TRAVEL BARGAINS : ENSENADA TRIP HIGHLIGHTS WINING AND DINING.

Byline: Daily News

Looking for a south-of-the-border getaway?

Baja California Tours is offering a three-day trip to Ensenada from San Diego on July 15. The trip includes two nights at the Villa Marina Hotel, special meals at the Cave of the Tigers and El Rey Sol restaurant, as well as lunch and a tour at L.S. Cetto Winery in the Guadalupe Valley.

Cost is $150 per person, double occupancy. Information: [phone].

Hotel deals: If you're headed to just about any major city in Europe or the United States this summer, you may be able to take advantage of a summer sale at Sofitel hotels.

Rooms per night, double or single occupancy, range from $125 to $165 under the ``Summer Sale'' package and include breakfast.

Sofitels in Miami and Washington, D.C., are among those offering the $125 rate, while Sofitel hotels in Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco Bay offer some rooms for $145.

Among those with the $165 rate: Sofitel Paris Champs Elysees, Sofitel Rome and Sofitel Venice.

Information: [phone].

Hawaii beach and breakfast: Two Maui hotels are offering guests special packages that pair stays with breakfast or use of a rental car.

Through Dec. 20, the Maui Marriott Resort in Kaanapali is featuring an ocean-view room and a compact car or the room and breakfast for two for $199 per night. Information about the ``Maui Grab Bag'': [phone].

At Wailea, the Kea Lani Hotel is offering a ``Sunny Side Up'' package featuring a stay for up to four people in a one-bedroom suite with breakfast for two or the ``Midsize'' package featuring the one-bedroom suite and use of a midsize rental car. Cost ranges from $315 for a scenic view suite to $495 for a deluxe ocean-view suite. Information: [phone].

Biking at Tahoe: The skiers are gone and the mountain bikers are invited to the slopes of Northstar-at-Tahoe's Mountain Bike Park six miles from the north shore of Lake Tahoe.

The lodge offers a ``Mountain Getaway'' package that features two nights' accommodations and a two-day, multiride lift ticket (lifts to both Mount Pluto and Lookout Mountain are equipped to carry mountain bikes). Trail maps lead mountain bikers to either the technical training and slalom courses for skilled riders or to the cross-country trail for novices.

Cost is $131 per person, double occupancy. The package is available daily through Sept. 1 and on weekends from Sept. 6-Oct. 12, weather permitting. Information: [phone].

Freebies: The United States Tour Operators Association is offering a free ``Smart Traveler's Planning Kit'' with information on selecting tours and how to get what you pay for. Order via mail at USTOA, 342 Madison Ave., Suite 1522, New York, N.Y. 10173, or by e-mail: USTOAaol.com.

A free brochure of whitewater wilderness river trips on Idaho's Middle Fork of the Salmon River is available by calling Middle Fork River Expeditions, [phone].

The 1997 Washington State Travel Planner is available by calling [phone].