EUROPEAN CHARM
Day 1 - (Sun.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in Amsterdam, Holland. (Mon.) The day is free to rest or to start exploring the Dutch capital. At 6 pm, meet your traveling companions and Tour Director for a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D) Day 3 - Amsterdam. (Tue.) Your guided sightseeing tour features a CANAL CRUISE past patrician mansions and humpback bridges. Next, visit a major DIAMOND CENTER. Later, maybe an optional excursion to Volendam" (B) Day 4 - Amsterdam - Heidelberg, Germany - Rhineland. (Wed.) Via the Dutch region best known as the locale of A Bridge Too Far to Cologne. Visit the awesome twin-spired gothic CATHEDRAL. Then enjoy a romantic RHINE CRUISE past castle-crested cliffs and terraced vineyards. Arrive in Heidelberg, famous for its castle. (B,D) Day 5 - Rhineland - Rothenburg - Munich - Garmisch. (Thu.) In spectacular Rothenburg admire the ramparts, towers, and 16th-century houses. Next is Munich. See the Olympic Stadium, 1,000-foot-high Television Tower, and MARIENPLATZ with the Old and New Town Halls. Then, continue into the Bavarian Alps to Garmisch, site of the fourth Winter Olympics in 1936. (B,D) Day 6 - Garmisch. Bavarian Excursion. (Fri.) Focus on Neuschwanstein and visit KING LUDWIG'S CASTLE on its craggy outcrop high above a sparkling lake. Afternoon at leisure in the Passion Play town of OBERAMMERGAU, with the chance to join an optional excursion to nearby Linderhof Castle. (B) Day 7 - Garmisch - Innsbruck, Austria - Venice, Italy. (Sat.) Morning break in Innsbruck, capital of the Austrian Tyrol. Stroll through the Old Town to Emperor Maximilian's GOLDEN ROOF. Across spectacular Brenner Pass through the Tyrolean Alps. Enjoy a panoramic view of Cortina, Italy's skiing and mountaineering center beneath the Dolomites, before reaching Venice, the celebrated "Pearl of the Adriatic." Tonight is your chance to sample the city's fine restaurants. (B) Day 8 - Venice. (Sun.) Enter Venice in style by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are ST. MARK'S SQUARE and the byzantine BASILICA, the Clock Tower, lavish DOGES" PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Then, enjoy Venice at your own pace or join an optional gondola ride. (B,D) Day 9 - Venice - Lugano, Switzerland - Lucerne. (Mon.) Pass the commercial capital of Milan into Italian-speaking southern Switzerland with a stop in subtropical Lugano. Admire the towering majesty of the Swiss Alps and St. Gotthard on the way to picture-book Lucerne. Enjoy a walking tour to admire Thorwaldsen's LION MONUMENT and the ornate patrician houses of the Old Town, then, cross the famous covered CHAPEL BRIDGE to the Jesuit Church. Why not sign up for a folklore party with yodeling and alphorn blowing for a first-hand impression of Alpine merrymaking" (B) Day 10 - Lucerne - Montreux. (Tue.) Morning at leisure. Time to shop for Swiss watches and join an optional excursion to the top of a mountain. Later in the afternoon, a smooth drive brings you to Lake Geneva and Montreux of festival fame. Take pictures of the Festival Hall. (B,D) Day 11 - Montreux - Lausanne - Paris, France. (Wed.) A short drive to Lausanne, home to the International Olympic Committee, where you board the high-speed "TGV" TRAIN to Paris. On arrival, sightseeing with a Local Guide features the most famous sights: the Opéra, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées, Notre Dame Cathedral, and more. For a bird's-eye view, take the elevator to the second floor of Paris" most famous landmark, the EIFFEL TOWER. (B) Day 12 - At Leisure in Paris. (Thu.) Another day to enjoy what this extraordinary metropolis has to offer. Shop for perfume and fancy fashion accessories, or take your pick from many fine museums Optional excursions are available to the Louvre Museum and the lavish baroque Palace of Versailles. Tonight maybe a lively cabaret show" (B) Day 13 - (Fri.) Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (B) |
