• 6 Dinner (D)
• 13 Breakfast (B)

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

• Amsterdam: Join your Travel Director and fellow guests at a local restaurant in the heart of Amsterdam for a delightful dinner, served with wine.
• Conegliano: Discover the flavours of Veneto with a guided tasting at a local winery. Meet the winemakers and savour the region’s celebrated wines while learning about the traditions and craft behind each bottle.
• Rome: Food and family go hand-in-hand in Italy and are pillars of the Italian way of life. Experience it for yourself with an invitation from your local host to join them for a truly Italian, home-cooked meal.
• Florence: Experience local Florentine flavours while relaxing over dinner with wine.
• Baveno: Choose your dining experience from a selection of hand-picked local restaurants, each offering their own unique cuisine and ambience on your Dine-Around Evening.
• Paris: Rendezvous with your newfound friends for a delightful dinner at one of Paris’ iconic brasseries.

• Vatican City: Visit the Vatican Museums and witness the genius of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

• Paris: Walk up and down the “quartier” and see the school, the food stores, the housing situation, the heritage landmarks, the sports facilities and the theatres, in this car-free, pedestrianised, neighbourhood. Landmarks will include passages couverts, perhaps also Patrick Blanc’s spectacular jardin vertical ‘oasis d’Aboukir’, the Napoleonic “Egyptian” district etc.
• Paris: Join a local food lover on a walk through the streets of Paris. Visit a variety of patisseries, boulangeries and chocolatiers and sample local treats and delicacies along the way.

Join a Local Specialist to explore Heidelberg’s cobbled lanes, lively squares and university traditions beneath the sandstone castle. Stroll past the Church of the Holy Spirit, the Old Bridge and café-lined Marktplatz while student life hums around you.

Learn how the city, founded in 1386 as Germany’s oldest university, rebuilt with graceful baroque facades after 17th-century conflict. From the Kornmarkt, look up to the castle ruins crowning the hillside—an atmospheric backdrop to this scholarly and storied town.

Stand beneath Bavarian peaks where the pale turrets of Neuschwanstein Castle rise above forests and lakes, with neighboring Hohenschwangau nestled nearby. From scenic viewpoints, frame the limestone towers and serrated rooftops against alpine rock and sky.

Hear of King Ludwig II’s romantic vision and how this 19th-century fantasy inspired the famous fairytale castle silhouette. This is a moment to pause for photos and reflection, taking in the theatrical setting without the crowds and interior queues.

Walk the arcaded lanes of Innsbruck’s medieval Altstadt where pastel facades meet alpine backdrops. See the shimmering tiles of the Golden Roof, stroll Maria-Theresien-Straße and feel the blend of Tyrolean tradition and imperial elegance.

Discover how Emperor Maximilian I shaped the city’s fortunes and how winter sports cemented its modern identity. Your Travel Director’s pointers help you navigate cozy cafés, handicraft shops and vantage points that showcase the mountains circling the historic heart.

Taste the Veneto in a family-run cellar amid vine-covered hills. Learn how local grapes become lively spumante as you tour production areas and compare glasses for aroma, texture and finish. Seasonal nibbles highlight the wine’s crisp, food-friendly character.

Set in the Conegliano–Valdobbiadene zone—UNESCO-listed for its steep, hand-tended vineyards—this visit illuminates regional methods and terroir. Meet the makers, hear harvest tales and raise a toast to centuries of winemaking tradition shaped by sun, slope and skill.

Travel by private boat along the Giudecca Canal, passing shimmering palazzi and workaday boatyards as Venice assembles in luminous layers. Step out near St Mark’s Square to admire its mosaicked basilica, arcaded Procuratie and the pink-stone Doge’s Palace.

Hear how the maritime Republic projected power across the Adriatic and how the Bridge of Sighs gained its poetic name. This water-level introduction helps you read the city’s geography of islands, canals and campi with confidence.

Witness the ancient craft of glassblowing as glowing gathers spin from furnace to form under a maestro’s practiced breath and hands. See vases, goblets and fanciful figures emerge in minutes, each revealing control, heat and timing.

Learn why Venice moved furnaces to Murano in 1291 and how techniques like filigrana and sommerso remain closely guarded. The studio talk reveals a living heritage—part artistry, part alchemy—sustained by families who have worked glass for generations.

Join a home-hosted dinner in a Roman neighborhood, where conversation flows as generously as the wine. Savor seasonal dishes—perhaps cacio e pepe, Roman artichokes or slow-braised meats—served in courses that reflect family rhythms and hospitality.

Your host shares insights into markets, recipes and daily life in the Roman home. It’s a warm, authentic evening that connects food and place, celebrating regional recipes and the social rituals at the heart of Italian culture.

Visit the Vatican Museums with a Local Specialist, tracing galleries of ancient statuary, maps and tapestries before entering the quiet hush of the Sistine Chapel. Gaze up at Genesis scenes and the expressive Prophets and Sibyls framing Michelangelo’s painted architecture.

Continue to St Peter’s Basilica to admire Bernini’s bronze baldachin and the soaring dome. On select days, basilica access may be restricted due to the Papal Audience; in that case, time is provided to experience St Peter’s Square’s grand colonnades.

Circle the Colosseum from the outside to read its tiers, arches and engineering up close while hearing tales of spectacles staged for emperors and crowds. The travertine shell bears the weathering of nearly two millennia.

Nearby, pause for photos and reflection at overlooks onto the Roman Forum where temples, basilicas and victory arches anchor the city’s ancient heart. Your Travel Director or Local Specialist highlights layers of history etched into every stone.

