CONTINENTAL INTRODUCTION
Day 1 - (Fri.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in Paris, France. (Sat.) The day is free to rest or to start exploring the splendid French capital. At 6 p.m. meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a special welcome dinner with wine in one of Paris" fine restaurants. (D) Day 3 - Paris. (Sun.) Sightseeing with a Local Guide features Arc de Triomphe, Opéra, Madeleine, Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Champs-Elysées, and more. For a panoramic view take the elevator to the second floor of the EIFFEL TOWER. Afternoon at leisure. An optional excursion to the Palace of Versailles is available. Tonight, a lively cabaret show might just be the ticket. (BB) Day 4 - Paris - Lucerne, Switzerland. (Mon.) Enjoy a comfortable ride skirting Fontainebleau Forest and through the vineyards of Burgundy to the Swiss border. Enjoy vistas of the Alps as you arrive in picture-book Lucerne. (BB,D) Day 5 - Lucerne - Como, Italy. (Tue.) Admire Thorwaldsen's LION MONUMENT and walk through the walled Old Town, then cross the famous covered CHAPEL BRIDGE to the Jesuit Church. Why not join an optional excursion to the top of a mountain" In the afternoon, continue on the St. Gotthard highway past Lugano to the Italian border and arrive in Como, beautifully situated at the lake for your overnight stay. (BB,D) Day 6 - Como - Pisa - Florence. (Wed.) Past Italy's commercial capital of Milan reach Pisa, where you stop for pictures of its amazing Leaning Tower. Stay overnight in Florence, cradle of Renaissance art and architecture. (BB,D) Day 7 - Florence - Rome. (Thu.) Visit Michelangelo's celebrated David in the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS and the magnificent CATHEDRAL with a Local Guide, admire Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise," and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Time to shop for Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry. Early afternoon departure for a fast and easy ride on the Highway of the Sun to the Eternal City. (BB) Day 8 - Rome. (Fri.) Sightseeing with your Local Guide starts with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL, world famous for Michelangelo's ceiling paintings and The Last Judgement. Continue to monumental ST. PETER'S SQUARE and BASILICA. Cross the Tiber and visit the COLOSSEUM and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in triumph. Then time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. (BB) Day 9 - Rome - Assisi - Venice. (Sat.) Morning break in peaceful Assisi. Visit the massive 13th-century BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS built above the Saint's grave. Next, drive across the Apennine Mountains and through the flat Po area to the Adriatic coast and enter Venice in style by PRIVATE BOAT. (BB) Day 10 - Venice. (Sun.) Highlights of your walking tour with a Local Guide are St. Mark's Square and its BASILICA, lavish DOGES" PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects. Exciting optional activities are available. (BB) Day 11 - Venice - Innsbruck, Austria - Munich, Germany. (Mon.) Leave Italy on spectacular Brenner Pass, which leads through the Tyrolean Alps to Austria. In Innsbruck, enjoy a pleasant stroll through quaint medieval lanes to Emperor Maximilian's GOLDEN ROOF, before continuing through the Bavarian Alps to Munich, Germany's "secret capital." Your orientation tour features the major landmarks: Nymphenburg Palace, the Olympic Stadium, and the 1,000-foot-high Television Tower. How about a stein of beer at the famous Hofbräuhaus tonight" (BB,D) Day 12 - Munich - Rothenburg - Rhineland. (Tue.) Motor from the verdant valleys of Bavaria through the Swabian Jura to the walled town of Rothenburg. Enjoy free time here before continuing to the Rhineland for your overnight stay. (BB,D) Day 13 - Rhineland - Amsterdam, Holland. (Wed.) A special treat this morning: a RHINE CRUISE (weather permitting) along castle-crested hills and terraced vineyards. Then continue past the Lorelei cliff to Cologne and visit the awesome twin-spired GOTHIC CATHEDRAL, before traveling through the Dutch region best known as the locale of A Bridge Too Far to Amsterdam. (BB,D) Day 14 - Amsterdam. (Thu.) A Local Guide shows you the 700-year-old capital, and the highlight is a CANAL CRUISE past patrician mansions and humpback bridges. Time to visit a major DIAMOND CENTER or one of Amsterdam's famous museums. The afternoon is at leisure, and an optional excursion to Volendam can be arranged. (BB) Day 15 - (Fri.) Your homebound flight from Amsterdam arrives the same day. (BB) |
