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 = Programs reviewed by Senior Travel Editor Alison Gardner
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The Learning Traveller – Language Immersion Programs for Mature (50+)
Learners
Have you had a lifelong dream of learning French, Spanish, German, Italian or Chinese? The Learning Traveller 50 Plus programs offer language learning holidays that are designed specifically for the older student’s unique learning needs. Programs consist of daily language classes followed by cultural activities and excursions in and around your host city. Teachers are experienced and highly energetic, activities and excursions are rich and varied, and your classmates are fellow mature learners from around the world. We provide the highest levels of program knowledge and customer service, ensuring you get the most out of your language learning holiday! Call us toll free on 1 888 386 1411.
Go deeper with a language learning vacation.
Dates: Spring or fall for dedicated 50 Plus programs. Year-round for regular adult programs..
Cost:$2,000 - $2,500 / 2 weeks (classes, accommodation, activities & excursions)
Contact: The Learning Traveller Inc, 121 Wyndham St., Ste. 201, North Guelph, Ont. N1H 4E9, Canada
Toll free tel: 1 888 386 1411. Int’l phone: +1 519 821 3202. Fax +1 519 821 7490.
Email: info@learningtraveller.com
Web: www.learningtraveller.com
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Multisport adventures for the 50+ traveller
Elder Expeditions offers all inclusive multisport vacation packages to an ever increasing list of destinations worldwide. Examples of the sports which Elder Expeditions’ trips include are biking, hiking, horseback riding, dog sledding, canoeing, kayaking, whitewater rafting, cave exploration, Nordic and Alpine skiing, zip wiring, high rope walking and snow showing. Elder Expeditions’ trips do not include extreme sports. Most Elder Expeditions’ trips include some cultural activities such as horse-drawn sleigh rides, hot air ballooning, concerts, local story telling, learning to play an Irish drum, and visits to historical points of interest.
Dates: Elder Expeditions’ trips are offered throughout the year. Exact dates for each destination are listed on the Elder Expeditions website.
Cost: The cost for each destination is listed on the Elder Expeditions website.
Contact: Dea Hagues, Elder Expeditions, Inc., P.O. Box 474, Fortson, GA 31808. Tel: 706 341-7858. Toll free: 877 92 ELDER (877 923-5337).
Email: dea@elderexpeditions.com
Website: www.elderexpeditions.com
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AmeriSpan, 117 South 17th St., Ste. 1401, Philadelphia, PA 19103; 800-879-6640 or 215-751-1100; info@amerispan.com, www.amerispan.com. AmeriSpan offers immersion programs worldwide to learn 20 different languages including Spanish, Italian, German, French, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. Specialized programs combine activities including cooking, wine-tasting, sailing, golf and dance with language classes. With over 28,000 clients to date, the company offers instruction from beginner to advanced together with memorable cultural experiences. Some seniors prefer to avoid June, July, and August, which attract droves of college-age students; excellent months, particularly in Latin America, are February to April and September to December when older participants receive more personalized service. Visit AmeriSpan’s best programs for seniors at: www.amerispan.com/language_schools/seniors.asp.
Center for Global Education, Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55454; 800-299-8889 or 612-330-1159, fax 612-330-1695; globaled@augsburg.edu, www.augsburg.edu/global/triplist.html. Through travel-study seminars to Latin America and Southern Africa, learn about unfamiliar cultures and contemporary challenges with all-inclusive tour itineraries and themes such as fair trade issues in Nicaragua, immigration in Mexico, and microfinance in Namibia.
ElderTreks: Small Group Adventure Travel Tours for Travelers 50 and Over. The world's first adventure travel company designed exclusively for people 50 and over. Established in 1987, ElderTreks offers active, off-the-beaten-path small-group adventures in over 80 countries around the globe. Our journeys focus on adventure, culture and nature. Choose a wildlife safari in Tanzania, explore Mongolia by camel, hike to Patagonia's Torres del Paine, navigate the awesome ruins of Angkor Wat or step foot on the Antarctic Peninsula. Naturally, you’re invited.
Website: www.eldertreks.com.
Road Scholar, which has been a not-for-profit educational travel provider since 1975, offers 7,000 educational programs in 150 countries and in the U.S.: 1-800-454-5768; www.roadscholar.org.
Routes to Learning Canada (Canadian roadscholar provider), 4 Cataraqui St., Kingston, Ontario K7K 1Z7, Canada; 866-745-1690 or 613-530-2222, fax 613-530-2096; information@routestolearning.ca, www.routestolearning.ca. With 20 years of experience, Routes to Learning Canada (formerly roadscholar Canada) is Canada’s first and largest educational travel organization for adults 55 and over with a priority on high-quality, best-value learning travel experiences. Participants have direct access to leading scholars and experienced field staff that provide expert knowledge and thought-provoking activities. Participants come from every walk of life to learn together, exchange ideas, and explore every part of Canada as well as such destinations as China, France, the U.S., New Zealand and Ecuador.
TraveLearn, Inc., P.O. Box 556, Hawley, PA 18428; 800-235-9114 or 570-226-9114, fax 570-226-6912; info@TraveLearn.com, www.TraveLearn.com. TraveLearn is a leading educational tour operator with 28 years’ experience planning and delivering learning vacations. Seventy percent of clients are over 50. Reflecting land, land/cruise, and cruise-only itineraries from Alaska and Antarctica to Ireland and China’s Silk Road, programs deliver in-depth learning at a pace that allows for time to absorb surroundings and experiences. Each month TraveLearn’s free cybertravel newsletter immerses readers in the culture of one of its worldwide destinations. TraveLearn also offers “Budget Learning Vacations” for adults, where more modest accommodations and meal arrangements and a minimum group size allow for lower trip fees.
