Civil War, Antebellum Homes and Steamboats

Follow the maneuvers of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the legendary Civil War fighter, in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

“Riding With Forrest� is a weeklong learning vacation, one of a series of Civil War Discoveries presented by HistoryAmerica Tours. The tour starts Oct. 10 in Memphis, Tenn. Battlefield historian Edwin C. Bearss will guide the tour, along with Forrest biographer Brian Steel Wills.

This tour begins with Forrest’s controversial victory at Ft. Pillow, Tenn., before moving on to Parker’s Crossroads and Johnsonville. The journey continues to Murfreesboro, Franklin and the nearby Confederate cemetery. Other sites include Chapel Hill, Sulphur Springs Trestle, Selma, Ala., Forrest’s surrender site in Gainesville, and the area of his most famous victory at Brice’s Crossroads.

Cost: $1,049 per person, double occupancy, including six nights’ hotel accommodations, transportation, 13 meals, admissions to sites and guides. Air fare is extra.

Contact: HistoryAmerica Tours; telephone (800) 628-8542.

Louisiana: Cruise

Spend the days before Christmas floating away on the American Queen paddle-wheel steamboat along the Mississippi.

The tour runs Dec. 18 to 23 from New Orleans, and stops in St. Francisville, La.; Natchez, Miss.; and Baton Rouge, La. Antebellum homes and a Cajun heritage tour are included.

Cost: from $960 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare to New Orleans from Los Angeles and all meals on board.

Contact: Historic Tours of America; tel. (714) 846-9595.

Vietnam: Cruise

Gilded palaces, ancient temples and palm-lined white-sand beaches are on the schedule of a Silversea cruise to Vietnam and the isles of the Far East. The “Vietnam Discovery� voyage runs Jan. 3 to 15. It will depart Bangkok, Thailand, to visit the island of Ko Samui, Thailand, and will cruise the Gulf of Thailand to the Vietnamese ports of Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Haiphong and Ha Long Bay.

Upon arrival in Haiphong, guests will tour the city and depart for the historic capital city of Hanoi for an overnight excursion that includes hotel accommodations, meals and tours. In Ha Long Bay, the ship will anchor to allow guests to board traditional Chinese-style junks for a cruise showcasing the bay’s limestone outcrops, grottoes and secluded coves.

Cost: from $8,695 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles.

Contact: Silversea Cruises Ltd.; tel. (954) 522-4477.

Wyoming: History

Discover Native American life on a four-night program in Wyoming that explores the culture and surroundings of the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes. The tour, Oct. 12 to 17 and May 10 to 15, and its lectures will be led by professors at Central Wyoming College.

Blue Spruce Inn and Piece of Cake Bed & Breakfast are participating in hosting the cultural discovery week in conjunction with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation. Guests will attend lectures on history and participate in field trips to important sites on the reservation. They will also learn about the geography of the surrounding Wind River Mountains.

Cost: $530 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, all meals, lectures and sightseeing. Transportation to Wyoming is extra.

Contact: InterWest Adventures; tel. (801) 495-2592.

Japan: Architecture

An architecture tour to Japan, from Oct. 29 through Nov. 13 (with a post-tour extension to Hong Kong), will start in Tokyo and then move west to Kyoto and Nara. Guests will visit architectural sites in these cities and learn about the history of each place.

Participants will move on to Osaka, as well as the architectural sites and facilities for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Award-winning projects by architects such as Tadeo Ando, Itsuko Hasegawa and Arata Isozaki will be visited.

Cost: from $3,290 per person, double occupancy, including hotels and sightseeing. Air fare and meals are extra.

Contact: Architects Abroad; tel. (800) 272-8808.

Finland: Christmas

A visit from Santa Claus and his reindeer on Christmas Eve, a snowmobile excursion to fetch Christmas trees and rides in horse-drawn sleighs are features of a Christmas program in Finnish Lapland designed for the family.

Lapland, which lies on and around the Arctic Circle, is the base of the six-day program beginning Dec. 22. Guests stay at Rovaniemi, capital of Lapland. Families will visit Santa’s Village and the new Santapark, an activities park, where children get their own chef’s hats and aprons to bake Finnish gingerbread cookies.

Dec. 24 begins with a snowmobile excursion to fetch Christmas trees that will be decorated in the hotel. At noon, Finland’s president declares the Christmas Peace, a centuries-old tradition marked with the ringing of cathedral bells. Christmas Eve offers a Finnish buffet and then Santa’s arrival with his reindeer and a gift for every child.

A church service on Christmas morning is followed by an excursion to a frozen lake for snowmobile driving, lunch, Lapp initiation ceremonies and the presentation of certificates for crossing the Arctic Circle.

Cost: $1,899 per person, double occupancy; $589 for children under 4; $1,299 for children 4 to 11; $1,419 for children 12 to 14. Included is air fare from New York, accommodations and transfers, saunas and most meals.

Contact: Norvista; tel. (800) 677-6454.

Holland: Barging

Eight passengers can ride aboard the Stella Maris barge through Holland on a weeklong cruise. Passengers will see gardens, windmills, tulip fields and historic houses. Also seen are the houses of Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer and Van Gogh; the Keukenhof tulip gardens; the city of Gouda, the capital of Holland’s cheese industry; and Delft, famous for its hand-painted blue-and-white porcelain.

European Waterways operates Stella Maris cruises from April to September, departing Amsterdam every Sunday.

Cost: $1,990 per person, double occupancy, including shore excursions, three gourmet meals a day and an experienced English-speaking crew. Air fare is extra.

Contact: European Waterways; tel. (800) 217-4447.

Africa: Ethiopia

Majestic landscapes and historic cities are on tap on a tour of Ethiopia Jan. 5 to 22. Participants will visit Axum, the Queen of Sheba’s ancient kingdom and the legendary home of the Ark of the Covenant. Gondar, where painted angels cover the ceiling of one church, was the “castle city� of King Fasilides in the 16th century.

Near Bahir Dar visit the source of the Blue Nile and Blue Nile Falls. A cruise on Lake Tana takes guests to island monasteries filled with Ethiopian art expressed in murals. Between Gondar and Axum the group will drive through Sirnien Mountains National Park to look for baboons, the Walia ibex, foxes and bearded vultures.

Guests stop in Lalibela, famous for its 800-year-old rock-hewn church. It is here that guests experience Timket (the Ethiopian Epiphany), one of the biggest festivals in Ethiopia. Priests carry a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, accompanied by chanting, drumming and dances.

Cost: $4,720 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, meals and ground transportation. International air fare is not included.

Contact: Explore Inc. (ask for Elizabeth); tel. (800) 770-0111.

Mexico: Oaxaca

Oaxaca, a colonial city in the south of Mexico, has 16th century churches, pre-Columbian ruins and Mexico’s best folk art. Mexico’s “Day of the Dead,� Nov. 1 and 2, prompts Oaxaca’s Indian artisans to produce skulls and skeletons in painted tin, carved wood and papier-ma^che. The artistry spills over into the cemeteries, where families gather to honor the dead with lively fiestas. Baja California Tours’ “Oaxaca: Heart of Mexico,� a six-night tour, departs Oct. 28.

Cost: $999 per person, double occupancy, including ground transportation and air fare from San Diego, some meals, hotels and sightseeing. Tour is limited to 20.

Contact: Baja California Tours; tel. (619) 454-7166.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with travel agents or tour operators.