TOURS & CRUISES
NOVA SCOTIA Bike and hike tour
Looking to get out of the roar of traffic? Nova Scotia offers diverse and appealing cycling routes that lead through fishing villages, vineyards and verdant farmland. Add in hikes across marshlands and Canadian beaches and you have a sevenday September getaway full of fresh air and harvest-season sights. Ciclismo Classico’s tour also includes straight-from-the-boat seafood, including scallops and lobster. Day 2 of the seven-day package stops in Lunenburg, which offers golf, hiking, kayaking and an optional cruise. On Day 4, package participants will stop in an Acadia college town. The cycling averages about 29 miles a day on gently rolling hills. Dates: Sept. 19-25 Price: $2,795 a person, with a $550 single supplement. Price includes accommodations, breakfasts, dinners, use of road or hybrid bicycle, guides, van transfer to and from Halifax airport. International airfare not included.
Info: Ciclismo Classico, (800) 866-7314, www.lat.ms/novascotia biketour — Chris Erskine
ITALY Florence for women
Susan Van Allen, author of “100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should See,” is hosting a women-only tour of Florence this fall. Highlights include guided tours of the Santa Maria Novella Basilica, Uffizi Gallery and the Vasari Corridor, cooking and ceramics painting classes, and relaxing in the thermal waters of the Grotta Giusti Spa in the Tuscan countryside. Includes $20 donation to the Advancing Women Artists Foundation of Florence. Group size limited to 14. Dates: Oct. 15-Oct. 23 Price: $3,990 a person, double occupancy; $4,490 a person, single supplement. Includes seven nights at the Plaza Hotel Lucchesi in Florence; some meals, including daily breakfast buffet; domestic transportation, tours and activities and gratuities. International airfare not included.
Info: Perillo Tours, (855) 784-7687, www.lat.ms/florenceforwomen — Anne Harnagel
ANTARCTICA Voyage to another world
Take a voyage to another world with a visit to Antarctica, the cold white continent that has become a popular bucket-list destination for global travelers. Lindblad Expeditions has added two 14-day tours this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first tourist voyage to Antarctica led by Lars-Eric Lindblad, father of Lindblad Expeditions founder, Sven. The November cruises will be aboard the 102-guest National Geographic Orion and will include kayaking among icebergs, Zodiac cruises to see penguins, whales and leopard seals, plus hikes with a team that includes an expedition leader, eight naturalists, a National Geographic photographer, a Lindblad-National Geographic certified photo instructor and an undersea specialist. Dates: Departures Nov. 6 and 16. Price: From $13,360 a person, double occupancy. If booked by Sept. 30, includes international economy round-trip airfare between Miami and Santiago, Chile, and charter airfare round-trip between Santiago and Ushuaia, Argentina. Also included are ship and hotel accommodations; meals aboard ship and most meals ashore; shore excursions and sightseeing; group flight transfers; use of kayaks and Zodiac excursions; taxes, port charges and a commemorative expedition parka.
Info: Lindblad Expeditions, (800) 397-3348, www.expeditions.com — Rosemary McClure
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL Small-ship cruise
Variety Cruises next year is launching an eight-day Glories of Spain & Portugal cruise aboard the 25-cabin Panorama II. The cruise will take passengers from Malaga, Spain, to Lisbon, with optional excursions to Granada, Ronda, the British colony of Gibraltar, Seville and Jerez de la Frontera, famous for its wines, horse breeding and flamenco music. Along the way, travelers will be able to experience the region's rich Spanish, Moorish and Portuguese cultural heritage. Reverse itinerary available.
Dates: Sailing on Saturdays from May 13 to Oct. 21.
Prices: From $2,290 per person, double occupancy. Includes buffet breakfast and two meals daily, fishing and snorkeling equipment and the services of an Englishspeaking cruise escort. International airfare not included.
Info: Variety Cruises, (800) 8332111, www.lat.ms/spaincruise — Brian E. Clark