• 5 Dinner (D)
• 8 Breakfast (B)

• Experience a musical demonstration at Mozart’s birthplace in Salzburg.
• Salzburg: Visit the house where Mozart was born in 1756. Enjoy a pianoforte demonstration and examine letters, memorabilia, and musical instruments of the great composer, plus a fascinating collection of portraits.

Insight Vacations

Explore central Munich with your Travel Director, taking in Odeonsplatz and the Feldherrnhalle, the Wittelsbach palace, the Hofbräuhaus and St. Peter’s Church. The orientation brings you to Marienplatz and its Christkindlmarkt, beneath the Town Hall’s soaring facade.

Browse stalls lit for Advent and listen for festive music around the square. Munich’s historic centre offers a vivid introduction to Bavarian architecture and the city’s long Christmas-market tradition.

Join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for a welcome dinner in Munich, with wine served alongside the meal. It is a hosted opportunity to meet the small group and settle into the convivial rhythm of the journey.

Shared conversation gives this dinner its character: compare first impressions of the Bavarian capital and get to know the people who will accompany you through the Alpine Christmas markets.

Choose to explore Munich’s city centre on a culinary walk with a Local Expert. Discover the Bavarian capital through its food culture while walking its historic streets, with local insight adding context to the flavours and traditions encountered along the way.

This is one of two included Insight Choice experiences in Munich; the alternative is a visit to the Residenz. It offers a food-focused perspective rather than a palace visit.

Choose to visit the Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of Bavaria’s Wittelsbach rulers. Explore its museum and Treasury to see how a dynasty expressed its power through ornate interiors, courtly collections and precious objects.

Set in the heart of Munich, the palace reveals a different side of the city from its beer halls and Christmas stalls. This is one of two included Insight Choice experiences; the alternative is a culinary walking tour.

Walk Salzburg’s baroque Old Town with a Local Expert, seeing the Hohensalzburg Fortress above the city and landmarks around its historic squares. Explore the Christmas market beside Salzburg Cathedral, where festive stalls fill the setting with light and seasonal aromas.

Taste traditional Gluhwein with your Travel Director and learn how spices such as cinnamon and clove became part of Austria’s Advent celebrations. The market’s centuries-old tradition makes this a distinctive encounter with Salzburg at Christmas.

Visit Mozart’s Birthplace on Salzburg’s Getreidegasse, the house where the composer was born in 1756. Examine letters, portraits, memorabilia and musical instruments that illuminate his family life and extraordinary early career.

A musical demonstration on Mozart’s original pianoforte gives the visit an intimate soundscape. Hearing the instrument in the city where he grew up brings a human dimension to Salzburg’s musical heritage.

Explore Swarovski Crystal Worlds near Innsbruck, the art space conceived by André Heller to celebrate the Austrian crystal maker. Wander through the Chambers of Wonder, where artists and designers use crystal in immersive installations, light effects and sculptural forms.

The visit pairs contemporary creativity with Swarovski’s long history of craftsmanship. Enjoy a special dinner at the attraction, making the experience both a cultural visit and a distinctive evening of dining.

Stroll Innsbruck’s Old Town with your Travel Director to discover its medieval streets and Baroque and Gothic architecture. See the Golden Roof, its gilded tiles overlooking the square that hosts one of the city’s Christmas markets.

Festive stalls sit against centuries-old facades, while the Tyrolean mountains frame the streets beyond. The walk brings together Innsbruck’s imperial-era heritage, compact historic centre and Alpine Advent atmosphere.

Meet your coachman and ride by horse-drawn carriage in the Innsbruck area, with the mountains and valleys of Tyrol forming the backdrop. The gentle pace offers time to take in the Alpine setting away from the bustle of the Christmas-market streets.

Horse-drawn travel lends the outing a traditional character that suits the region’s winter scenery. Listen to the carriage’s steady rhythm and enjoy a different view of the landscape surrounding the Tyrolean capital.

Walk Lindau’s medieval streets with your Travel Director to its harbour on Lake Constance. See the Old City Hall, explore the historic island town and browse the shops along Maximilianstraße.

At the waterfront, look across the lake towards the Alpine peaks, whose outline can emerge through winter mist. Lindau’s preserved streets and lakeside position give this guided visit a character quite different from the larger cities on the tour.

Explore Lorrach, a German town close to the borders with France and Switzerland, and see the ruins of Rotteln Castle. Its surviving stonework recalls the medieval history of a region shaped by its position where three countries meet.

The castle ruins provide a historic counterpoint to the tour’s city squares and Christmas markets. Take in the setting and the traces of the stronghold while discovering this corner of southwestern Germany.

Walk Freiburg’s cobbled old quarter, starting near the medieval Freiburg Munster and continuing through streets brightened by Christmas-market stalls. Browse festive goods and seasonal treats from the surrounding Black Forest region.

The city’s Gothic cathedral anchors a lively university town with deep medieval roots. Historic lanes and market squares give this visit a distinctly southwestern German atmosphere, combining architectural sightseeing with time among the Advent stalls.

Explore Strasbourg’s Christmas markets, including the stalls near its cathedral, and spend time in La Petite France among half-timbered buildings and waterside lanes. Christmas shops and the scent of gingerbread add to the district’s winter character.

Strasbourg’s market tradition dates to the 16th century and is considered France’s oldest. The city’s Alsatian architecture reflects a region whose French and German histories have long intertwined.

Savour a dinner of local German specialities at a restaurant in the Black Forest area, with wine accompanying the meal. This hosted dining experience puts regional food at the centre of the evening rather than treating dinner as a simple pause between visits.

Share the table with fellow travellers and discover another expression of southwestern Germany’s hospitality. The local setting and regional menu make it a fitting complement to the area’s historic towns and Christmas markets.

Walk Zurich’s Old Town with Diana and her team on an educational, community-focused visit. Discover the streets of the historic centre while hearing about their work to raise awareness of social issues, including food insecurity.

This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience supports local community initiatives and connects sightseeing with a contemporary perspective on Zurich. The visit contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal focused on reducing inequalities.

Explore Zurich’s traditional Christmas markets in the Old Town, where seasonal stalls bring warmth and colour to historic streets and squares. Browse the festive displays and take in the atmosphere of the Swiss city during Advent.

Zurich’s compact old quarter makes the market experience especially inviting on foot. Its older buildings provide a setting for winter lights and local Christmas traditions, offering a Swiss contrast to the German, Austrian and Alsatian markets on the tour.

Gather for a festive dinner with wine at a local Zurich restaurant with its own microbrewery. Good food and a shared table make this a hosted occasion for conversation with your Travel Director and fellow travellers.

The restaurant’s microbrewery gives the setting a character of its own, while the convivial meal offers time to reflect on the Alpine towns and Christmas markets explored together. It is a celebratory dining experience rather than a routine hotel dinner.

Explore the royal palaces of the Bavarian Alps on an optional experience from Munich. The excursion offers a closer look at Bavaria’s royal heritage amid the mountain landscapes that provided a setting for its rulers’ residences.

This palace-focused outing is an alternative way to spend time beyond central Munich’s streets and markets. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the specific palaces visited are not identified in the tour information.

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays