Tips & Trips

By Sheila Callahan | October 22, 2004

SKIING

ARTFUL SLALOM

Visitors to Colorado can enjoy "Art in Aspen Ski Week" January 30 through February 6. Combining time on the slopes with forays to the area's art troves, the $1,879 package includes a five-day lift ticket good for Aspen, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk - all within a 12-mile radius and connected by a free shuttle. Home base for seven nights is Sky Hotel, slope-side at Aspen Mountain. Some of the apres-ski activities include a tour of the Aspen Art Museum, visits and receptions at local galleries, and excursions to private art collections.

For more information call Moguls Mountain Travel at 800-925-8914 or visit www.moguls.com.

CRUISES

DISCOVER THE WORLD BY SHIP

From December until May, "MV Discovery" will retrace several historic exploration routes. A Christmas cruise will depart Lisbon, and call at Madeira, the Cape Verde islands, Rio, and Uruguay's captial city, Montevideo, among other ports.

From Argentina a series of expeditions explores the White Continent, the Falklands, and Chile's fjords. In the South Seas, the ship sails in the wake of HMS Bounty. An April voyage featuring Papeete, Moorea, Pitcairn, and Easter Island will capture a shipboard glance at the total eclipse of the sun.

Itineraries range from 13 to 25 nights, with per diems as low as $175.

For more information call 866-623-2689 or visit www.discoveryworldcruises.com.

HEALTH

BIKINI BOOTCAMP

Tulum, Mexico, provides the setting for Amansala Bikini Bootcamp, where vacationers work hard at getting in shape, eat healthy meals, and earn the rewards of feeling good, all in relaxing surroundings.

Limited to 20 participants, days begin with a power jungle or beach walk, followed by ab workout sessions, body-sculpting, or Pilates. Those who don't then take to their beds can snorkel, hike in the jungle, fish, visit Mayan ruins, or indulge in a beach massage.

Six nights of rustic accommodations, meals, kayaking, two bike excursions, yoga, and exercise classes costs $1,842, excluding air and ground transportation.

For more information visit www.amansala.com.

ADVENTURE

INDIAN EXPLOITS

In 2005, Mountain Travel Sobek will offer several new adventure travel destinations in India. A two-day camel trek in the Great Indian Desert and a quest for leopards in Siana make former maharaja's palaces especially welcome quarters on the company's Royal Rajasthan offering.

Meanwhile, a trip across Zanskar affords total immersion into that ancient Buddhist kingdom. On the wildlife safari in the south, adventurers look for lions in Gir Forest, tigers in Nagarhole, and sloth bears in Hampi.

Costs range from $4,990 for 18 days in Rajasthan to $3,190 for 22 days in Zanskar. Internal airfares run $225-$390.