Mettle to the Pedals Through Loire Valley

A biking tour through France’s Loire Valley is being offered April 11 to 18. Participants spend their first three nights at a private country estate for wine tasting, a cooking class and fine dining. The group will bike for two to three hours each morning along flat roads selected for their minimal traffic and maximum access to local villages. A support van will accompany the group. Travelers will visit several historic cha^teaux, see the city of Tours, have lunch on a goat farm, explore museums, go shopping, and walk through vineyards and an adjoining wine cave.

Cost: $1,695 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, daily breakfast, airport transfers, bike rentals, entrance fees and guides. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Jim Gurnham, 11950 Ventura Blvd., Suite 4, Studio City, CA 91604; telephone (800) 475-0004.

Seniors at Sea

Discover Alaska’s Inside Passage and Sawyer Glacier with a guided tour for travelers 50 and over. This round-trip one-week cruise on the Norwegian Dynasty departs June 30 from Vancouver, Canada. The cruise includes seminars on Alaskan geology, wildlife, history and culture. Passengers may spot seals, whales, moose, porpoises and bears when cruising Sawyer Glacier and the Inside Passage. Alaska’s centennial of the 1898 Gold Rush will be celebrated in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.

Cost: starting at $1,134 per person, double occupancy, including all meals. Air fare is not included to Vancouver.

Contact: Katherine Younger, All Places Travel; tel. (800) 743-8680.

Chef’s Holiday

Every morning and afternoon, Feb. 1 to 4, the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite National Park will host outstanding chefs from popular Northern California restaurants and cooking schools to hold cooking demonstrations and tastings in the grand ballroom. Guests will spend three nights at the Yosemite Lodge and between classes can tour Yosemite.

Cost: $399 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, some meals, five cooking classes and round-trip train transportation from Los Angeles.

Contact: California Discovery Tour; tel. (800) 225-8728.

Baja’s Gray Whales

California gray whales, the ecological comeback kids, are making their yearly migration from the Bering Sea to Baja California. Whales begin arriving in Baja’s Pacific coast lagoons in mid-January. A six-night whale-watching trip to Baja is scheduled Feb. 8, the height of the season. Whale watchers move among the gentle giants in 22-foot skiffs in order to see them up close.

Cost: $999 per person, double occupancy, including transportation by motor coach from San Diego, return by air from La Paz (Mexico), six nights’ hotel accommodations, three days of whale watching and some meals.

Contact: Baja California Tours; tel. (619) 454-7166.

Cold on Purpose

A dog-sledding and snowshoeing trip for five or seven days into the frozen wilderness of the Canadian Rockies is available on various dates December through March.

Participants will drive their own dog-sled team through snow-covered mountain passes. The base camp is heated, but this is an expedition for the adventurous and hardy. Guests can also cross-country ski and snowshoe.

Cost: $940 (for five days), $1,590 (for seven days) per person, double occupancy, including meals, snow equipment and lodging. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Outer Edge Expeditions; tel. (800) 322-5235.

Jewish Heritage

Historical Cycling International and the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in Jackson, Miss., are offering a cycling trip in the antebellum South April 1 to 7. The leisurely paced bicycle trip will follow the historic Natchez Trace past landscapes of Spanish moss-draped cypress forests, swamps and white-column antebellum mansions. The group will travel to Port Gibson, Miss., and to the Civil War battlefields of Vicksburg, Miss. The group will also discover a rich Jewish heritage that spans more than 200 years.

Cost: $1,650 per person, including accommodations in historic plantations and antebellum homes, most meals, guides, entrance fees, use of a 21-speed bicycle, route instructions, van support and baggage transfers. Air fare to Jackson, Miss., is not included.

Contact: Historical Cycling International, 31566 First Ave., Laguna Beach, CA 92677; tel. (714) 499-0342.

Yen for Yangtze

Bob Feldman, professor of history, will escort two 17-day tours to China. The tours are scheduled for March 28 to April 13 and Oct. 15 to 31.

Participants visit Beijing and Shanghai before boarding a ship for a five-day cruise on the Yangtze River from Wuhan to Chongqing. Next, they will fly to Xian and from there fly to Hong Kong.

The tour includes many stops at museums and private homes and three theater performances: the Beijing Opera, an acrobatic show and a Tang Dynasty music and dance program.

Cost: $4,095 (March tour) per person, double occupancy. The October tour is $4,395. Prices include all air and land transportation, deluxe hotels, most meals, cruise and excursions, the theater performances, all taxes and portage.

Contact: East-West International Tours, 1248 Montevideo Ave., Placentia, CA 92870; tel. (800) 359-6719.

More on China

Explore ancient China and take a Yangtze River cruise on a 17-day study tour offered by UCLA Extension. Benjamin Elman, professor of Chinese history and director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA, is the tour study leader. The tour is June 4 to 21 and begins in Beijing with visits to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Beijing University, and concludes in Shanghai. Highlights include a four-day cruise down the Yangtze River, archeological sites at Dazu, Xian’s terra-cotta soldiers, a visit to the Great Wall, and lectures by archeologists and museum curators.

Cost: $4,830 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, accommodations, most meals and entrance fees. A $260 enrollment fee is also required.

Contact: UCLA Extension, 10995 Le Conte Ave., Suite 711, Los Angeles, CA 90024; tel. (310) 825-2272.

Costa Rica Adventure

A 10-day tour to Costa Rica is available from LAX April 10 to 19. Three 15-day tours with 10-day options are available June 29 to July 13, July 16 to 30, and Aug. 2 to 17.

Guests on the 10-day tours will visit four national parks and reserves, including the Arenal Volcano, a continuously active volcano with displays of lava. Other scheduled activities include: a visit to the Tarcoles River to look for crocodiles and scarlet macaws, a day at Jaco Beach, a tour of Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific Coast and an exploration of the Carara Biological Reserve. Also included is a ride on the Rain Forest Aerial Tram next to Braulio Carrillo National Park for treetop views of the hanging gardens. Guests on the 15-day tours will visit two additional national parks on the Atlantic Coast.

The tours include five free days (three on 10-day tours) to try optional activities, such as white-water rafting, river floating, bathing in mineral hot springs and boating at Can~o Negro National Wildlife Refuge.

Cost: April tour: $1,750 per person, double occupancy. Summer tours: $1,950 per person, double occupancy. Ten-day trips cost $1,650. Included are round-trip air fare from LAX to Costa Rica, hotel accommodations, ground transportation, bilingual naturalist guides and some meals.

Contact: Paul Abravaya of Tropical Eco-Tours, 1333 Calle Pimiento, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360; tel. (805) 492-0365.

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