12 WAYS TO HAVE AN EXCELLENT EUROPEAN ADVENTURE.

Byline: Gerry Volgenau Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

A number of ways come to mind for seeing Europe.

There's the standard way.

Day One: Eat breakfast, visit a cathedral, ogle the stained glass, eat lunch, visit a museum, ogle the paintings, eat dinner, drink too much wine, give the old ogle a rest.

Day Two: Repeat Day One.

But there are other ways - ways that can give you a different perspective on Europe and probably on yourself as well.

Stay in a castle in England and practice your broadsword technique. Take a slow barge through the Burgundy wine country, pedal a bike along the Portuguese coast, take a walking tour through Provence, tuck a pile of books under one arm and attend class at Oxford. The options go on and on.

Here are 12 terrific ideas for a special vacation in Europe - some are inexpensive, some not so. All will be great stuff for your memory book.

Pedal, pedal: How about one five-star beach after another while pedaling the coast of Portugal? Dinners of fresh seafood and local cheese. Staying nights at a 400-year-old castle, an elegant country estate and, yes, some four-star hotels. Nine days and eight nights. Tour dates in June, early September and October. Price: $1,550 a person, double occupancy. Air fare not included. Information: Easy Rider Tours, [phone].

Oxford summer session: Study Chaucer, ``Comparative Politics: British vs. American,'' British architecture or other courses at Corpus Christi College at Oxford. Open to undergraduates, graduates, teachers and Anglophiles. Two three-week sessions starting June 30. Cost: For one session worth three or four semester credits, $2,800 for tuition, lodging, most meals, theater tickets and museum visits; for both sessions, $5,200. Air fare not included. Offered by Oakland University and the University of Detroit Mercy. Information: [phone] weekdays or [phone] evenings.

Barging through France: In Paris, board a barge and putt-putt into the Burgundy region visiting chateaux, stopping at wine cellars and testing champagne in a private tour of the Moet & Chandon cellars. Each meal on board is a gourmet's delight. Touring on Maupintours' Lebellule barge is leisurely and elegant, but not cheap at $6,750 for one, based on double occupancy for the 14-day venture. Air fare not included. Information: [phone].

Really old caves: For years, only a few scientists have been allowed to enter the original Cave of Lascaux in France, which contains thousands of colored paintings of animals that date back 17,000 years. Visits by tourists from the time of the cave's discovery in 1940 until 1963 brought in bacteria and pollen that caused algae to grow in the caves. So they were closed to the public. Now, each year, International Art and Anthropological Tours can bring in one group of 25 people as part of a 15-day tour. It starts in Spain with a visit to Cave of Altamira (also restricted) and then moves on to France, visiting prehistoric caves and museums along the way. From June 17 to July 1. Cost is $5,200 a person, double occupancy. Does not include air fare. Information: [phone].

Castle or cottage: You could be Lancelot or Guinevere for a week when you stay at a British castle, Kingswear, a late 15th-century fortress designed to protect Dartmouth on the river Dart. Cost starts at $960 for six nights. Or you could strut about in a kilt saying things like ``Aye, laddie'' if you stay at a cottage on Drummuir Castle Estate in Scotland. The nearby lake is stocked with fish, and the Glenfiddich distillery of scotch whiskey is only three miles away. Cost is $265 for two nights, not including the whiskey. You can find these and more than 400 often inexpensive cottages and castles all over England, Scotland and Wales, including town houses in London, in ``Cottage Holidaying in Britain'' by Gale Armstrong (Classic Media Publications, $16.95). Available at bookstores, or call [phone].

Saddle up: How about riding across Provence on horseback? Take a six-day, 90-mile clip-clop through the French villages of Monnieux, Saint-Trinit, Le Revest du Bion, Banon, Montsallier and Contadour. The ride features traditional French breakfasts, six-course lunches outdoors and stays at restored farmhouses or country inns. Cost is $1,450 and includes horse, equipment, guide, six nights' lodging and all meals. Air fare not included. Call Cross Country International Equestrian Vacations, [phone].

