Tip Sheet.(musical vacations, osteoporsis, New York City restaurants)

Byline: Tara Pepper, Mary Carmichael

Travel: Vacationing With Verdi

By Tara Pepper

Want to take a musical holiday? A variety of tours allow music lovers to build vacations around concerts, and specialist travel agents can make sure you get the best seats in Europe's historic venues. They'll even arrange music lessons. tip sheet listens up:

Allegro Holidays arranges tickets for performances at Paris's ornate Opera Garnier and the more modern Opera Bastille as part of its Passion of Opera vacation, with departures through next March. The eight-day Brandenburg Concertos tour , which offers daily departures through Dec. 20, 2005, takes in a concert in Berlin and a performance at Dresden's newly restored Semper Opera. It concludes with a concert at Leipzig's historic Gewandhaus. (allegro holidays.com )

Leipzig's traditional Christmas market makes it perfect for a December getaway. Boutique travel agent John Whibley's Christmas Oratorio in Leipzig tour (Dec. 10-13) is built around a recital of Bach's seasonal work at the Thomaskirche, where the composer served as cantor for nearly 30 years. The trip includes a performance of Verdi's "Aida" and a tour of Leipzig University's musical-instruments collection. (whibley.co.uk )

For more intimate concerts, Whibley offers chamber music in the Palazzo delle Prigione in Venice (Nov. 18-21). The trip includes a concert of wind and string trios by Beethoven and Mozart, and a piano recital. For a musical New Year's Eve, Chamber Music Holidays' Prague tour (Dec. 27-Jan. 5) features five concerts and three operas, including a performance of "Don Giovanni" in the theater where Mozart premiered it. (chambermusicholidays.com )