Expedia partners up for theme tours

Company promotes multiday adventures of iExplore, others, from staying in Ian Fleming's home to biking through national parks.

Candace Lombardi

In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.

See full bio

Candace Lombardi

July 11, 2006 8:17 a.m. PT

Expedia has taken the idea of Web site as travel agent one step further by promoting customizable theme trips it calls Expedia Experiences. The coordinated accommodations, activities and dining fit into a specific theme from the following categories: cultural/historical, exotic/adventure, live event, luxury/glamour, romance and sports. Rather than book online, customers are shown planned itineraries and directed to call a tour specialist partner of Expedia such as iExplore or Classic Vacations.

The packages, which do not include airfare, vary greatly in price and experience. "National Parks in Utah and Arizona," an 11-night adventure beginning at $1,199, includes activities such as mountain biking to Gooseberry Mesa and horseback riding through Bryce and Red Canyons. The $24,250 "Experience Jamaica Like a Spy" trip, by contrast, includes a stay at Ian Fleming's home, yacht and helicopter trips, a chef, a butler and valet services.