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Women on a Mission: How to Indulge Your Sense of Adventure

Discover women-only group trips to Machu Picchu, Quebec City, the Grand Canyon, the south of France, and more.

The specific promotions described in this article have now passed, but it remains online so that the resources named will be of future use to travelers.

 


We've long extolled the virtues of traveling with those of the same gender -- namely, women. Many people want to travel solo but want the comfort of a group and the expertise of a company well-suited toward such endeavors. Despite the downturn in the economy, many of these companies are still operating -- although if you are a repeat customer of any of these packagers, you may find fewer offerings or guaranteed departures than in previous years.

Gutsy Women Travel (tel. 866/IM-GUTSY; www.gutsywomentravel.com) holds a variety of excursions to New York, Quebec, Jamaica, Bermuda, Savannah and Charleston, and Mexico in North America, along with trips to Europe, South America, Asia, Central America -- pretty much everywhere. You can opt for cruises, independent travel, spiritually-oriented journeys and spa-based trips. The prices do not include airport taxes, fees September 11 security fee; they do generally include airfare, accommodations, the services of a skilled tour manager, many meals, your transfers, etc.

Gutsy has an 8-day trip to Provence that entails exploring the villages of the region, time in Nice, Monaco, St. Tropez, Cannes, and tours of a wine estate, the Papal palace, and taking part in a tour of Nice, a perfume making class, and a private cooking class on regional cuisine. The trip is priced from $3,449 for the April 18 departure. Another trip explores Montreal and Quebec City over the course of a week, and is priced from $2,199 for the October 14 departure; there are others in May and August at slightly higher prices. The highlights include tours of Montreal -- both a panoramic and culinary tour of Montreal, a cooking class focusing on French-Canadian cuisine, and high tea at the Chateau Frotenac, an old majestic hotel in Old Quebec overlooking the St. Lawrence.

Named after the spirited heroines of the same film, Thelma and Louise Travel Club (www.thelmandlouise.com) Launched in 2006, the club encourages its members from more than 65 countries to meet regularly at various events (it schedules) in addition to taking its trips together. Thelma and Louise, like a traditional travel club, arranges trips that take advantage of group discounts and foster a sense of camaraderie. Registration on the site is free, and entitles you to search its members to find travel companions with similar interests and use its online discussion forum. There are traditional group trips oriented around adventure, cooking, or culture, for example, and then there are other more unusual offers the company can arrange, such as Russian backpacking, cowgirl camp, cycling the Nile, or jewelry making in France.

The company is running a trip to Peru this year that may cost as little as $1,642 if ten more people sign up for the nine-night trip departing September 4. Called "the Majestic Pachamama," it honors the first female Earth god, believed to be responsible for the natural wonders of Peru. Stop in Lima, Cusco, the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and get there via boat, car, train, your own two feet, and plane. The company is partnering with Peruvian packager Il Tucano Peru and will bring travelers to an Andean community of women weavers in the Sacred Valley. The package includes a whole lot: Transfers, many of your meals, the services of a knowledgeable guide, 24-hour assistance, accommodations with buffet breakfast, city tour of Cusco and Lima, and equipment, fees, maps, tickets and more needed for the three nights you'll spend camping. Several other promising adventures are also planed -- one to Athens and the Greek Isles, another to Vietnam, and finally, Morocco.

Since 1992, Women's Travel Club (tel. 800/480-4448; www.womenstravelclub.com) has been leading women on all kinds of trips all over the world in small groups. You typically stay at four and five-star properties and experience a well-organized, culturally stimulating and invigorating excursion that typically lasts as few as three nights and as long as three weeks, depending on the trip. Membership costs $30 annually and puts you in a group of other like-minded women; it also grants you access to savings on more than 200 packages run by Club ABC Tours, its parent company.

Although there are trips planned to Holland, Morocco, Iceland, Israel, Thailand and more, right now the club is offering specials on trips to London and Paris -- you can depart any day. For Paris, the trip starts at $1,119 for three nights. It includes roundtrip airfare from New York-JFK or Newark, fuel surcharges, hotel accommodations, daily breakfast, a one-day metro pass, a one-day Paris museum pass, which grants you access to more than 60 museums and lets you skip the lines, too. The London trip is priced from $799 and includes similar perks, minus the museum pass; instead, you receive an all-day Thames River Cruise pass.

The ten-year-old company Women Traveling Together (tel. 800/795-7135; www.women-traveling.com) typically runs trips that include groups of 10-20 women. The tours balance planned activities and leisure time and are geared toward a range of activities and interests -- adventure, cultural, national parks, cruises and more. Usually the price includes airport transfers and transportation, the services of your guide, most of your dinners and daily breakfasts, and lodging in good, central locations based on double occupancy in rooms with bathrooms. Every year the company changes the tours around to keep its travelers interested; you're not likely to find the same destinations offered every year although the most popular ones are offered every few years. Membership costs $45 annually and entitles you to deep discounts on the trips (although you can take part in the trip as a nonmember but it will cost more), travel dollars for referring friends, first dibs on reserving new trips, discounts, and a newsletter.

 

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