May 2008

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Jolly olde England and the Emerald Isle of Ireland continue to enchant and entice, even with the pound whomping the dollar nearly two to one. Here’s what to expect if you visit in 2008.

Great Britain

• The Heathrow Express train connecting LONDON’s Paddington Station with Heathrow Airport is now the most expensive rail journey per mile in Britain. Save money by riding the tube (London’s underground) or using the regular train.

17-day/16-night tour.

Highlights: In Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA, Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens/Cape Peninsula/jackass penguins at Boulder Beach/Cape Point Nature Reserve/Wine Route/in BOTSWANA, safari at Moremi Game Reserve (500 bird species)/Okavango Delta, home to crocodiles, red lechwes, elephants, wild dogs, buffalo/Savute Elephant Camp/Chobe National Park, where cheetahs, leopards and lions can be viewed/ferry into ZAMBIA/Victoria Falls.

Land and internal air, from $7,980. Single supplement, from $945.

14-day tour includes 10-night cruise aboard the new 48-passenger RV Indochine. Discount of $500 per person for inaugural tour, Oct. 27-Nov. 9, 2008.

Highlights: In Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM, Cu Chi Tunnels, rickshaw to Chinese Market, Notre Dame Cathedral/ Mekong River cruise to CAMBODIA, with excursions to snake farm, bonsai seedbed, floating market, temples and a Cham community/Phnom Penh, and the “Killing Fields”/three nights’ Siem Reap to explore Angkor Wat and other Khmer sites.

19-day/17-night tour, Oct. 25-Nov. 12, 2008.

Highlights: In Dakha, capital of BANGLADESH, Lalbagh Fort, National Museum/lost city of Khalifatabad/terra-cotta temple of Kantanagar/in Bogra, Paharpur Buddhist monastery/holy city of Mahasthagarh/in West Bengal state, INDIA, Hindu sculpture at Pandua/train to Kolkata and visit National Museum/cruise through the mangrove trees in Sundarbans National Park, home to Bengal tigers and other wildlife.

$6,980 from East Coast.

Distant Horizons (Long Beach, CA; 800/333-1240, www.distant-horizons.com).

10-day/8-night tour, Oct. 3-12, 2008.

Highlights: In Thessaloníki (founded 316 B.C.), Aristotle Square, Byzantine Aghia Sophia Church, mosaics, Archeological Museum of Salonika/Royal Tombs and golden artifacts from King Philip II in Vergina/archaeological site of Dion/Great Meteoron monastery in Meteora/in Delphi, follow Sacred Way to Temple of Apollo, Delphi Museum/in Olympia, Temples of Zeus and Hera/in Athens, Acropolis, Parthenon, Plaka.

$3,795 from New York. $4,195 from West Coast. Land only, $2,995.

For singles of all ages. Anyone who wishes to avoid the single supplement will be matched with a roommate. On these examples, all prices are land or cruise only.

London & Countryside: six nights in London, July 26-Aug. 2, with day trips to Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, Canterbury, Leeds ($1,499; single supplement, $713).

Castles on the Rhine: 8-night Rhine cruise, Aug. 2-10, through Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland (from $2,174; supp. from $1,379).

As ITN went to press, the State Department had travel warnings on 28 destinations: Eritrea, Algeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Kenya, Yemen, Israel/West Bank/Gaza, Sudan, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Somalia, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Indonesia, Pakistan, Syria, Haiti and Iraq.

For details, call the State Department at 202/647-5225 or visit http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html.

People who do not have proof of valid yellow fever vaccinations have been denied boarding by airlines flying to Bolivia recently, according to the U.S. Embassy in La Paz. The disease is has been found in neighboring countries.

Since late 2007, emerging yellow fever disease has been reported in monkeys and humans in many South American countries. On March 3, 2008, the Argentina Ministry of Health reported their first official human case of yellow fever for 2008 in Misiones Province, Argentina.