THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505190089
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
HERE ARE TWO around-the-world adventures that aren't likely to draw a ``Been there, done that'' response - one around each pole.
For a mere $7,895 (per person, double occupancy), you can spend 10 days and NO nights - you'll be traveling with the sun - circumnavigating the North Pole in a private Boeing 727 jet. Excursion leaves Anchorage June 24 and Aug. 12 with stops in Russia, Finland, Norway, Greenland, Iceland and Canada. Cost includes airfare from Anchorage, meals, accommodations, lectures and cultural events. Not included: airfare to Anchorage.
Info: Circumpolar Expeditions, 431 W. Seventh Ave., Suite 101, Anchorage, Alaska 99501; (907) 272-9299.
Forum Travel International is offering an historic two-month Antarctic circumnavigation aboard a 116-passenger icebreaker in November-December 1996. Since Capt. James Cook's epic voyage of 1773-75, only a handful of scientists and explorers have ever circumnavigated Antarctica. And until now no passenger-carrying vessel has had the power or range for the task. Cost, still being calculated, will be in the range of $35,000 (per person, double occupancy). A $1,000 deposit will hold your place.
Info: Forum, 91 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, Calif. 94523; (510) 671-2900. AHOY, MATES
Sailing off the New England coast sounds interesting. I've received good reports about North End Shipyard Schooners of Rockland, Maine. They have three windjammer-style sailing ships that cruise the Maine coast every week from late May to mid-October. For a brochure, contact the company at P.O. Box 482, Rockland, Maine, 04841 or (800) 648-4544. EUROPEAN CONNECTIONS
USAir has begun using Charles de Gaulle Airport for its nonstop flights between Philadelphia and Paris. Since the airline began Paris service from Philly in early 1993, it had been landing at Orly Airport. Charles de Gaulle is about twice as far from central Paris as Orly, but rail connections - to the heart of the city and to the rest of the country - are much better, as are connections for other international flights. USAir also said it would start flying nonstop from Philadelphia to Frankfurt, Germany, on June 11. LINKS TO SCOTLAND
British Airways has five Value Plus holidays for budget-conscious golfers, including round-trip transatlantic business-class travel to Glasgow and breakfast daily. For instance, five nights at St. Andrews Old Course Hotel with a Hertz rental car, dinner daily and three rounds of golf costs $1,749 to $1,919, per person, double occupancy, depending on departure date. A five-night package with tickets to the British Open (July 20-23 at St. Andrews) and round-trip transfers daily is $1,259 to $1,579 depending on hotel. Info: (800) FLY-VP-BA. BUS STOPS
Branson, Mo., is the No. 1 group destination for the third year in a row in a survey of bus tour operators conducted by Destinations, the magazine of the American Bus Association, a trade group of more than 700 motorcoach and tour company operators. Second in that category was Myrtle Beach, S.C. Another category, best all-around city for motorcoach travel, was also led by Branson, followed by Toronto, Washington and Nashville. GO UNCHALLENGED
World Wide Cruises Inc.'s offers a booklet called ``Cruising for the Physically Challenged'' that rates ships. Info: (800) 882-9000. RAFTING THE RUINS
The Archaeological Conservancy has two rafting and camping trips June 10-17 and Sept. 16-23 on the San Juan River in Utah through the heart of the ruins and cliff dwellings left by the Anasazi, the ancient people who inhabited the Southwest until the 13th century. The tour spends eight days rafting through the Goosenecks section of the San Juan River from the town of Bluff to Lake Powell, with stops to explore. The trip will be led by author David Grant Noble, who wrote ``Ancient Ruins of the Southwest'' and ``New Light on Chaco Canyon.''
Cost: $1,495 per person, including meals and rafting equipment. You bring sleeping gear and tent. Info: Archaeological Conservancy, 5301 Central Ave. N.E., Suite 1218, Albuquerque, N.M. 87108; (505) 266-1540. FROM THOSE IN THE KNOW
The concierges of Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts would like to share their ``secrets'' about Europe with you. ``Concierge Confidential'' lists recommendations on where to dine, shop and experience a city the way the locals do. For a copy, call (800) 327-0404. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases, trade
journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the writer's
mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The
Virginian-Pilot/The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (804)
446-2904, fax 446-2963. by CNB