History Repeats Itself

Q Friends are meeting in Williamsburg in late April. Our ages range from 60 to 85. Any ideas -- other than the usual historic area -- about how to spend our time? We love music, laughter and good food.

Marge Killmon

Annandale

A Williamsburg isn't only petticoats and wigs -- the historic town and its environs are rife with music, art, restaurants and shopping. And while Colonial Williamsburg can be tough on the legs, Priscilla Caldwell, communications manager of the Williamsburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, says, "Many of our visitors are older, so we made efforts to accommodate those visitors so they can see the historic areas as well." For a quick spin through Revolutionary times, take a shuttle around the periphery of the historic area or hail a horse-drawn carriage for a trot down Duke of Gloucester Street.

In April, the flowers are in full bloom, and you can view Williamsburg area home gardens independently or with a guide. On April 22-30, the state celebrates Historic Garden Week ( http://www.vagardenweek.org/ ), and Williamsburg gets in the spirit with garden tours, lectures and Art on the Square (April 30). Colonial Williamsburg also organizes weekly cultural events, such as candlelight concerts featuring 18th-century chamber or classical music performed by costumed musicians. At Kimball Theater, catch a farcical play -- imagine "Three's Company" set in the Revolutionary Age -- or an 18th-century-style vaudeville show. On Saturdays, farmers set up shop at the farmers market.

For dining options, the Williamsburg Inn Regency Room pairs dinner with an orchestra or ballroom dancing. At the King's Arms or Christiana Campbell's taverns, waiters in period dress serve 18th-century-inspired meals in a candlelit dining room. The taverns have a no-electricity policy, except in the bathrooms and kitchen.

For outings near Williamsburg, the Williamsburg Winery (757-229-0999, http://www.williamsburgwinery.com/ ) has tours, tastings and lunch in the vineyard. From the winery, it's a quick hop to Jamestown, which is about celebrate its 400th birthday. Heading east, Yorktown recently unveiled the Riverwalk Landing, a strip of art galleries, boutiques, tall ships and restaurants, such as the all-American Riverwalk Restaurant.

Info: Williamsburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, 800-368-6511, http://www.visitwilliamsburg.com/ .

We're going to Cyprus (the south) and would like to rent a car to explore the island. Can we travel to the north? Which rental companies have insurance policies that will cover us?

Thornton Staples Faber, Va.

Since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, the Mediterranean's third-largest island has not been a harmonious whole. Cyprus does not recognize the occupied territory -- only Turkey does -- but tourists can freely drive between the north and south. A caveat: The car insurance is valid only in the republic where you rented the car.

According to an e-mail statement from the Cyprus Tourism Organization, "If a tourist wishes to drive the car to the occupied areas, they are doing so at their own risk, due to the fact that neither the rental company nor the Cyprus Republic [can] guarantee or ensure safety of visitors in the occupied areas or offer any assistance in case they have a car accident or there is an emergency."

However, the Washington office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (202-887-6198, www.trncinfo.com ) says you can buy a supplemental insurance policy at any of the border crossings (where you also get a visa) that will cover your northern leg -- or southern jaunt, depending on your starting point.

The Cyprus Tourism Organization lists car rental companies on its Web site ( http://www.visitcyprus.org.cy/ ), or contact the agency at 212-683-5280.

Postscript

G.S. Shukla of Germantown offered suggestions for visiting South Africa (Jan. 22). "Your response . . . omitted one must-do in Cape Town -- a cable car ride to Table Mountain." For tour operators in Cape Town, Shukla recommended Cape Escape ( http://www.cape-escape-tours.co.za/ ), and Adventours ( http://www.adventours.co.za/ ) for Johannesburg.

Lisa Brookhard of Centreville wrote in about Italian cooking vacations with kids (Jan. 22). Brookhard hires a chef from Amore Sapore ( http://www.amoresapore.com/ ). "We have a wonderful chef that we hire when we go with our children in the summer. We stay in an Umbrian farmhouse, close to Cortona, and they come to our house," she wrote. "They are wonderful with the kids and the food is fabulous."

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