HIGHLIGHTS OF ITALY & EASTERN EUROPE
Day 1 - (Sat.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in Rome, Italy. (Sun.) Time to rest or start exploring the Eternal City. At 6 p.m. meet your Tour Director and traveling companions and leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner with wine at one of Rome's lively restaurants. (D) Day 3 - Rome. (Mon.) Sightseeing with your Local Guide this morning concentrates on ancient Rome: visit the COLOSSEUM, where gladiators fought, and explore the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in triumph. Balance of the day is free for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. (BB) Day 4 - Rome - Florence. (Tue.) This morning is dedicated to religious Rome: follow your Local Guide into the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL and admire Michelangelo's work. Next, enter ST. PETER'S BASILICA and SQUARE. In the afternoon enjoy a comfortable drive into Tuscany and arrive in the late afternoon in Florence, cradle of the Renaissance. Evening at leisure. (BB) Day 5 - Florence - Venice. (Wed.) Sightseeing with a Local Guide starts with a visit to the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo's celebrated David and the magnificent CATHEDRAL. Admire Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise," and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Time to explore the many gold and leather shops, then leave for Venice, a powerful magnet for romantics and art lovers. Tonight is your chance to sample Venetian fare. (BB) Day 6 - Venice. (Thu.) Enter in style by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide and visit ST. MARK'S SQUARE, the byzantine BASILICA, lavish DOGES" PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Balance of the day is free to wander through the narrow streets or to have a cappuccino at a sidewalk café. Exciting optional outings are available. (BB,D) Day 7 - Venice - Vienna, Austria. (Fri.) Leave Italy and enter the loveliest part of Austria where Carinthian lakes and resorts, stately Styrian crossroad towns, and scenic Semmering Pass provide the ever changing Alpine backdrop of today's journey to Vienna, once the center of the mighty Habsburg Empire. (BB) Day 8 - Vienna. (Sat.) Sightseeing with a Local Guide features vistas of the 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. Optional excursions to Schönbrunn Palace as well as to one of Vienna's many concert halls are available. (BB) Day 9 - Vienna - Budapest, Hungary. (Sun.) Drive through the Hungarian plains to Budapest, Eastern Europe's most cosmopolitan city. Afternoon sightseeing with a Local Guide includes elegant Andrassy Avenue, the Thermal Baths, and the world's second-largest Jewish Synagogue. From the lacy lookout towers of Fishermen's Bastion enjoy a panoramic view of the sprawling city. Then visit the 13thcentury MATTHIAS CORONATION CHURCH and Heroes" Square. (BB,D) Day 10 - Budapest - Bratislava, Slovakia - Prague, Czech Republic. (Mon.) Time this morning for an optional visit to the Parliament before a leisurely departure for Bratislava, the economic and political center of Slovakia. Next, enter Moravia, where Napoleon established his headquarters during the Battle of Austerlitz, and arrive in Prague, the "Golden City." (BB,D) Day 11 - Prague. (Tue.) Sightseeing with a Local Guide reveals why Prague is considered one of Europe's most attractive capitals. See 1,000-year-old HRADCANY CASTLE, ST. VITUS CATHEDRAL, the Old Town, the Jewish ghetto, and the ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK, once the envy of all Europe. Afternoon at leisure. This evening why not join an optional dinner outing" (BB) Day 12 - Prague - Dresden, Germany - Berlin. (Wed.) Stop in Dresden, the former capital of Saxony. Badly damaged by Allied bombing in February 1945, the city has since been restored to its former baroque splendor. You - ll love the architecture of the Zwinger Palace and Semper Opera! In the afternoon continue to Berlin, the once-divided metropolis. (BB) Day 13 - Berlin. (Thu.) Morning sightseeing with a Local Guide features the Ku - damm, the restored Reichstag, monumental Brandenburg Gate, Charlottenburg Palace, the 210-foot Victory Column in the vast Tiergarten Park, and a visit to the KAISER WILHELM MEMORIAL CHURCH. Drive along Unter Den Linden Boulevard, and pass the German State Opera House and Checkpoint Charlie. This evening enjoy a farewell dinner to celebrate the success of your vacation. (BB,D) Day 14 - (Fri.) Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (BB) |
