Head to the Big Easy for the New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival on a seven-night Louisiana music tour that begins April 27.
Participants will spend four days in New Orleans, where they will have festival tickets for two days.
Among the performers scheduled for this year’s Jazz Fest are Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Fats Domino, tour leader and former concert producer Nancy Covey said.
The tour also will include three days in the Louisiana backcountry, where participants will visit the homes of local Cajun and Zydeco musicians, joining them for a barbecue, an afternoon music jam and a crayfish boil. They also will attend a Cajun cooking class and go on a swamp boat trip to see alligators and dig for crayfish.
An optional volunteer service day will be available for participants who want to help with a restoration project.
Cost: $1,599 per person, double occupancy ($650 single surcharge), including lodging, most meals, beer while touring the country, transportation and event tickets. Airfare is not included.
Contact: Festival Tours International, Pacific Palisades; 310-454-4080, festtours.com.
Snorkel with whale sharks on an expedition to the Gladden Spit Marine Nature Preserve in Belize.
The seven-day snorkeling and diving trips, scheduled for April 9-15 and May 10-16, coincide with peak spawning times for the whale sharks, which are harmless to humans.
“People have a chance to get firsthand information on the largest fish in the world,” said Birgit Winning of the Oceanic Society, which is sponsoring the trips.
Participants will stay in the coastal town of Placencia and make daily trips to the spawning site, either by dive boat or snorkel boat.
Whale shark specialist Glen Eiley of the Gladden Spit Nature Preserve and naturalists from the Oceanic Society will lead the trips and give evening presentations on the biology of the whale sharks, marine life and the ecology of Belize.
Cost: $1,890 per person for snorkelers and $1,990 per person for divers. Included are domestic flights in Belize, accommodations, lunches and excursions. Most meals and airfare are not included.
Contact: Oceanic Society Expeditions, San Francisco; 800-326-7491, www.oceanicsociety.org.
Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth on 13-day tours of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany that include seven-day cruises on the Rhine, Moselle and Neckar rivers.
The trips, scheduled Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, begin in Brussels, Belgium. The group will take a walking tour of Brugge, then move on to Amsterdam, Netherlands, for sightseeing. Participants will view the “Rembrandt 400” exhibit at the Rijksmuseum and visit the Netherlands city of Leiden, Rembrandt’s birthplace.
The river cruise begins in Amsterdam and includes stops in Cologne, Koblenz, Heidelberg and Mannheim, Germany.
Cost: $4,349 to $4,949 per person, double occupancy ($1,400 to $2,000 single surcharge), including four nights of hotel lodging and breakfast, and seven nights of accommodations and meals on board the ship. Airfare to Brussels and port charges are not included.
Contact: Peter Deilmann Cruises, Alexandria, Va.; 800-348-8287, www.deilmann-cruises.com.
Family-friendly resorts offer a lot more than baby sitters and swimming pools these days. Child magazine looked at more than 340 U.S. resorts and found that amenities now include toddler tennis lessons and facials for kindergartners, not to mention childproofed rooms, bottle-warmers and step stools.
The magazine’s list of the 10 best family-friendly resorts, with 50 runners-up organized by region, appears in its May issue, on sale April 11, and online at www.child.com.
Child’s top 10 family resorts are:
1. The Breakers, Palm Beach, Fla.
2. Winnetu Oceanside Resort, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
3. Kingsmill Resort &Spa, Williamsburg, Va.
4. Loews Coronado Bay Resort &Spa, San Diego
5. Colony Beach &Tennis Resort, Longboat Key, Fla.
6. The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Fla.
7. The Tyler Place Family Resort, Highgate Springs, Vt.
8. Ojai Valley Inn &Spa, Ojai, Calif.
9. Four Seasons Lana’i, Manele Bay, Hawaii
10. (tie) Club Med Sandpiper, Port St. Lucie, Fla.
10. (tie) Nickelodeon Family Suites (Holiday Inn), Orlando, Fla.
The price of a room with two double beds at these resorts varies depending on the season, occupancy rates and promotional discounts, but generally ranges from $150 to $400 nightly.
Vacationers headed to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef should not change their plans in the aftermath of Cyclone Larry, according to Tourism Australia.
“Some perceive that there was a lot of damage to the tourism areas and reef, and they’re wondering if they should stay away from Cairns or change their plans, but they really shouldn’t,” according to Kristen Malaby, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles office of Tourism Australia. “The good news is that Cairns and the regions north, including Palm Cove and Port Douglas, are back in business. All tours North of Cairns and to Kuranda, including the Reef trips, are back in action.”
Airport and seaport operations in Cairns are normal as well. Tours that were scheduled to head south of Cairns – the region hardest hit – are being rerouted, Malaby added.
However, vacationers on road trips or bus tours may find their itineraries affected by road closures in some areas to the south of Cairns and to the southern areas of the Cairns Highlands/Atherton Tablelands. A list of road closures is available at www.racq.com.au. (Click on “Road Conditions Report.”)