Yacht the Greek Isles: Start with three days in Athens to visit the Parthenon and other sights, then seven nights aboard the yacht Zeus to tranquilize your soul while visiting the isles of Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos. Cost is $1,996 a person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York. Call IST Cultural Tours, [phone].

To the links, laddie: This is a golfer's dream cruise. Sail with eight others for seven days on the Caldonian Canal that runs through the Scottish highlands. You play five rounds of golf at five of Scotland's toughest courses: Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Boat of Garten, Newtonmore and Gleneagles. Meals, cruise and greens fees are all covered. Cost is $2,390 a person, double occupancy. Air fare not included. Call Five Star Touring, [phone].

Single tracking: Fat-tire cyclists can hit the Pyrenees, grinding the heights and swooping down some gnarly single tracks or cruising dirt roads along the River Garonne. Rides are for all skill levels and go through the storied mountains on the French-Spanish border on five- to 14-day trips. Costs start at $495 for seven nights. Air fare not included. Call Bike Treks International, [phone].

Language studies: Learn Spanish in Madrid, French in Paris, German in Munich and Italian in Florence. Language studies include homestays with families, breakfast and dinners. Sample price: Learn Spanish in Madrid for $1,400 for four weeks, with four hours a day of classes. Air fare not included. Call Language Studies Abroad, [phone].

Walk, walk, walk: At a speed where you can savor France's Provence district, walk past olive groves and sunflowers. Visit Vincent Van Gogh's city of Arles, the Roman ruins at Glanum and the 14th-century hilltop village of Les Baux. Cost is $2,290 a person, double occupancy, with groups limited to 18 people. Air fare not included. Call Mountain Travel-Sobek, [phone].

Stay at home: No, not your home. Some other family's home, say in Great Britain. Or perhaps with an English-speaking family in France, Germany, Italy, Spain or other European countries. This is your chance to get to know the locals. Per-night prices range from $18 to $37.50. Contact Home & Guest Service, Harwood House, 27 Effie Road., London SWGIEN, U.K.

On Location ``When in Rome . . .'' is good advice for travelers to Europe. But figuring out just what the heck it is those Romans are doing isn't always as straightforward as you might think.

Many everyday procedures, from parking the car to getting ketchup for your french fries, are performed differently on the other side of the Atlantic.

Here are some examples of things that Europeans do that we don't do here.

At many banks, doors are kept locked and patrons must buzz their way in with a button by the door. They also must push an ``exit'' button to get out.

Taking a dog to a restaurant is not uncommon. Most are hand-held size, but larger ones go, too. And behave.

To conserve electricity, hotel hallways and staircases are often darkened when not in use. Push a button (on a timer) for light.

In grocery stores, you don't touch fruit before purchasing it.

Taxis in many cities charge extra for luggage put into the trunk ($1.20 per bag in Paris, for example).

In many older restaurants and buildings, men and women use the same public restroom - at the same time.

In France, you can buy beer and wine at McDonald's.

Many bars, bistros and casual cafes have a two-tiered payment scheme. If you stand at the counter for a quick snack or drink, you generally pay one-half to one-third of what you would pay if you ordered the same food and beverage while sitting at a table.

In inexpensive hotels and guest houses, a manually operated five- or 10-gallon water heater often is provided for the shower, sink or bath. Remember to turn it on or you'll stand there forever wondering why there's no hot water.

If you're handed a hotel key to room No. 101, don't look for it on the ground floor. The first floor in European buildings is what Americans call the second floor.

Mustard, mayonnaise and tomato paste come in tubes, like toothpaste, as well as in jars.

Few European grocery stores provide free bags at checkout. Customers either bring their own or buy one at the store.

An all-day family pass for public transportation in Munich, Germany, is good for two adults, two children and one dog.

SOURCE: - Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) Visit Rhodes' Palace of the Grand Master during a cruise of the Greek Isles.

Greek National Tourist Organization

(2--Color) Meander through France on a barge, skimming the Seine, sailing canals, stoping at wine cellars and tasting champagnes along the way.

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