Explore lakeside Lucerne on an orientation that crosses the Chapel Bridge, its painted medieval panels arching above the Reuss. Continue to the ornate Jesuit Church and pause before the moving Lion Monument, carved into sandstone beside a still reflecting pool.

Hear how guild wealth, trade routes, and Swiss Confederation history shaped this compact city. Half-timbered squares, frescoed facades, and waterside promenades offer classic Alpine charm, while artisan boutiques and watchmakers reveal Switzerland’s craft tradition.

Experience Rome with a Local Specialist, arriving in Vatican City to stand in St Peter’s Square beneath Bernini’s sweeping colonnades and the basilica’s vast dome. View monumental piazzas and elegant avenues that frame the Eternal City.

Absorb layers of history where papal ritual, Renaissance vision, and baroque spectacle meet. Learn how emperors, popes, and architects rewrote Rome’s skyline, and get pointers on neighborhoods to revisit for espresso bars, trattorie, and evening passeggiata.

Glide by private boat across the Venetian lagoon toward St Mark’s Square, where domes and mosaics shimmer beside the Doge’s Palace. Moor near striped mooring poles and watch church facades tilt gracefully over green water.

Step inside a traditional glassblowing workshop to see masters shape molten glass, the furnace glowing as canes twist into chandeliers and goblets. Your guide shares how this centuries-old craft migrated to Murano to protect Venice’s wooden city from fire.

Survey Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo, the Duomo and bell tower rising over terracotta roofs as the Arno curves below. Back in the historic center, witness a Peruzzi leather demonstration that reveals Florence’s Renaissance craft heritage.

Learn how tanneries along the Arno refined techniques prized by merchants and nobles, then handle supple hides while artisans cut, stitch, and emboss. Nearby piazzas and arcades invite you to browse goldsmiths, paper marblers, and gelaterie.

Walk the Tyrolean capital’s arcaded lanes to the Old Town, where late-Gothic facades frame the landmark Golden Roof, its fire-gilded tiles glinting beneath an Alpine backdrop. Hear how Habsburg rulers left courtly marks on this mountain city.

From imperial balconies to colorful bay windows, discover details that made Innsbruck a crossroads of dynastic ceremony and alpine trade. Your Travel Director points out cafés and Konditoreien perfect for strudel and a warming coffee.

Stroll Bavaria’s capital to Marienplatz, watching the figures of the famous Glockenspiel revolve high on the neo-Gothic Town Hall. See elegant boulevards, onion-domed churches, and beer-hall traditions that anchor Munich’s identity.

Hear tales of Wittelsbach princes, post-war restoration, and the city’s love of gemutlichkeit. Your Travel Director highlights neighborhoods for museums, gardens, and hearty regional fare should you wish to return later.

Cruise the romantic Rhine through the UNESCO-listed Middle Rhine Valley, drifting past terraced vineyards, slate-roofed villages, and semi-ruined castles that crown the hills. River bends reveal steep slopes laced with Riesling vines.

Glide toward the legendary Lorelei Rock, where folklore speaks of a siren luring sailors. Your crew points out fortress histories and wine towns that prospered along this medieval trade artery, perfect for photos from the open deck.

Walk with your Travel Director to Dam Square and the Royal Palace, continuing to the fragrant floating flower market where stalls bob on old barges. Trace the graceful arches and canals of the UNESCO canal ring.

Hear how merchant wealth, trade guilds, and pragmatic Dutch design shaped gabled facades and intimate courtyards. Notes on museums, brown cafés, and cycle-friendly streets help you decide where to return after the tour.

Celebrate Parisian nightlife with a convivial dinner followed by a classic cabaret performance, where shimmering costumes, live music, and deft choreography sparkle under footlights. Toast the city with wine as the stage bursts into color and song.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Your Travel Director arranges seats and timing, ensuring a seamless evening of vintage Paris atmosphere and modern flair.

Ascend Mount Pilatus on the world-steepest cogwheel railway, passing fir-covered slopes to panoramic viewpoints over lakes and peaks. Return to the water for a serene cruise across Lake Lucerne, watching chalets and bell towers slip by.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It pairs high-alpine drama with the placid rhythms of Switzerland’s most storied lake for a day of classic Swiss contrasts.

Enter the Accademia Gallery to stand before Michelangelo’s David, its marble sinews and concentrated gaze capturing Renaissance ideals of the human form and civic pride. View preparatory works that illuminate the sculptor’s genius.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Your visit deepens appreciation for Florence’s artists and patrons who reshaped Europe’s culture from workshops and guild halls along the Arno.

