Tours & cruises: Half Moon Bay Inn offers relaxing getaway

HALF MOON BAY, CALIF.

Relax and recreate

The Half Moon Bay Inn, a boutique property on Half Moon Bay’s main street, is offering an inclusive “Spring Cleaning” package meant to strike a balance between mind and body, between relaxation and fun. The deal offers a taste of local businesses and activities, and represents a 20% savings over booking these elements separately.

Dates: Through May 31

Price: $450 a night ($850 for two nights), single or double occupancy, including lodging in a guest room or suite; a yoga class for two at a nearby studio; dinner at the downstairs Italian restaurant (excluding alcohol and tip); a gift basket filled with aromatherapy products, and a choice between a four-hour guide-led coastal bicycle ride or two hourlong massages at a day spa. The price does not include taxes.

Info: Half Moon Bay Inn, Half Moon Bay, Calif.; (650) 726-1177, https://www.halfmoonbayinn.com

CHINA

Tending to the pandas

Those with the urge to use their vacation time to explore the world and to do good might consider Planeterra’s two-week “Project China,” which, besides hitting many of the massive nation’s most profound places — including the Great Wall and Xian’s Terracotta Warriors — allows travelers to tend to members of one of the most endangered species, the giant panda. The volunteer work, which lasts five days, consists of gathering food for the animals and helping keep their enclosures clean. In exchange, you get to interact with the bears. Highlights on the other days of the trip include seeing the Shaolin Temple and its fighting monks, tasting the spicy cuisine of Chengdu, riding Shanghai’s speedy Maglev Train, visiting the Shanghai Museum and touring Beijing, including Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

Itinerary: Shanghai to Shaolin, Luoyang, Xian, Chengdu, Bifengxia Panda Centre and Beijing

Dates: Departures July 10 and 24, Aug. 7, Sept. 4 and 18, Oct. 9 and 23

Price: $1,710, double occupancy (single supplement $559), including lodging, guided tours, the services of a group leader and transportation to the sights and between cities. The cost does not include international airfare, meals or gratuities.

Info: Planeterra, Toronto; (800) 708-7761, https://www.planeterra.org

EUROPE

Sleep in, tour late

Not a morning person? Then you’re exactly who Executive Tours International had in mind when it developed its “Crack of Noon” itineraries. Most activities are scheduled after, as the package’s name would imply, noon. Sleep off any late-night partying and show up refreshed and ready to see the sights. Choose France, and you’ll tour Paris, take the train to see the Palais des Papes and explore the French Riviera. Choose Italy to take in Rome, stroll Tuscan villages, taste Bologna and ferry through Venice. Either way, you’ll eat and drink where the natives do.

Itinerary: France: Paris, Provence, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and the French Riviera; Italy: Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Bologna, Modena, and Venice

Dates: France: Sept. 22 to Oct. 3; Italy: Oct. 6 to 18. Both require booking by June 30.

Price: France: $3,290, double occupancy (single supplement $795); Italy: $3,375, double occupancy (single supplement $525). Both prices include hotel accommodations, breakfasts, some lunches and dinners including wine, guide-led tours, motorcoach transportation, tips and an on-tour manager. The prices do not include airfare or airport transfers.

Info: Executive Tours International, Westminster; (800) 521-0070, https://www.exectours.com

COSTA RICA

Rainforest recreation

El Remanso Lodge, on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, near Corcovado National Park, is offering an “Active Package,” allowing its guests to partake in five activities: a canopy breakfast, waterfall rappelling, two hikes (one after dark) and a choice between horseback riding or bird watching. Travelers staying at the well-loved rainforest wildlife lodge can also zip-line, dolphin-watch, surf, kayak and take yoga classes.

Dates: Available through Dec. 19

Price: Starting at $1,150, double occupancy, including four nights’ lodging in a classic cabin, all meals, a roundtrip flight from San José to Puerto Jimenez, all transfers, taxes and the five activities. A room upgrade is available for $100 more per person.

Info: El Remanso Lodge, Osa, Costa Rica; https://www.elremanso.com/packages

AFRICA

Cruising and touring

It’s difficult to find tours or cruises to Senegal and Gambia, but Variety’s new “Rivers of West Africa” offering changes that. Aboard the recently renovated 23-room Pegasus vessel, on the Saloun and Gambia rivers, travelers take eight days to visit port villages, tour capital cities and explore national parks and nature reserves rife with chimpanzees, hippos, crocodiles and many kinds of birds.

Itinerary: Dakar to Djiffer and Joal-Fadiouth, Senegal; Tendaba, Kuntaur, Janjanbureh and Banjul, Gambia.

Dates: Departures Fridays, Dec. 17-March 18

Price: $2,490, including onboard accommodations, meals, use of snorkeling equipment and films screened in the boat’s lounge. The price does not include international airfare, shore excursions, alcoholic beverages or tips. A pre- or post-trip extension to Timbuktu will be available.

Info: Variety Cruises, New York; (800) 319-7776, https://www.varietycruises.com

[email protected]