stop at the studio of Eva Ryynanen, who sculpts in wood. Near the Russian border, at Ruunaa, participants can ride the rapids in a wood riverboat.

The tour will head north to the fringes of the Arctic, stopping at a coffee cup museum and meeting with Santa Claus at Rovaniemi, the regional capital.

There are several departures through Aug. 15.

Cost: $2,199 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York, six nights in hotels, many meals and guides. Air fare to New York is extra.

Contact: Nordique Tours/Norvista; (310) 645-7527, www.nordiquetours.com.

Scotland: Historic Spots

Get to know Scotland up close on a trip with Scotland scholar Fran Park and his wife, Sue, of Sun City, Ariz. They will lead a tour from Aug. 14 to 27 in and around Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oban and Pitlochry.

Tourgoers will attend the annual Edinburgh festival and visit St. Andrews, the Scottish Lowlands, Abbotsford House and Melrose Abbey, Blair Castle, the Glenfiddich Distillery, the Isles of Mull and Iona, and Loch Lomond.

Cost: $3,654 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, transfers, accommodations, full breakfast and dinner daily, admissions and taxes.

Call: Hager Travel Group; (800) 227-7606.

England: Beatles Sites

Trafalgar Tours’ “In the Footsteps of the Beatles” will take Fab Four fans to the sites that provided the inspiration for some of the Beatles’ lyrics. Departures are from London on Aug. 24 and Sept. 14.

The first four nights will be spent in London and the last three nights in Liverpool, the Beatles’ hometown. Sightseeing in London includes Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. Another day will be dedicated to exploring the Beatles’ heritage in London, visiting the EMI Studios on Abbey Road, Indica Gallery (where John Lennon met Yoko Ono at a showing of her art) and the Bag o’ Nails, the club where Paul McCartney met Linda Eastman in 1967. The last stop is the British Museum, with a special Beatles exhibit that includes manuscripts and handwritten lyrics.

On the way to Liverpool the next day, passengers will visit the scenic town of Stratford-on-Avon. In Liverpool the group will visit Penny Lane, Strawberry Field (a Salvation Army children’s home with a vast garden), the graveyard with the tomb of Eleanor Rigby and the Cavern (a club where the Beatles performed). On the drive back to London, travelers will visit Chester, a medieval town.

Cost: $925 per person, double occupancy, including breakfast daily, round-trip airport transfers in London, four dinners, services of a tour director, all service charges and taxes. Air fare is extra.

Contact: a travel agent or Trafalgar Tours; (800) 648-1638, www.trafalgar.com.

Kauai: Holistic Retreat

Travelers interested in holistic health can learn ancient Hawaiian health practices on the island of Kauai. The holistic retreat, from Sept. 20 to 27, includes lomi lomi massage, huna mind-body healing, yoga, meditation, and fitness and health promotion classes. Activities include guided snorkeling in coral caves, kayaking to hidden waterfalls and hiking the Na Pali Coast.

Cost: $1,750 per person, double occupancy, including oceanfront accommodations on Hanalei Bay, all meals cooked by a health food chef, classes and excursions.

Contact: Ann Doherty, retreat coordinator; (510) 384-4688, www.hawaiihealthgetaway.com.

Sonoma: Food and Wine

Five-night epicurean tours of Sonoma County will be led by a different chef each day.

The excursion, for up to 14 participants, is based at the Vineyard Creek Hotel in Santa Rosa. The first dinner will be prepared by Michelle Anna Jordan at Mixx Restaurant. Next is a cooking lesson with John Ash of Ramekins Cooking School and tasting wine blends at St. Francis Winery. Mary Evely will lead a class at Hartford Court Winery, and there will be a Pacific Coast walk with a naturalist. The last dinner will be at the Chateau Souverain winery. Departures are June 25, July 16, Aug. 13 and Sept. 17.

Cost: $2,195 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, 11 meals, six classes and all entry fees. Transportation to Sonoma is extra.

Contact: Food & Wine Trails; (800) 367-5348.

Caribbean: Yoga Cruise

Yoga Journal magazine is hosting a seven-night yoga cruise in the Caribbean departing Feb. 2 from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and sailing to Key West, Fla.; Cozumel, Mexico; Jamaica and Grand Cayman.

Yoga classes, seminars and panel discussions are planned aboard the CostaAtlantica with well-known yoga masters.

Cost: from $1,249 per person, double occupancy, including classes on the ship and all meals. Air fare to Florida is extra.

Contact: Liberty Travel; (888) 367-2842, www.yogacruise.com, www.yogajournal.com.

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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.