Tips & Trips

TOURS

There's more to Quebec than Quebec City, and summer is the best time of year to check it out. Explore the best of the Gaspe Peninsula on one of two 10-day tours from Toronto-based Horizon & Company Journeys begin on the shores of the majestic St. Lawrence River and work their way north, from the crimson cliffs of the Ile-aux-Coudres, where Jacques Cartier anchored in 1535, to the rocky coastlines of the Perce coast. Along the way keep your cameras ready for beluga whales, scenic lighthouses, and the characteristic tin-covered Quebecois church steeples. These tours begin and end in Quebec City. Dates are August 3-12, and September 14-23 and the price is $3,212 a person.

For more information, call 800-387-2977 or visit www.horizon-co.com.

HOTEL

If you make the trek to Vietnam this summer, you'd better pack a pocket fan. It may also be nice to know that a cool deal awaits once you get there. The Sofitel Metropole Hanoi is offering a special rate of $150 a night in a superior guest room, based on double occupancy, through August 31. The 198-room hotel has several French- and Vietnamese-themed restaurants and bars and occupies a French colonial-style building in the heart of the city.

For reservations and information, call 800-763-4835 or visit www.sofitel.com.

WEEKEND GETAWAYS

Who needs security stress and the CNN Airport Network when you can relax on the farm? Hit the road and head to New Hampshire, home to 2,400 active farms. At the Inn at East Hill Farm in Troy (www.east-hill-farm.com), guests can milk a cow or goat, collect eggs from chickens, and churn butter. D Acres in Dorchester (www.dacres.com) is an organic farm and educational homestead that operates a hostel. You can pick your own blueberries at Fenella and Anthony Levick's farm (www.monadnockberries.com) or shop at the Beans & Greens farm market in a historic barn in Gilford (www.beansandgreens.com). Christy and Scott Johnson's 65-acre farm in Windham (www.farmnfools.com) was established as a dairy farm in 1884 and now has two greenhouses with ornamental plants, ice cream, vegetable stands, and a petting zoo. On another organic note, Jennifer Allen continues a 50-year-old family tradition of creating lampshades from locally collected and pressed plants (www.botanicallampshades.com).

For directories of New Hampshire farm stands and farmer's markets, visit www.agriculture.nh.gov.
For activities or lodging options in the Granite State, call 603-271-2665 or 800-FUN-IN-NH, or visit www.VisitNH.com.

MUSEUM

Could it be better than the real thing? The Louvre has just unveiled its completely refurbished Web site, at which online visitors can view the museum's permanent collection of more than 35,000 works and 140,000 drawings. That amounts to far more than what can actually be displayed in the museum itself at any given time, and here's a bonus: It's free and there's no one to block your view. One-third of the Louvre's 6 million annual visitors are American, so it should come as no surprise that the Silicon Valley outfit Blue Martini helped soup up the site, which also offers easier navigation than before, image magnification, interactive 3-D floorplans, and virtual thematic tours.

Visit www.louvre.fr.

RESORT

Here's a deal that combines relaxation with a healthy dose of exploration. The Palms Villa Resort in Tobago is offering four days of complimentary car rental with every seven-night booking from July 7 to September 30. The small island has a wealth of rain forests, hidden coves, and fishing villages. The resort has five luxury villas set on 10 acres of grounds near beaches and national parks. Guests can expect fully stocked refrigerators on arrival, as well as daily housekeeping service. Rates during this period start at $495 a night.

For more information, call 800-809-5118 or visit www.thepalmstobago.com.