Trains, Planes and Boats in England and Scotland

The annual Edinburgh festival, a giant celebration of the arts with opera, street theater, concerts and the Military Tattoo (which is held within the Edinburgh Castle walls), is the highlight of a trip to England and Scotland July 24 to Aug. 5. Four nights are spent in Scotland’s capital to attend arts performances and tour the royal yacht, Britannia.

Participants will also visit London for four nights; attend the Farnborough Air Show; tour Stratford-on-Avon, where Shakespeare was born; take a steam engine ride on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway; and visit the Elvington Air Museum in York, which displays World War II aircraft.

Cost: $3,125 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles to London, airport transfers, first-class hotels, daily breakfasts, a lecture by a history professor, museum entrance fees and tickets to the Tattoo on opening night (front row seats).

Contact: Jerren Travel Services; telephone (714) 731-8020, Internet https://www.jerrentravel.com, e-mail Jerren travel@home.com.

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Brazil: Nature

Cultures and nature will be explored from northern Brazil to the Argentine border on a 16-day tour that departs from Los Angeles on Aug. 2. The tour will be led by tropical biologist Paul Abravaya, who worked for five years at a biological museum in Brazil.

Guests will arrive at the Amazon forest city of Manaus, where they will travel up the Rio Negro to the Ariau Tree Top Hotel. There they will spend three days visiting native villages, jungle trekking, fishing, caiman and pink dolphin spotting and taking canoe rides through the forest.

Upon returning to Manaus, guests will visit the city’s opera house and depart for Salvador, Bahia, best known for its Afro-Brazilian culture. The city of Salvador offers guests a mixture of fiery cuisine, voodoo sessions, beaches and Baroque churches. Guests will tour the city and enjoy free days to explore the tiny colonial alleyways full of folkloric crafts and regional foods. They will then depart for Rio de Janeiro, where they will stay at Copacabana Beach. A city tour includes a visit to Sugar Loaf Mountain.

From Rio, the tour departs for Iguacu Falls in southern Brazil. Nature trails will allow guests to get close to the falls and to explore the wildlife and beauty of the forest.

Cost: $2,950 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX to Brazil, hotel accommodations, air and land transportation, activities and 20 meals.

Contact: Tropical Eco-Tours, 1333 Calle Pimiento, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360; tel. (888) 900-1-ECO, Internet https://www.tropicalecotours.com.

Idaho: Salmon River

Biking the Great Nez Perce Indian Trail and rafting the Salmon River are combined on a nine-day trip to Idaho. The Nez Perce trail follows the 95-mile Magruder Corridor Road. The six-day bike trip begins on the Montana/Idaho border at Nez Perce Pass. For the next six days, the group bikes 13 to 30 miles a day. Elevations range from 4,100 feet at Magruder Crossing to 8,200 feet near Salmon Mountain.

Mountain bikes are provided, and a support vehicle carries supplies and offers backup when needed. Sightings of large mammals, such as moose, bighorn sheep and black bear, are not unusual. The last day is a downhill run to the Salmon River.

Guests will camp along the banks of the river before the rafting trip. The three-day Salmon trip is for both novice and veteran rafters on class I to III rapids. Also available are inflatable kayaks, fishing, visits to old homesteads, swimming, soaking in the hot springs and viewing Indian pictographs.

Cost: $1,500 per person, double occupancy, including camping equipment, meals and guides.

The trip begins and ends in Missoula, Mont. Transportation to Montana is extra. The program can also be done as two separate trips: a six-day bike-only trip or five- or six-day raft trips.

Contact: Wilderness River Outfitters and Trail Expeditions; tel. (800) 252-6581, Internet https://www.wildernessriver.com.

France: Barging

Cruise the Seine and Yonne rivers, through landscapes that inspired Monet, to the heart of Burgundy with cruise excursions to cha^teaux, vineyards and market towns. Guests will travel aboard a 51-passenger barge, with gourmet meals and regional wines. Departure dates for nine-day tours are Sept. 8 and Sept. 22.

Cost: $2,899 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, transfers, seven-day cruise, two nights with breakfast at a boutique hotel in Paris, and a sightseeing cruise on the Seine and the St. Martin Canal.

Contact: B&V; Associates; tel. (800) 217-4447, Internet https://www.bvwaterways.com.

Europe: Saddling Up

Cross Country International offers equestrian trips in Europe. One is the “Loire Valley Trail,” a seven-day excursion that begins and ends at Cosne-sur-Loire and passes through the Champagne Berrichonne plain, the Pays Fort hills and the Sologne and Berry woods. Overnights are at manor houses and cha^teaux. Departures are weekly, April through October. Cost: $1,695 per person, double occupancy.

The “Atlantic Ride” in Portugal offers riding along empty Atlantic beaches and coastal cliffs and canoeing on the Mira River. Guests are based at hotels in Zambujeira do Mar in the Alentejo region. Cost for seven days is $1,345. Trips operate weekly, September to June.

A third program, featuring riding instruction as well as touring March through December, is “Classical Dressage,” at the Herdade da Sanguinheira farm near Longomel, Portugal. Cost for seven days is $1,345.

All fees include six nights’ lodging, all meals, horse, tack and airport or railway station transfers. Not all days are spent on horseback. Air fare is extra for all trips.

Contact: Cross Country International, P.O. Box 1170, Millbrook, NY 12545; tel. (800) 828-8768 or (914) 677-6000, Internet https://www.equisearch.com/cci/cci_toc.html.

Europe: Cruise

Float to some of Europe’s historical highlights on a Rhine cruise. The tour runs Oct. 3 to 14 and starts in Amsterdam, where the group will tour the city for two days before boarding the Prussian Princess for seven nights.

The cruise stops in Cologne, Germany, so passengers can visit Cologne Cathedral, a masterpiece of early Gothic architecture. The next stops include Mainz, a 2,000-year-old city, and Strasbourg, France, for a day tour. The trip ends in Basel, Switzerland, with a two-night stay.

Cost: from $3,345 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all excursions, transfers, two nights in Basel with breakfast and a personal video of the trip.

Contact: Summerland Travel; tel. (805) 969-9014.

Old West: Four-Wheeling

The California Assn. of Four-Wheel Drive Clubs is offering its annual “Lassen-Applegate Emigrant Trail Ride” from July 29 to 31. Sport-utility-vehicle owners follow the same trail that was used during the Gold Rush, from 1849 to 1852.

The 250-mile route begins in Imlay, Nev., and ends in Surprise Valley, Calif. The emigrants left good descriptions of the trail, so drivers will be able to identify key points of history along the route. Original wagon-wheel tracks can be seen on the trail. The Lassen-Applegate ride operates under a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.

Cost: $250 per person, including all meals and a guidebook. Participants need to provide their own camping equipment, snacks and drinking water. All drivers will meet in Imlay. Proceeds from the tour help support the four-wheel drive association’s education foundation.

Contact: Ed Dunkley; tel. (916) 988-4690, Internet https://www.cal4wheel.com.

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