Trace Florence’s intellectual and artistic bloom on a guided walk through Piazza della Signoria, arcaded courtyards, and riverfront viewpoints. Hear how merchant bankers and scholars fostered ideas that spread beyond Tuscany.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Your guide weaves tales of the Medici, workshops, and humanist debate, linking palaces, chapels, and statues into a living citywide classroom.

Join a relaxed evening stroll through Rome’s piazzas, where fountains sparkle and Baroque facades glow under lamplight. Sample a gelato in hand as lively squares and side streets reveal Rome’s sociable spirit.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It’s an atmospheric way to feel the city breathe after dark, with time to pause, admire, and photograph favorite corners.

Sit down to a convivial meal at a neighborhood trattoria, sharing plates of Roman specialties like cacio e pepe and saltimbocca with carafes of house wine. Warm service and the convivial atmosphere capture the city’s love of simple, seasonal cooking.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It’s an easy, authentic way to savor local flavors among friends just a short ride from your hotel.

Glide by gondola along quiet rii before emerging onto the Grand Canal, passing arched bridges and carved palazzi reflected in the water. Hear the soft dip of oars as Venice’s stone lacework drifts by.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Your gondolier navigates centuries-old waterways that once carried merchants, nobles, and masked revelers through La Serenissima.

Celebrate alpine culture at a traditional Tyrolean evening, with folk music and dance, yodeling, and ribald humor delivered in regional style. Costumes of lederhosen and dirndls set the tone as performers showcase mountain traditions.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It’s a lively immersion in local heritage that pairs well with a stein of beer and hearty Tyrolean fare.

Drift beneath arched bridges on a glass-topped boat through Amsterdam’s UNESCO canal ring, admiring narrow gabled houses and warehouses reflected in the water’s sheen. Photogenic quaysides and bell gables reveal the Dutch Golden Age in profile.

This Choice Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Commentary brings merchants, shipyards, and tolerant civic traditions to life as the city glides by at water level.

Join a guided panoramic tour through central Paris to the Arc de Triomphe, sweeping down the Champs-Élysées past elegant facades and café terraces. Trace grand axes laid by Haussmann and glimpse the Eiffel Tower between plane trees as the city’s geometry and glamour unfold.

Hear stories of imperial ambition and modern style that shaped these avenues, from Napoléon’s triumphal symbolism to Belle Époque showcase boulevards. Your Travel Director points out photo stops and quartiers to revisit, so you can return to linger in boutiques, museums, and pâtisseries at your own pace.

Costsaver

• 13 Breakfast (B)
• 4 Dinner (D)

• See the Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower
• Visit the Lion Monument and view the Chapel Bridge
• See Piazza della Signoria
• Visit See the ancient sites with your Local Specialist
• Cruise by private boat to St. Mark’s Square and visit a glassblowing workshop
• Picture-book scenery
• See the Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz and the Hofbräuhaus
• Cruise the romantic Rhine
• See the historic city center

• Deluxe coach travel
• Selected hotel dinners, with optional meals to purchase
• 3-star stays

• Paris: With your Travel Director, you’ll wander through the heart of Paris along its grand boulevards, ornate balconies overhead as cream-stone buildings and tree-lined avenues stretch towards the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées.
• Lucerne: During an orientation with your Travel Director, see the Lion Monument, Old Town Hall and Chapel Bridge, the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe.
• Rome: Experience Rome through the eyes of a local, as a passionate Roman guides you past the city’s most iconic sites.
• Venice: Discover the ancient skill of Venetian glassblowing and play a part in preserving this traditional craft.
• Venice: As you journey along some of the water highways of the city, famous sights such as the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs come into view and introduce you to Venice before docking near St. Mark’s Square.
• Innsbruck: Nestled amidst majestic mountains, Innsbruck is a beautiful city offering a unique combination of nature, history, and culture. Stroll the streets of the picturesque Old Town and learn about its history with your Travel Director. 
• Munich: During your orientation of Munich with your Travel Director, see the Munich Residenz, former home of the Bavarian royal family, the State Opera House, the ornate neo-Gothic Town Hall, the Hofbräuhaus, St Peter’s Church and the famous Marienplatz.
• Rhineland: Cruise beneath semi-ruined castles and terraced vineyards. Sleepy villages slip by as you saunter upstream to the Lorelei Rock where the enchantress lured sailors to their doom.
• Amsterdam: Led by your Travel Director, wander the city to see the floating flower market, Dam Square and the Royal Palace.