Passenger service aboard Queensland Rail between Cairns and Townsville has also been disrupted, but the Kuranda Scenic Railway is operating normally.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services have closed national parks for cleanups and safety inspections. Details are available at www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/news.cgi.
For more information on the impact of Cyclone Larry, visit www.tropicalaustralia.com.au.
Thousands of ancient artifacts from the Acropolis never seen by the public will be showcased at a landmark new Athens museum expected to open next year, Greek officials say.
The exhibition area will contain more than 4,000 works – 10 times the number currently on display at a cramped museum on the Acropolis. Some have been kept in storage for decades.
“We are talking about masterpieces that have never been seen,” said senior project official Nikos Damalitis.
These will include bronze and pottery artifacts from the slopes of the fortified hill, while all the 2,500-year-old Parthenon sculptures in Greek possession will be displayed in their original positions on a full-size model of the temple.
Missing will be the Elgin Marbles, which were removed from the Parthenon 200 years ago and are now at London’s British Museum. Greece has lobbied long and unsuccessfully for the works’ return.
The European Union is launching a new strategy to lure tourists to the continent as it faces competition from other parts of the globe.
The EU aims to coordinate and package its 25-member nations as a single attraction through a new “Visit Europe” Web site, www.visiteurope.com.
The site, which is funded by the European Commission, provides a one-stop spot with practical information on such subjects as transportation, weather and events across Europe. The site is currently focused on travelers from the United States, Canada and Brazil and is run by the separate European Travel Commission, ETC, which represents national tourist boards across Europe.
The plan still needs the backing of EU governments.
The tourism sector employs more than 8 million people across Europe and accounts for 4 percent of the total EU labor force, the EU’s executive commission said.
Looking to do some late-season skiing? Rent a slopeside condo or house for at least five nights in Big Sky, Mont., and get one night free. The deal, good through April 16, is worth $275 to $775 (depending on the unit) and applies to 130 Resort Property Management properties. Taxes are 14 percent extra. Information: 866-995-4455, www.rpmbigsky.com.
The five-star Hotel Hassler in Rome has discounts of more than 50 percent from July 17 through Sept. 8. A room for two starts at $350 a night, including breakfast; the rate is usually $712. A two-night minimum stay is required. Taxes are an extra 10 percent. Book by May 15, and request the “Lazy Days of Summer” promo. Information: 011-39-06-699-34-428, www.hotelhassler.com.
Polar Star Expeditions is offering two-for-one pricing on its “Atlantic Canada Sensations” cruise. The 11-night cruise, which departs from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Sept. 17, starts at $3,185 per person (double occupancy), and visits Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and the French island of St. Pierre. Information: 800-509-1729, www.polarstarexpeditions.com.
Ritz Tours has launched a “Grand Yangtze Summer Saver” promo for cruises on China’s Yangtze River. The deal, which applies to select departures in July and August, starts at $1,499 per person (double occupancy) – including round-trip airfare from Los Angeles to Shanghai, intra-China airfare, one night’s hotel, a nine-day cruise and tours. Taxes are $175 extra. Priced separately, the cruise would be $1,400 and the international airfare $1,200. Information: 800-900-2446, www.ritztours.com.
Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door hosts free travel classes most Saturdays at 10 a.m. at the Edmonds Theater, 415 Main St., Edmonds.
* Venice, Florence and Rome with Reid Coen, April 8.
* Packing light and right with Joan Robinson, April 22.
* Scandinavia with Dave Fox, April 29.
Classes are free; reservations are recommended. Call 425-771-8303, ext. 298, or visit www.ricksteves.com/seattle.
The Savvy Traveler offers travel seminars at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. most Saturdays at 112 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds.
* Paris and beyond: The city of light and day-trips, 10 a.m. April 8.
* Provence and Southern France: 1 p.m. April 8.
* French for travelers: 6 p.m. Thursdays, May 4-25.
Classes are free; reservations are recommended. Call 425-744-6076 or 877-225-1994, or go to www.savvytraveleredmonds.com.
Travel classes offered in Everett: Everett Parks and Recreation presents a series of travel classes featuring travel experts from Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door. Classes are held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Van Valey House, 2130 Colby Ave., Everett.
* Regions of France with Colleen Schaffer, May 11.
Cost is $5. Registration is required.
For more information, call 425-257-8300 or visit signmeup.everettwa.org.
Traveler’s Language Cafe: The NW Language Academy presents intensive weekend language courses designed to teach conversational travel language. Instead of memorizing phrases, participants learn comprehension, pronunciation and patterns of conversation that apply to a variety of circumstances.
Each weekend seminar is $225 and includes a language text and hands-on materials.
* French Language Cafe, April 7 and 8 in Everett.
For more information, call 360-914-0391 or go to www.nwlanguageacademy.com.
The Herald is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.
From Herald staff and news service reports
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