Mix with mortals -- and gods

GREECE

CRuise the blue Aegean Sea to the Greek Isles aboard a 145-foot, three-masted yacht, then tour classical Greece by bus.

The two-week tours, with departures from May through October, include a seven-day cruise with stops at Santorini, Mykonos, Paros, Naxos and Syros.

“The nice thing about this cruise is that you sail a few hours in the morning,” said Jim Warfel of Viking Yacht Cruises. Then the boat docks overnight. “You really get to see the islands.” The schooner holds 40 passengers.

The trip includes a three-day stay in Athens, home of the Pantheon and Acropolis.

There also will be a four-day bus tour emphasizing classical Greece: Corinth, site of the Temple of Apollo; Delphi, home to many archeological ruins; Mycenae, a city inhabited from about 4000 BC; Epidaurus, site of a 2,500-year-old amphitheater; Meteora, site of mountaintop monasteries; and Olympia, where the early Olympic Games were held. An optional tour is offered to the uninhabited island of Delos, an ancient religious site believed to have been the birthplace of Apollo.

Cost: $2,495 per person, double occupancy ($500 single surcharge), including shipboard cabin (with bath) and hotel accommodations, most meals, ground transportation, licensed guide and entrance fees. Port taxes are $65. Airfare from Los Angeles is not included.

Contact: Viking Yacht Cruises, Palm Springs; (800) 708-4546, www.Vikings.gr/bestofgreece.html.v

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MONTANA

Paddling into America’s past

RETRACE a part of the route of the Meriwether Lewis and William Clark expedition on a daylong dugout canoe ride on the Missouri River.

The July 9 trip travels 22 miles of river between historic Fort Benton, the tour launch site, and Loma.

The trip honors the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1803 to 1806).

The tour is led by historians from the Lewis and Clark Institute in Great Falls, Mont.

The group will stop for lunch at Grog Spring, allegedly the spot where the expedition ran out of grog, a concoction traditionally made with rum.

Cost: $75 per person, including outfitter and interpretive guide, river gear and lunch. Transportation from Los Angeles is not included.

Contact: Lewis and Clark Interpretive Assn., Great Falls, Mont.; (406) 452-5661, www.fs.fed.us/r1/lewisclark/lcic.

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GERMANY,

CZECH REPUBLIC

Travels with Wagner, Verdi

EnJOY Richard Wagner’s timeless medieval romance “Tristan und Isolde” on a two-week opera tour to Germany and the Czech Republic.

The tour, which begins Aug. 11, includes performances in Bayreuth, Germany, of Wagner’s operas “The Flying Dutchman” and “Lohengrin.” There also will be a tour of the Richard Wagner Festspielhaus, the theater he designed, and a visit to the composer’s home, now a museum.

In Prague, Czech Republic, the group will attend opening night of “La Traviata” at the Verdi Festival and hear the Mozart Requiem at St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town section of the city.

Cost: $6,700 per person, double occupancy ($1,295 single surcharge), including hotels, most meals, ground transportation, guides and airport transfers. Airfare from Los Angeles is not included.

Contact: International Curtain Call, Los Angeles; (310) 204-4934, www.iccoperatours.com

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RUSSIA

History along Volga’s banks

CrUISE the Volga River aboard the 25-passenger Viking Kirov.

The 15-day journey, which begins Aug. 11, travels from Moscow to St. Petersburg, visiting places such as the 11th century city of Yaroslavl and the rural village of Goritzy.

The tour includes visits to the Kremlin and a circus performance in Moscow, plus the Hermitage art museum in St. Petersburg.

Participants will dine with a Russian family, attend ballet and folk dance performances and take a hydrofoil to Peterhof, founded by Czar Peter the Great as a country estate.

Cost: $4,990 per person, double occupancy ($1,260 single surcharge), including airfare, five nights in hotels, eight nights aboard ship, meals, ground transportation and excursions.

Contact: East-West International Tours, Laguna Beach; (800) 359-6719, www.eastwest-tours.com.

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The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. Send information to Tours & Cruises, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 or write via e-mail to travel@latimes.com.