ALPINE COUNTRIES
Day 1 - Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in Frankfurt, Germany. Time to rest or to explore the bustling metropolis on the River Main. At 6 p.m. meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D) Day 3 - Frankfurt - Rothenburg - Munich. The day is dedicated to Germany's Romantic Road leading from the flat country towards the Alps. Spend time in spectacular Rothenburg with its ramparts and towers, cobbled lanes, and 16th-century houses. From here it's an easy ride towards the Danube Valley and Munich. Tonight you may want to tackle a stein of beer at the Hofbräuhaus. (BB,D) Day 4 - Munich. Sightseeing with a Local Guide in Germany's "secret capital" includes the Olympic Stadium, 1,000-foot-high Television Tower, Nymphenburg Palace, MARIENPLATZ with the Old and New Town Hall, and the gothic Frauenkirche. Afternoon at leisure. An optional excursion to Linderhof Castle and Passion Play town of Oberammergau is available. (BB) Day 5 - Munich'Salzburg, Austria - Vienna. Through southern Bavaria to the Austrian border and on to Salzburg. Your walking tour with a Local Guide features the historic center of Mozart's hometown, exquisite MIRABELL GARDENS, the Great Festival Hall, ST. PETER'S CHURCHYARD, and the monumental Domplatz. Evening arrival in Vienna, once the center of the mighty Habsburg Empire. Tonight you may wish to try out local specialties and a typically Viennese form of entertainment. (BB) Day 6 - Vienna. Meet your Local Guide and start your sightseeing with vistas of Prater Park with its giant Ferris wheel, and the United Nations City on the banks of the Danube River. Then drive along Ring Boulevard, pass the State Opera House, the Jewish quarter, and stop at the Hofburg Palace, winter residence of the Austrian Imperial family. Marvel at the impressive courtyards and famous Heldenplatz and visit awesome ST. STEPHEN'S CATHEDRAL. Afternoon at leisure. Optional excursions to Schönbrunn Palace and to Grinzing for a taste of Heurigen wine are available. (BB) Day 7 - Vienna'St. Veit. Scenic Semmering Pass, peaceful baroque crossroad towns in Styria, and then the mountains, lakes, and popular resorts of Carinthia are on today's agenda. Overnight in St. Veit. (BB,D) Day 8 - St. Veit - Italian Dolomites - Innsbruck. An unforgettable drive via the Iselsberg Pass to the Italian border and to Cortina d - Ampezzo, the Olympic skiing resort in the Dolomites. Then via Tre Croci Pass and Lake Misurina to Brunico and the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck in the Tyrolean Alps. Stroll through its medieval lanes to Emperor Maximilian's GOLDEN ROOF. Why not join an optional Tyrolean song-anddance show" (BB,D) Day 9 - Innsbruck'St. Moritz, Switzerland. From the Inn Valley into beautiful Swiss Engadine, see deep-blue lakes, airy larch forests, mountain peaks exceeding 12,000 feet, and quaint villages with massive white stone houses in the characteristic Grisons style. Afternoon free in ritzy St. Moritz. (BB,D) Day 10 - St. Moritz - Lugano. Descend towards the Italian Lake Como and continue on to the southern tip of Switzerland to the popular subtropical resort town of Lugano, with plenty of time for an espresso on the flower-festooned Piazza Riforma and a refreshing walk in the shade of Parco Ciani's magnificent old trees. (BB,D) Day 11 - Lugano'Stresa, Italy - Zermatt. From Lake Lugano to the Italian shore of Lake Maggiore for a break in elegant Stresa. An optional boat ride to the enchanting Isola Bella can be arranged. On over the lofty Simplon Pass into the Swiss Valais, an area renowned for its great mountain resorts. To reach the most famous of them, leave the coach behind in Täsch and board a MOUNTAIN TRAIN to climb the last few miles up to Zermatt, a picturesque cluster of rustic chalets beneath the Matterhorn. (BB,D) Day 12 - At Leisure in Zermatt. Full day at leisure to ride Europe's highest rack-railway to 10,272-foot Gornergrat to explore the town on your own or to just simply relax. (BB) Day 13 - Zermatt - Berne - Interlaken - Lucerne. Through the vineyards and apricot groves of the lower Rhône Valley towards the terraced vineyards on Lake Geneva and the verdant dairy country of Gruyère, to the Swiss capital, Berne. See the monumental Federal Palace and the BEAR PIT before continuing via Interlaken, a Bernese Oberland resort beneath the towering Jungfrau, and across Brünig Pass to Lucerne. (BB,D) Day 14 - Lucerne. On your walking tour, admire Thorwaldsen's LION MONUMENT and ornate patrician houses of the walled Old Town, then cross the famous covered CHAPEL BRIDGE to the Jesuit church. Afterwards, shop for Swiss watches and choose from our optional activities: climb a mountain by cable car, take a cruise on the fjord-like lake, or sign up for a folklore party with yodeling and alphorn blowing for a first-hand impression of Alpine merrymaking. (BB) Day 15 - Lucerne - Heidelberg, Germany - Frankfurt. On the way back to Germany visit the thundering RHINE FALLS at Schaffhausen, a 70-foot cataract of the River Rhine. From here head north into the pine-clad hills of the Black Forest, and enjoy a WOODCARVING DEMONSTRATION on your way to Heidelberg, well-known for its red-walled castle. Tonight enjoy a farewell dinner with the friends gained during your exciting two-week vacation. (BB,D) Day 16 - Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (BB) |
