Yosemite and You

Q I'm looking to do a tour of Yosemite National Park and surrounding areas. Where can I get information? What airport would I fly into?

C.F. Carr

Columbia

A Many tour operators offer trips that include Yosemite National Park in California's Sierra Nevada as one of the stops, but they don't spend more than a day or two there. If you want to spend more time, you're better off putting the trip together yourself.

The closest international airport is about an hour away in Fresno, Calif., but flights from D.C. cost more than $400 round trip. You can fly into Oakland or San Francisco for half the cost, but the drive to the heart of the valley takes about 3 1/2 hours each way.

Yosemite offers many different lodging choices, ranging from the Ahwahnee, a four-diamond historic lodge built in 1927 (rooms start at $367 a night) to Curry Village, where a canvas tent cabin starts at $60. The middle-of-the-road Yosemite Lodge is $110 a night. Info: 559-253-5635, www.yosemitepark.com.

Several bus tours of the park are offered, including the full-day "Grand Tour" for $55 that hits most of the key sights, including the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias and Glacier Point, one of the best viewpoints in the park. You can book these tours at the lodges or by calling 209-372-1240 within six days of your trip. Yosemite Mountaineering School (209-372-8344, www.yosemitepark.com) also leads climbing, backpacking, hiking and cross-country skiing tours.

I plan to rent a vacation villa in coastal Spain. What should I look for?

Chuck Welter

Germantown