Saving with travel packages

Tours and packages often offer some of the best deals, and if you’re traveling to an unfamiliar country, knowledgeable guides generally will help you get more out of your travels and keep you out of harm’s way. Here is a sampling of packages:

ALBANIA

Tour: Expedia.com, (800) 551-2534, www.expedia.com.

What’s included: Flight from LAX and hotel for six nights at the Tirana International Hotel in the capital.

Price: $2,441 per person, double occupancy, for midweek departures in May.

BOLIVIA

Tour: “Bolivia Discovery,” G.A.P. Adventures, (800) 708-7761, www.gapadventures.com.

What’s included: An 11-day trip, usually in groups of 10, through La Paz, Sucre, Potosí, silver mines. Includes a Jeep excursion through the Uyuni Salt Flats. Available January to August.

Price: $595 per person, double occupancy, plus $200 local fee paid to guide. Excludes airfare and some meals and activities.

CAMBODIA

Tour: “Cycle Cambodia,” Intrepid Travel, (800) 970-7299, www.intrepidtravel.com.

What’s included: A nine-day cycling trip through rural Cambodia. Sights include Sihanoukville, Angkor Wat’s temples and colonial Phnom Penh. Includes one breakfast.

Price: $925 per person, double occupancy, plus local payment of $100. Departures in February. Excludes airfare and cycling equipment ($70).

MOROCCO

Tour: “A Mountain Biker’s Dream,” BikeHike Adventures, (888) 805-0061, www.bikehike.com.

What’s included: A 10-day biking adventure through the Atlas mountain ranges of the country’s deep south. Includes camel ride, lodgings and two nights of camping. Some meals included.

Price: $2,299 per person for groups of four and larger; excludes airfare to Marrakech.

NICARAGUA

Tour: “Nicaragua: Volcanoes, Lakes & Rainforest,” Mountain Travel Sobek, (888) 687-6235, www.mtsobek.com.

What’s included: Nine-day trip starts in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, and includes three days of hiking and three days of kayaking, meals, tours and equipment.

Price: $2,745 per person, double occupancy, based on six people in the group; airfare to Managua not included. Departures available for January, February and October through December.

VIETNAM

Tour: “Essential Vietnam,” Adventure Center, (800) 228-8747, www.adventurecenter.com.

What’s included: Ten-day tour includes visits to the Mekong Delta in the south and Hanoi in the north. Some meals included.

Price: $1,180 per person, double occupancy, plus $150 local fee; airfare from Los Angeles not included.