If you want to stay cool this summer, there's no better place to do so than in Canada. And if you want to be the first on your block to honor the "true discoverers of America," the Vikings, consider a trip to Newfoundland this year, costing just $1,199, airfare included.
That's the price for a Maxxim Vacations package called "Voyage of the Vikings," which takes you on Air Canada from New York and gives you seven nights' accommodation, a seven-day mid-size rental car with unlimited mileage, round-trip ferry transfers to Labrador, and extras such as dinner theater and a scenic boat tour.
The daily departures are from May 1 through October 31, 2003. Comparably priced packages are available from other US gateways on Air Canada, as well.
You'll visit L'Anse aux Meadows, close to the northern tip of Newfoundland, where Leif Eriksson (son of Erik the Red) stepped ashore some 500 years before Columbus scraped his boat up against one of the islands in The Bahamas. It was in 1000 A.D., in fact, when the Norwegians built a village here, calling it Vinland after the wild grapes that grew there. The ruins were discovered only in 1961, consisting now of a dozen Viking building remains and artifacts such as a soapstone spindle whorl, large iron boat nails and a ring pin. It's a World Heritage Site and aNational Historic Site of Canada.
In addition to visiting the Vinland, you travel at your own pace throughout western Newfoundland, staying each night in a reserved room at a hotel, country inn or B&B. On your itinerary might be Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site also, or the towns of St. Anthony and Battle Harbour. Available activities along the way include whale-watching, mukluk-buying, iceberg spying, rock scrambling, hiking, boating, swimming, camping and fishing, as well as lectures, interpretive walks and campfire programs.
For more details or to book, contact Maxxim Vacations at 800/567-6666 or 709/754-6666. Their Web site is www.maxximvacations.com.