Travel: Genealogical Tour Guides

For those eager to trace their roots without doing reams of research, genealogical tour guides will handle all the legwork. Scottish Ancestral Trails will design a trip built around any information—surname, birth certificate, old photos. "If you heard your grandmother singing a song about how she used to live on a hill overlooking a town, we can go with that," says co-owner Lesley Gray. The seven-day custom trips are chauffeur-driven, and accommodations often include castles (from $14,000 for two; scottish-ancestral-trail.co.uk).

Research and Travel Dr. Grams specializes in emigration from Germany; he's traced one clan to the 17th century (from $800 a day, pre-trip research from $5,000; roots.de). Routes to Roots traces Jewish ancestry in Eastern Europe, offering tours of Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Moldova (routestoroots.com). And Swedish Genline Family Travel takes a detective approach, knocking on doors, writing letters to ancestral churches and talking to historians. The five-, seven- or 10-day trips often end in reunions with distant cousins (from $10,000 for two; genline.com).