Join a Local Specialist to view Florence’s multicolored cathedral and Giotto’s bell tower, then admire the Baptistery’s gilded Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. Continue to Piazza della Signoria, an open-air gallery of Renaissance power and patronage.

Hear of the Medici, artists and workshops that shaped this cradle of the Renaissance. View the Palazzo Vecchio’s crenellations and statues—including a replica of David—before exploring artisans’ boutiques that keep Florence’s leather and gold traditions alive.

Ride the open-top CabriO cable car to Mount Stanserhorn’s summit with fresh alpine air on your face and Lake Lucerne unfurling below. Up top, follow easy pathways across meadows and rocky outcrops with vistas toward the Bernese Alps.

Learn from a ranger about protected flora and shy wildlife, and how this visit supports conservation goals. On a clear day, sightlines can stretch to Alsace and the Black Forest, turning the panorama into a living geography lesson.

Visit the moving Lion Monument, carved into sandstone to honor Swiss Guards who died in 1792. Cross the covered Chapel Bridge over the Reuss, where painted panels narrate Lucerne’s history beneath its timbered roof.

Continue to the ornate Jesuit Church along the riverfront, absorbing the city’s baroque grace and lakeside calm. With this orientation, you can delve into the pedestrian Old Town’s frescoed houses, chocolatiers and watch boutiques at your own pace.

Join a guided panoramic tour of Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées and Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde and elegant Seine embankments. This sweeping overview orients you to major quarters and river crossings.

Hear how Haussmann’s grand boulevards reshaped the city and how revolutionary events echo in its monuments. With context on neighborhoods and landmarks, you can return later to climb towers, browse museums or linger at café terraces like a local.

Cruise the deep blue of Lake Lucerne as wooded slopes and jagged peaks reflect in the water. From the deck, trace bays, coves and storybook villages while the captain points out ridge lines and historic lakeside landmarks.

On select departures, heritage paddle steamers may share the waterway, evoking the golden age of alpine travel. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, timing subject to weather and schedules.

Cross the lagoon by boat to the colorful island of Burano, where fishermen’s houses glow in bright hues along quiet canals. Enjoy a relaxed meal of lagoon specialties paired with regional wine in a convivial setting.

Learn about the island’s lace-making heritage and photograph kaleidoscopic facades mirrored in the water. This excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour, a breezy escape from Venice’s busier calli.

Visit the Accademia with an art expert to stand before Michelangelo’s David, carved from a single block of marble with anatomical precision and Renaissance ideals of civic virtue.

Gain insight into Michelangelo’s technique and the city’s patronage networks that nurtured genius. This guided museum visit is at additional cost and bookable on tour, ideal for art lovers seeking deeper context.

Sail Lake Maggiore to Isola Bella and tour the Palazzo Borromeo, a baroque residence adorned with frescoes, grottoes and period salons. Step into terraced Italian gardens where white peacocks roam among citrus and camellias.

Hear how the Borromeo family transformed a rocky islet into a floating garden in the 17th century. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to seasonal opening times.

Clip-clop beyond the city in a traditional carriage, trading lakefront promenades for meadows, barns and mountain views. Meet local farmers and see everyday rural rhythms just beyond Lucerne’s historic streets.

This gentle outing offers time to soak in the lakeside atmosphere and photograph pastoral scenes against alpine backdrops. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour, weather dependent.

Explore a car-free neighborhood with a local, wandering through passages couverts, independent ateliers and hidden courtyards. See Patrick Blanc’s vertical garden, the jardin vertical ‘oasis d’Aboukir’, and traces of the Napoleonic-era ‘Egyptian’ district.

Learn how urban design, heritage and daily life intersect in these lived-in streets. This cultural stroll is at additional cost and bookable on tour, perfect for travelers seeking Paris beyond the grands boulevards.

Join a local food lover to sample signature bites from pâtisseries, boulangeries and chocolatiers. Taste flaky croissants, seasonal tarts and silky ganaches while hearing how artisans source ingredients and perfect technique.

This walk layers flavor with context—neighborhood history, café etiquette and the rituals of daily shopping. The experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, with tastings varying by season.

Settle into a classic Parisian revue where high-energy choreography, glittering costumes and live music light the stage. Between numbers, sip a glass of wine as the orchestra and singers channel the city’s theatrical flair.

This night out is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It includes guidance on venues and transfers, adding a dash of sparkle to your Paris stay without the logistics.

Insight Vacations

Cruise the waterways of Amsterdam’s historic core as elegant gables, hump-backed bridges and warehouse facades glide by. Raise a glass during a Welcome Reception while your Travel Director offers orientation to the city’s layout and stories from its mercantile past. Expect tranquil reflections and ripples of light along the Old City waterways.

Glide past 17th-century Golden Age mansions and tree-lined quays that reveal how a small trading post became a global hub. This relaxed introduction helps you pinpoint neighborhoods to revisit and sets the tone for exploring on foot or by bike later.

Glide along the Middle Rhine Gorge with a cool glass of regional wine in hand as terraced vineyards, half-timbered villages and hilltop keeps appear around each bend. The boat threads past storied strongholds toward the steep slate bluff of the Lorelei Rock.

Hear how this river corridor powered medieval trade and spawned “robber baron” castles now standing in romantic ruin. Your crew points out the best angles to pause for photos and reflection as the river narrows near Sankt Goar and currents quicken beneath the cliffs.