A vacation stop in Iceland is warm-up for Europe
Icelandair European Vacations has just launched a complete travel guide for holidays in Iceland and Greenland. "The 1995 Iceland Vacation and Stopover Planner: The Discovery of Europe Starts Here," describes tours and packages in an easy-to-understand format. Called "Iceland Stopovers," the packages are designed to encourage travelers to make an island stopover before or after their trip to the rest of Europe.
A five-hour flight from the East Coast of the United States, Iceland is known for its steaming volcanoes, bubbling earth-warmed springs, centuries-old glaciers and iceberg-clogged lagoons. The guidebook describes guided tours that offer several options for exploration, including motor coach, biking, horseback riding, river rafting, jeep safaris -- and even snowmobiling on a glacier.
For the guidebook, call Icelandair European Vacations at (800) 757-3876.
The curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum, William Siegmann, will lead a two-week excursion to the Ivory Coast and Ghana, March 18 to April 3. Participants will tour museums and galleries, meet with curators and art directors and visit villages where artisans make wood carvings, pottery, sculptures and brass castings and weave kente cloth. On the itinerary are visits to Senufo villages, Komoe Game Park and the historic castles of Ghana's Gold Coast. Cost: $4,995 per person, including round-trip airfare from New York, travel in Africa, lodging, all meals, admissions and a $500 donation to the museum. Contact: Brooklyn Museum, (718) 638-5000, Ext. 326.
Rush to Rush's town
Rush Limbaugh's hometown, Cape Girardeau, Mo., (population: 35,000) is hoping to attract travelers with a tour of places significant to his childhood. A free brochure outlines a self-drive tour past the hospital where the radio talk-show host was born, his early boyhood home, the high-school football field where he played and the barbershop where he got his first job shining shoes.
For groups, the town's Convention and Visitors Bureau will provide a guide to add personal insights and commentary about Mr. Limbaugh's local experiences. Brochures are available from the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 617, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0617; (800) 777-0068.
Take off for Mexico
Spa & Culinary Adventures is offering three seven-night packages for women only to the Hotel Spa Ixtapan, about 65 miles southwest of Mexico City in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Trips are scheduled March 12-19, June 18-25 and Oct. 22-29. The spa experience includes daily facials, massage and exercise classes, pedicure and manicure, scalp treatment, fango pack and loofah scrub. Tennis and golf, including lessons, are free. Excursions to Taco, Cuernavaca and Toluca are also part of the package. Cost is $650 per person, which includes seven nights in a deluxe room, nightly entertainment and all meals and transfers to and from Mexico City. Airfare to Mexico City, 10 percent tax and gratuities are not included in the price. For information, call Spa & Culinary Adventures at (800) 300-1565.
Scenic train trips
For those travelers who enjoy riding the rails, here are the 10 most scenic train trips in North America, as selected by James Russell, editor of Rail Travel News, in the January/February issue of EcoTraveler:
* Copper Canyon (Chihuahua to Los Mochis), Mexico
* Canadian Rockies (Vancouver to Edmonton via Jasper)
* North Vancouver to Prince George, British Columbia
* Agawa Canyon (Sault Ste. Marie to Canyon, Ontario)
* Pacific Coast scenery (Seattle to Los Angeles)
* San Francisco to Denver
* Seattle/Portland to Chicago
* New York to Montreal
* The Alaska Railroad (any route)
* New York/Washington to Cincinnati