In Ireland, you headquarters in Ennis, a lovely spot dating back to the 13th century. You stay in the historic Old Ground Hotel (a former mansion), take a boat cruise to the island of Inishmore (in the Aran Islands), visit Quin Abbey and Bunratty Castle, stop over in Galway (including a tour of W.B. Yeats' home), experience the marvelous Cliffs of Moher and inspect a 12th-century Franciscan Friary. There will be traditional Irish dancing (with lessons), storytelling and an evening social with a panel of local County Clare families. Also featured are lectures on folklore and the Great Irish Famine, as well as children's activities that include Irish sports, such as hurling. From Chicago, Boston or New York the all-inclusive price (that's airfare, accommodations, meals, excursions & educational opportunities) is $2,345 for adults, $1,895 for a child sharing with one adult and $1,645 for a child sharing with two adults.
The Norwegian program finds you headquarterd at Fleischer's Hotel in the village of Voss, in that country's splendid Fjordland. It's a first-class hotel that is managed by the fourth generation of Fleischers, with pool, sauna, solarium, tennis court, piano bar and nightclub. All rooms have bath or shower, radio and color TV. You take cable cars and mountain walks to explore Viking country, attending a Greig concert, visit the Knute Rockne Memorial, taking a cruise on a fjord and riding the famed Flam Line, Europe's railway with the most spectacular scenery, or so they say. You will visit a 12th-century stave church at Vik, on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Evening activities include folklore performances, but you also visit the home of Edvard Grieg in Bergen (on a full-day excursion). Lectures on Norway today, folklore and the fjords will be part of your experience, and children will get a chance to participate in typical Norwegian games, as well as start learning the language and listen to a talk on Vikings. Prices from Chicago are $2,495 for adults, $2,095 for child sharing with one adult and $1,795 for child sharing with two adults.
The Swiss experience takes you to the village of Meiringen (where I have stayed, happily, in an apartment above a butcher shop). You will take a cog-rail train ride to the 7,500-foot summit of Rothom, visit a Swiss farm in its Heidi-like meadow setting, and see Reichenbach Falls, a favorite spot where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle liked to meditate. (He placed the death of Sherlock Holmes here, at the hands of the swinish Professor Moriarty.) You'll take mountain walks and boat rides, as well as visiting other villages in the Bernese Oberland by bus. In Meiringen, you'll stay at the first-class Alpin Sherpa Hotel, where rooms include bath or shower and TV with CNN. You'll ride trains such as the "Golden Pass," the "Bernese Oberland"and the "Jungfraubahn" (the latter the highest railway in Europe). There's also a nice cruise on Lake Lucerne, and a picnic lunch in one of those "Sound of Music" meadows (Austria isn't all that far away). Children will get a taste of the German language and visit a zoo, as well as hiking on the Glacier Experience Trail. From Chicago or Atlanta, the cost for adults is $2,495, for a child sharing with one adult $1,995 and $1,745 for a child sharing with two adults. From Los Angeles or San Francisco the comparative costs are $2,595, $2,095 and $1,845.
For more information, contract AHI International at www.ahitravel.com or 800/323-7373.