THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502170108
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TRAVEL-WISE
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
ATTENTION, day trippers and weekenders: Two updated regional guides are hot off the presses.
Civil War buffs and history lovers can get a free comprehensive guide of Virginia's battle sites, along with a 1995 Virginia Is For Lovers travel guide and a state highway map, by calling (800) 321-1865. April is the 130th anniversary of the retreat of Robert E. Lee and his battered Confederate army from Petersburg to Appomattox. A 20-stop tour is featured in the guide.
Sun and surf lovers will want to get the new copy of the Outer Banks of North Carolina vacation guide. It includes a calendar of events, listing of accommodations and restaurants, ferry schedules, etc. Also, a new 32-page brochure, ``Countdown to Summer,'' will be available March 1. Info: (800) 446-6262. YOUTHFUL APPEAL
Aiming at travelers ages 18 to 35, Contiki Holidays offers spring break packages to London, tours to Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Alaska, California and Hawaii as well as discount Eurail passes. For example, the five-day spring London package, including air travel from New York, hotel accommodations, transfers, breakfasts, tours and theater ticket, is priced from $588, per person, double; singles can be matched with same-sex roommates and there's a 15 percent discount on the land portion of the trip for groups of three. A new, two-week Superior tour (with lodging in hotels; Budget tours combine hotel and hostel-type stays) to Portugal and Spain, available from May 30 to Sept. 3, begins and ends in Madrid and visits Cordoba, Granada, Torremolinos, Seville, Lisbon, Portugal and the Rock of Gibraltar. Prices start at $1,550 per person with airfare from New York. Info: (800) CONTIKI . . MATURE READERS ONLY
The summer 1995 Interhostel catalog, featuring international study/travel trips for adults 50 and older, includes a section on Familyhostel educational trips for children and adults. Info or a free copy, call (800) 733-9753. DO YOU NEED IT?
Looking for traveler's accessories . . . all those things you think you need to travel like a civilized person? OK, start at a good luggage shop. Or ask a travel agent. Or order some catalogs. Here are some I've seen and used:
Rand McNally Map and Travel stores, (800) 234-0679; Magellan's, (800) 962-4943; Sharper Image, (800) 344-4444; Brookstone, (800) 351-7222; Hold Everything stores, (800) 421-2285; TravelSmith, (800) 950-1600.
Remember, though: All that other beyond-essential stuff adds pounds to a suitcase. And at some point you will have to carry it. A BIG EASY SPRING
Creole and Cajun cuisine and jazz and gospel music serve as accompaniment to a nine-day cultural history tour called Springtime in New Orleans and Louisiana's Plantation Country. Beginning March 22, the tour, sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, visits historic homes, old plantations and gardens from New Orleans to Baton Rouge to New Iberia. Louisiana specialties such as bread pudding with whiskey sauce, chicken and sausage gumbo, and crawfish etouffee are menu highlights. Cost: $2,497, double, including lodging, land transportation and most meals; air fare not included: Info: Learned Journeys (800) 682-6191. THE SOUNDS OF MUSIC
This is mostly for opera and/or classical music lovers.
Follow the life of Mozart and Bach on a 17-day tour that starts June 23 in Vienna, Austria. Mozart is the focus in Vienna, Salzburg and Prague (Czech Republic). In Germany, guests see where Bach was born (Eisenach), where he was imprisoned (Weimar), where he visited his son and the King of Prussia (Potsdam) and where he spent the last 27 years of his life (Leipzig).
Participants attend concerts in each city, get a private demonstration on the only existing authentic Mozart pianoforte, played in the room where Mozart was born, listen to the organ Bach played at St. Thomas church in Leipzig, have lunch in the Arnstadt Inn where the Bach family had a reunion every year and visit cultural and historic sites in Berlin.
Cost: $3,590 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals, motor-coach transportation, guides and concert tickets. Not included: international air fare. Info: Now Voyager International Tours, Deer Lane, Pawlet, Vt. 05761; (800) 399-3656.
Feast your ears on six operas and three concerts on a musical tour of Munich, Dresden and Berlin, Salzburg, Vienna and Prague. The tour leaves May 29 for 17 days and is escorted by Mario Ramos, general manager of the Hawaii Opera Theatre.
Operas by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Puccini and Mozart are scheduled, as are concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic and Dresden and Prague Symphony orchestras. The group travels at a leisurely pace by motor coach from city to city with time to sightsee and shop.
Cost: $3,950 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals, tickets, entrance fees and guides. Not included: air fare to Zurich and return from Berlin. Info: World Connection Tours, 1051 Keolu Drive, No. 242, Kailua, Hawaii 96734; (800) 942-4462. PROBABLY PICTURES, TOO
For a full list of where to see and mingle with naked Californians, the book to order is ``California's Nude Beaches.'' All Golden State ``clothing optional'' beaches are located. It's $15.95 from Bold Type Inc., Box 1984, Berkeley, Calif. 94701. This is the expanded fourth edition showing maps and directions to additional beaches of Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, plus selected resorts and hot springs where nudity is practiced. LIKE THE MOVIES
If Meryl Streep's run through the rapids in ``The River Wild'' has the same effect on whitewater rafting that ``A River Runs Through It'' had on fly fishing, outfitters are in for a big spring and summer. Looks like Mother Nature will cooperate, too. Mountain snowfall has been early and heavy.
There is a wide variety of whitewater experiences. It's best to book no later than April.
Here are two in Idaho:
Idaho Afloat runs three- to six-day expeditions on the Snake River through Hell's Canyon (deepest in North America) and on the Lower Salmon River through the Salmon River Gorge for beginners to experts, families to adventurers, from mid-May to September. The trips cost about $200 a day per person, including meals and equipment. Not included: transportation to Idaho. Info: (800) 700-2414.
ROW also has six-day Hells Canyon rafting trips May through September that begin in Boise and end in Lewiston. Participants raft on the Snake River, where some of the biggest rapids (category III and IV) in the Pacific Northwest are found, drift by wildlife, swim, fish and explore well-preserved Native American rock art. The group camps along the river and a cook prepares all the meals. Cost: $1,080 per person, including all camping equipment, airport transfers, meals and guides. Shorter trips are also available. Not included: transportation to Idaho. Info: (800) 451-6034.
For a directory of whitewater outfitters, contact America Outdoors, Box 1348, Knoxville, Tenn. 37901; phone (615) 524-4814. HEY, TEACHER
The new edition of Travel Options detailing trips and bargains for elementary, secondary and university educators, is available free from The Council on International Educational Exchange, (212) 661-1414, Ext. 1108. HELLO, HOLY LAND
The Israel Ministry of Tourism has set up a toll-free number for inquiries on travel to or within Israel: (800) 596-1199. Faxed inquiries are also accepted at (212) 629-4368. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases, trade
journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the writer's
mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The
Virginian-Pilot/The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (804)
446-2904. by CNB