Roadscholar
Numerous cultural programs in Asia and Southeast Asia, including cruises.
Australia and South Pacific |
Roadscholar
Programs in Australia range from experiencing the life and culture of aboriginal peoples to exploring coral reefs. Programs in New Zealand range from visiting geysers, hiking, birding, wine tours, to taking a train around the country. Many other varied roadscholar programs on the Pacific islands.
Roadscholar
Programs in China including a Yangtze river cruise and train travel in China with a river cruise.
Roadscholar
Numerous cultural programs in Europe, including cruises.
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French Language and Culture Programs for Students aged 50+
Travel writer Jan Morris wrote that almost nothing in life is more pleasurable than to wake up one morning and find oneself eating croissants in France. Of course. France is the heart of Western civilization. As the heart gives life and meaning to the body, so France, with its blended images of beauty, age, good living, quirkiness and civilized lifestyle, gives meaning to culture, history, and worthwhile experience. Our holiday courses will immerse you in the local cultures where you’ll have the chance to use French in real-life settings and experience a taste of France most visitors only dream about.
Dates: Specialized 50+ programs available in Spring and Fall. Year-round dates available for regular language programs.
Contact: The Learning Traveller Inc, 121 Wyndham St., Ste. 201, North Guelph, Ont. N1H 4E9, Canada
Toll free tel: 1 888 386 1411. Int’l phone: +1 519 821 3202. Fax +1 519 821 7490.
Email: info@learningtraveller.com
Web: www.learningtraveller.com
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Roadscholar
Programs in France range from exploring and walking through various regions and into the world of the Impressionist painters.
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German Language and Culture Programs for Students aged 50+
Germany is a country rich in contrasts—from cobblestone streets in ancient villages, to lively cosmopolitan cities, to speed limit-less autobahns. It’s also a country of pristine forests, gleaming lakes and historic castles; the perfect backdrop for a Germany language holiday which combines enjoyable language classes and cultural activities and excursions.
Dates: Specialized 50+ program available in late August.
Contact: The Learning Traveller Inc, 121 Wyndham St., Ste. 201, North Guelph, Ont. N1H 4E9, Canada
Toll free tel: 1 888 386 1411. Int’l phone: +1 519 821 3202. Fax +1 519 821 7490.
Email: info@learningtraveller.com
Web: www.learningtraveller.com
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Italian Language and Culture Programs for Students aged 50+
For generations, young men and women traveled to Italy because Italy was the very seat of beauty, art and learning, inherited from classical times by way of the Renaissance. Today, Italian influences continue to permeate our world, from pizza to Pavarotti and dress designers to Ferraris. But how many of us can say we really understand Italy and Italian culture? An Italian immersion program in Florence, Rome or Taormina (Sicily) will not only connect you with other mature and engaged students, it will open the doors to the timelessly fascinating and true Italy itself.
Dates: Specialized 50+ programs available in Spring and Fall. Year-round dates available for regular language programs.
Contact: The Learning Traveller Inc, 121 Wyndham St., Ste. 201, North Guelph, Ont. N1H 4E9, Canada
Toll free tel: 1 888 386 1411. Int’l phone: +1 519 821 3202. Fax +1 519 821 7490.
Email: info@learningtraveller.com
Website: www.learningtraveller.com
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The Abruzzi Mountain Art Workshop in Italy
Live and work in a rustic mountain village as AMW continues its innovative fine arts program in drawing, painting, collage, mask-making, digital photography, encaustic, fresco and clay sculpture in stunning studios one hour from Rome. May-Oct. Work at 12th century sites, abandonded abbeys and in our WWF reserve. Independent studio space available.
Contact: Patricia Antonucci, 56 Ludlow Street New York, NY 10002 212 260 7603; email: rmpa@verizon.net; website: www.artworkshopitaly.com.
Roadscholar
Programs in Italy explores classic Tuscany and the treasures of Florence and Treasured Sicily.
Roadscholar
Program in Japan on "Tracing Japanese History."
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Spanish Language and Culture Programs for Students aged 50+
From bullfighting to flamenco, there’s a timelessness about Spain. Your senses become heightened. The light is different, hotter. The music stirs the blood. Spain is a banquet of bougainvillea blooming red and crimson, and air pungent with sizzling olive oil. Over 50 million people a year visit Spain. Speaking even a little Spanish will reveal another dimension of this multi-faceted deeply storied culture. Join one of our programs and master the language of Cervantes.
Dates: Specialized 50+ programs available in Winter, Spring and Fall. Year-round dates available for regular language programs.
Contact: The Learning Traveller Inc, 121 Wyndham St., Ste. 201, North Guelph, Ont. N1H 4E9, Canada
Toll free tel: 1 888 386 1411. Int’l phone: +1 519 821 3202. Fax +1 519 821 7490.
Email: info@learningtraveller.com
Website: www.learningtraveller.com
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Roadscholar
Programs in Spain explores the "Pathways of Culture," and "Spain and Morocco: Shared Histories, Complementary Cultures."
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Travel Abroad 
Senior Travel 
