The new 12-day/11-night Vietnam Adventure package from Adventure Life offers an active option to explore both the urban and rural sides of Vietnam. A taste of city life is offered with time to wander Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An. A highlight in the latter, for example, is a visit to the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge. For a dose of country life, there are multiple days hiking in the Sapa area, near the border with China. Here there’s the chance to visit villages occupied by the Black Hmong and Red Zao people. The hiking is followed by a two-day outing on a Vietnamese junk in Ha Long Bay before moving on to Hue and Hoi An. Included in the transportation on this tour is two nights’ travel by train. Optional activities include biking and rock climbing. The trip is priced from about $2,560 per person for two travelers. Larger groups decrease the price. Included are lodging, most meals, internal flights, guides, train and the junk voyage. Adventure Life also offers a variety of other Vietnam packages. Info: 800-344-6118, http://tinyurl.com/ob85nw2
An easier way into the U.K.
If you’re familiar with the convenience of the Global Entry program, which streamlines re-entry to the U.S., and you’re a frequent traveler to the United Kingdom, you might want to sign up for the Registered Traveler service offered by the U.K. Border Force. Nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand or the U.S. may apply for the program, which provides access to ePassport gates at airports across the U.K., use of the U.K./European Union queue at airports across the country, a dedicated Registered Traveler lane at Gatwick Airport, no need to fill out a landing card on arrival in the U.K. and no interview with a Border Force officer. Initial registration costs about $107 and is good for just a year. Renewal is about $76. To be eligible, you must have visited the U.K. at least four times in the last 12 months. http://tinyurl.com/np5cy6m
Cruise circles Australia
Many Australia/New Zealand cruises spend minimal time in Australia. A package from the Online Vacation Center fixes that. The 33-night Royal Caribbean International cruise circumnavigates Australia, making port at 10 cities and even visiting Bali halfway around. After a stop in Melbourne, there’s a hop over to New Zealand for both North and Sound island ports before heading back to Sydney, where the whole journey started. There’s a departure in October 2016 and one in February 2017. Pricing is from $5,049 per person double occupancy for an ocean-view cabin and includes round-trip air from Los Angeles and a pre-cruise hotel night in Sydney. Among air add-ons from other cities are New York, $250; Chicago and Newark, $300; Boston and Philadelphia, $350, and Miami, $400. Info: 800-760-5417, http://tinyurl.com/ptzjwqk
Phil Marty is a freelance reporter.
