Tour Host Pick of the Month

National Trust Tours

by Sheri Leigh

For over 35 years the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been organizing study tours to destinations of historic significance worldwide. Their tour arm, National Trust Tours is this month's Pick due to its outstanding opportunities for travelers to experience the wealth of architectural masterpieces, ancient through to modern, that illustrate man's creative skill.

National Trust Tours are led by specialists in their respective fields; architecture, archaeology, history and cover sights as diverse as a cruise along the Mississippi and Antebellum South, "Chicago: A Century of Architecture", "The Last Face of Real Africa: Treasures of Mali, from the Dogon to Timbuktu", "English Garden Treasures", "Jewels of India Aboard the Palace on Wheels Train" and "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Aboard Corinthian II".

The National Trust also operates Historic Hotels of America, with over 200 separate members providing travelers the chance to stay in some of America's most historic and remarkable lodgings. All properties must be at least 50 years old, listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or recognized locally as having historic significance.

The Trust's web site also lists 28 Historic Sites as diverse as quiet oak-shaded bayous in Louisiana to crowded city streets in New York, from a simple California adobe to a massive castle overlooking the Hudson River and Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House of 1940 to James Madison's Montpelier, built almost two centuries earlier. The site also features Partner Places, a collection of historic locations that welcome Trust members. Additionally, each year they also select a Dozen Distinctive Destinations, the must see American cities for that year.

Whether you are looking for a weekend get-away or a longer journey abroad, National Trust Tours and their affiliated ventures, insure you can immerse yourself in history, as close as your own backyard, or on the opposite end of the world.