South Dakota’s Parks and Their Side Effects

Need your vacation destination to be chiseled in stone? Then the obvious choice is Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. An eight-day tour departing May 13 features the national parks of South Dakota:sites include Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Guests also visit Rapid City, Deadwood, Mitchell, Aberdeen, Sturgis, Wall Drug (the famous drugstore), the Corn Palace and the film location of “Dances With Wolves.”

Cost: $1,197 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, luggage handling, motor-coach transportation, seven nights’ accommodations, breakfasts and dinners daily, entrance fees and “buffalo jeep ride.” Contact: Friendly Excursions, P.O. Box 69, Sunland, CA 91041; telephone (800) 281-2199 (Southern California) or (800) 775-5018 (U.S.).

Cinque Terre, Tuscany

Combining two of Italy’s most popular destinations--the Cinque Terre and the hill country of Tuscany--is an eight-day tour that leaves May 10 and returns May 17. The tour begins in Genoa, and tour members travel along the Ligurian coast to the five hidden coastal villages of the Cinque Terre. Next, members travel on the coast via La Spezia to Pisa, and stay at a hotel on the Piazza del Duomo, dine at one of Pisa’s finest restaurants and visit the leaning tower. The tour continues on to the medieval village of Volterra, known for its arts and crafts, Etruscan acropolis and Roman amphitheater. En route to Siena members tour a crystal and glassware factory in Colle di Val d’ Elsa.

The end of the tour is in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. The guide lectures on the history and culture of the city, and guests visit the most famous sites. There will be time for shopping.

Cost: $1,495 per person, double occupancy, including hotel accommodations, daily breakfast, airport transfers, ground transportation and an Italian-speaking guide. Not included: air fare. Contact: Jim Gurnham at High Country Trekkers; tel. (800) 475-0004.

Russian Cruise

Take a 14-day cruise in Ukraine’s rivers aboard a 400-foot-long Russian riverboat with an English-speaking crew. The tour departs LAX on Aug. 3 and returns Aug. 16. The ship offers all outside staterooms with large picture windows and private bathroom facilities. A guest lecturer will describe the history, culture and art of the various cities and villages en route. Guests will stop and tour Kiev, Kanev, Kremenchug, Zaporozhye, Kherson and Sevastopol, Yalta and Odessa, the “Pearl of the Black Sea.” Guests will have a city tour of Vienna during a one-night stay.

Cost: $3,074 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air transportation from Los Angeles, port taxes, shore excursions, nightly entertainment and “outdoor Cossack warrior horsemanship show, all port-side transfers and luggage handling and tips. Contact: Langley Center, 400 W. Emerson Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91754; tel. (818) 307-1395.

Korea’s Springtime

The Korean Arts Council of the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena will be sponsoring a spring trip to South Korea, April 1 to 13. The trip will be led by Korean Arts Council president, Rick Krzyzanowski. Trip participants will experience the people and culture, past and present, of this diverse country during its most beautiful season when the countryside is covered in blossoms. The itinerary begins in Seoul and travels to Cheju Island, Kyongju and back to the capital and Panmunjom.

Cost: $3,295 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations and sightseeing, and breakfast and one other meal daily. Contact: Marilyn Litvak, Travel Arrangers of Pasadena, 1194 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 91106; tel. (818) 793-1466.

Peruvian History

A 13-day tour to Peru departs July 29, visiting six areas of pre-Inca and Inca archeological sites. The tour begins in Lima with visits to such colonial sites as the Square of Pizarro, with buildings designed by the Conquistadores in 1535, and museums and cathedrals. The enigmatic Lines of Nasca will be seen hile flying over the plains of San Juan. Guests visit the city of Arquipa with the serene monastery of Santa Catalina; Cuzco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas; the pre-Inca salt mines of Maras; Ollantaytambo; Machu Picchu, the pre-Inca capital of Piquillacta; and Trujillo with the oldest and largest adobe city in America.

Cost: $2,990 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from LAX via Miami, all flights in Peru, land transportation, hotels and most meals. Contact: Carlos Bernales at Adventures in Peru, 16722 Cooper Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647; tel. (800) 255-6025.

Four Corners

Join the Collectors’ Council of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art on a tour May 3 to 9 through the Southwest, lead by an archeologist affiliated with the Crow Canyon Archeological Center of Cortez, Colo. The adventure begins on the centuries-old streets of Acoma Pueblo where the group will meet a tribal official who will share his Acoma culture and traditions. Participants will visit the major prehistoric sites of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona, Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and Hovenweep National Monument in Utah. They will visit the campus of the Crow Canyon Archeological Center and one of its excavation sites. Finally, a rock art expert will guide participants to depictions of masked beings and horned serpents in the Galisteo Basin in New Mexico.

Cost: $1,595 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, lodging, ground transportation, some meals and the archeologist-guide. A deposit of $300 is required by Feb. 15. Contact: Pat McCalla, The Collectors’ Council of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 413 E. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; tel. (714) 662-4635.

Japanese Gardens

Join Marc Keane, landscape architect and author of “Japanese Garden Design” on a tour studying the gardens of historic Kyoto, Japan, May 26 to June 6. Guests will learn about landscape design in the Zen temples and monasteries, imperial villas and former private estates. Participants will stay in a modest Japanese-style inn with tatami mats and futon beds. Guests will take advantage of local transportation in order to facilitate cultural exchanges.

Cost: $2,900, per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from Los Angeles, accommodations, most meals, ground transportation in Japan, workshop lectures and activities, entrance fees. Participants need to be able to walk three to five miles each day. Contact: Esprit Travel, 2101 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 101, Santa Monica, CA 90403; tel. (310) 829-6060 or, outside of Southern California, (800) 377-7481.

Scandinavia’s Ecology

A tour for those who are interested in the environment and want to see Scandinavia runs from May 14 to 30. Visiting the capitals of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, this small group will meet with environmental policy professionals, discuss environmental concerns and visit environmentally significant sites. Staying in Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki (roughly four days in each city--two of which are free days), participants will have ample time to visit the sights.

Cost: $3,595 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip and domestic transportation, first class hotels and breakfast each morning. Contact: Monica Steinmann, Avenues of the World Travel; tel. (800) 230-3322.

Turkish Adventure

Classic Journeys has scheduled four 11-night tours that include seven days aboard a teakwood yacht. Departures are scheduled for May 4, June 29, Sept. 21 and Oct. 5. Trips begin and end in Istanbul, with guided visits to the St. Sophia Museum, the Blue Mosque and a ferry ride along the Bosphorus. In Izmir, passengers transfer to a 70-foot yacht that sails along the coast, anchoring at remote bays and villages.

Cost: $2,295 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, meals, activities, air fare within Turkey and mini-coach transportation. International air fare is not included. Contact: Classic Journeys; tel. (800) 200-3887.

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