Pascha Tours recently offered an eight-day package to Istanbul for $590, which I took late in March.

This is an eight-day package costing $995 a person for four or more, $1,045 for each of three, $1,195 for each of two.

Visitors can also find packages that include air fare and accommodations; Avensa, for example, offers an eight-day package for $589 a person in double occupancy.

Nature Expeditions International, in Plantation, Fla., has an eight-day package for groups of two or more people, with weekly departures throughout the year.

Other companies offer an eight-day package, allowing for more time to adjust to the altitude.

An eight-day package combining Prague with Budapest starts at $1,339.

This accounts for the prevalence of seven- and eight-day packages among the bargains: longer or shorter stays may mean a return date in the premium-price zone.

An eight-day package, including transportation to and from Chihuahua, is $1,125 a person from Saturday to Saturday.

The eight-day package departed from Ottawa and offered the added attraction of an overnight in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, the new Inuit-ruled province of Canada.

A similar eight-day package starts at $699 (for January departures) and includes four sightseeing programs.