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Side Trips

Briefs: Top of the Rock

Get a bird's-eye peek at the Big Apple from the redesigned viewing area atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, home to NBC and the Rainbow Room. The observatory was an original feature of the 70-story skyscraper when the building opened in 1933, but closed in 1986.

Top of the Rock is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to midnight, with the last visitors admitted at 11:30 p.m. Ticket prices with timed entry are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $9 for children ages 6 to 11. For details, go to www.topoftherocknyc.com or call toll-free 1-877-692-7625.

This month's National Geographic Adventure lists the top 20 sports destinations to help you plan your next outdoor challenge. Some of them:

- For rafting, the Middle Fork Salmon River in Idaho; the Colorado River in Arizona's Grand Canyon; or the Futaleufu River in Chile.

- For mountaineering, Mount Rainier, Wash.; Grand Teton, Wyo., or Mount Everest in Nepal.

- For surfers, Kauai, Hawaii; Panama (Santa Catalina or Bocas del Toro); or Upolu Island, Samoa.

- For mountain bikers, Crested Butte, Colo.; Moab, Utah; or Wanaka Lake and Village near Queensland, New Zealand.

Why simply see the new movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when you can tour Scotland with a group of muggles and view the new release as well?

Vacationkids.com founder Sally Black leads a tour of Scotland Nov. 21 to 26. The tour includes a Golden Circle dinner and screening of the new movie, lunch at the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote her novels, a tour of underground vaults in Edinburgh and Alnwick Castle, a Thanksgiving feast at Dalhousie Castle and a tour of several Harry Potter movie settings. The land-only rate is $1,499 per adult and $1,049 per child. Call 610 681-7360 or go to www.vacationkids.com

Paddle with whales in the San Diego area on half-day kayak tours on weekends from Dec. 17 and through March during the California gray whale migration season.

The guided trips pass through La Jolla Ecological Reserve. Participants, ages 8 and older, must be able to swim. Cost is $65 per person and includes kayaking equipment and instruction, life jackets, wetsuits, guides and refreshments.

Call Hike Bike Kayak San Diego toll-free at 1-866-425-2925 or go to www.hikebikekayak.com

When lost on vacation, 74 percent of travelers ask for directions, 22 percent just keep going, 3 percent complain and 1 percent blame the map. - Survey on Frommers.com.

The historic Paradise Inn on Washington's Mount Rainier is closing until at least spring 2008 for a multimillion-dollar makeover. The park also is building a new visitor center in the inn's parking lot.

The picturesque inn, built in 1916 from silver fir and local rock, will retain its grand architecture, including the massive timbers, stone fireplaces and cheery public spaces. The nearby Jackson Visitor Center will remain open while a smaller building is built to replace it.

For visitors with special needs - ranging from food allergies to autism to mobility problems - Walt Disney World for Your Special Needs (PassPorter Travel Press, $22.95) provides advice and information.

You'll learn where and how to find food that is kosher, vegetarian or free of certain ingredients. Authors Deb Wills and Debra Martin Koma also list resources and accommodations for those who use wheelchairs, including which resorts have wheelchair-accessible swimming pools as well as pool wheelchairs.

In addition, plenty of tips are offered for parents of special-needs children, such as taking part in a sit-down "character meal," where kids can meet Cinderella or Mickey without waiting in a long line.

- Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. Reach her at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 4, 2005, 10:41:03]