MAPLE SYRUP

It’s maple-sugar time. Native only to North America, sugar maples grow from southeastern Canada to northern Ohio. Forty gallons of sap produce a gallon of pure, calcium-rich syrup. On March 12, the smell of maple candies and the sounds of lively music will guide you to a celebration in Ithaca. Enjoy a pancake brunch, tree-tapping demos, sugar on snow, games for kids, and bird box-building. For more information, visit www.cayuganaturecenter.org.

This weekend and next, in Cornwall, just an hour from New York City, take a sugarbush tour and learn the syrup making process. For more information, visit www.museumhudsonhighlands.org.

For more information on Maple Sugar Weekend in New York State, visit www.mapleweekend.com.

INDEPENDENT TOURS

Continental Journeys has added four Eastern European countries to its air-inclusive tour program: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Croatia. Tickets for the five-day, three night getaways to historic Bucharest, cosmopolitan Sofia, baroque Ljubljana, and charming Zagreb are $699-$999 a person, double occupancy.

Austrian Airlines provides roundtrip flights from New York, with Vienna stopovers at no charge through March. Stays at centrally located tourist class hotels run $699 in Sofia, $710 in Bucharest, $839 in Ljubljana, and $889 in Zagreb.

Nine-day tours to Bucharest and Sofia cost $1,099 for tourist-class hotels, $1,200 for first-class, and $1,439 for deluxe hotels.

For more information, call 800-601-4343 or visit www.continentaljourneys.com.

MUSICAL TOURS

TourCrafters specializes in packages to Italy’s opera and music destinations. The “Lyrical Italy” tour encompasses the country’s chief cities as well as Naples, Palermo, and Parma.

Festival destinations include: Florence, April 30 to June 28; medieval Lucca, the walled city celebrating native son Giacomo Puccini, July and August; and Parma, honoring Verdi, May 3 to June 20. Rossini fans can trek to San Marino for the Festival Rossini celebrating the composer’s birthplace.

Packages throughout the year include hotel, daily breakfast, hotel service charges and taxes, as well as opera tickets. Some cover air and transfers.

For more information, call 800-482-5995 or visit www.tourcrafters.com.

FAMILY REUNIONS

Many hotels and resorts increasingly cater to multigeneration vacations. Cambridge Beaches in Bermuda offers cottages perfect for groups. Surrounded by water on three sides, the 30-acre peninsula resort will provide one reunion dinner, a family portrait, a 30% discount on all rooms after the first booked at full-price, and no extra charge for additional family in each room through May 31. Prices include most meals and start at $335 a room.

The Cliffs Resort, Pismo Beach, Calif., features two night packages starting at $529 a room, double-occupancy, based on a 10-room minimum, including a beach barbecue and breakfast.

For more information on Cambridge Beaches, call 800-468-7300 or visit www.cambridgebeaches.com.

For the Cliffs, call 800-826-5838 or visit www.cliffsresort.com.