• 3 Dinner (D)
• 15 Breakfast (B)

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

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

Insight Vacations

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a welcome dinner at a Parisian brasserie. Share a table in a neighbourhood restaurant and settle into the easy conversation that makes a first evening together feel like the start of a journey.

Brasseries are a fixture of Parisian dining, prized for their lively dining rooms and unhurried hospitality. This hosted meal offers a chance to enjoy the city’s food culture in good company.

Discover central Paris with your Travel Director on an orientation taking in the Arc de Triomphe, the tree-lined Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde. See how these broad avenues and monumental squares give the French capital its distinctive sense of scale.

Place de la Concorde witnessed pivotal events of the French Revolution, while the Arc de Triomphe honours those who fought for France. Together, these landmarks offer a vivid introduction to the city’s layered history.

Visit the Château de Chenonceau, an elegant Renaissance residence whose gallery stretches across the River Cher in the Loire Valley. Explore a château celebrated for its architecture, river setting and association with influential women of the French court.

Known as the ‘Ladies’ Château’, Chenonceau was shaped by figures including Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de’ Medici. Its graceful arches and formal gardens reflect the artistry and courtly ambitions of 16th-century France.

Walk through Bordeaux with a Local Specialist to see its 18th-century quayside facades, the Grand Théâtre, the Triangle d’Or and the vast Esplanade des Quinconces. The tour reveals the ordered streets and pale stone architecture that give the city its unmistakable character.

Much of Bordeaux is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its riverfront and grand civic spaces recall the era when the port’s trading wealth helped reshape the city.

Explore San Sebastián’s Old Quarter with a Local Expert, walking its compact streets and visiting Plaza de la Constitución. Get to know the historic centre beyond the city’s celebrated beachfront, among buildings, squares and bars that remain part of everyday local life.

Once used for public festivities, the plaza sits at the heart of the Parte Vieja. The tour offers a closer look at the Basque city’s street-level character and enduring social traditions.

Experience a progressive pintxos dinner in San Sebastián’s Old Town. In small groups, move between local bars and choose from bite-sized dishes displayed at the counter, each prepared with its own combination of ingredients and flavours.

Going out for pintxos is a Basque social tradition as much as a way to dine. The bustle of the bars and the variety of food make this a lively introduction to local culture; you may also wish to try a glass of lightly sparkling Txakoli wine.

Explore Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, the historic capital of Navarre, and step inside Café Iruña. Its tiled floors, mirrors and dark wood evoke the café culture that drew Ernest Hemingway to the city in the 1920s.

The plaza has long served as a gathering place for Pamplona residents. This visit reveals a quieter side of a city often known internationally for the annual San Fermín festival.

Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert, walking the Gothic Quarter’s narrow lanes to see the cathedral, a Roman gate and old squares. Take in La Rambla and Passeig de Gràcia, where the city’s historic core gives way to broader avenues.

Continue through the geometric streets of the Eixample to see Gaudí’s Sagrada Família from outside. The contrast between medieval streets and Modernista design makes Barcelona’s architectural evolution visible at every turn.

Stroll along Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, with views across the curved shoreline of the Bay of Angels. Take in the Mediterranean light, the broad seafront walkway and the mix of locals and visitors that gives the Riviera city its cosmopolitan feel.

Named for the English visitors who helped establish the promenade in the 19th century, this waterfront remains one of the defining public spaces of the Côte d’Azur.

See part of Monaco’s Grand Prix circuit on a drive through the principality, and wander the old town with your Travel Director. View the Prince’s Palace and look out towards the yacht-filled harbour.

The street circuit has hosted Monaco’s famous motor race since 1929. Beyond its racing heritage, the old town’s elevated position offers a different perspective on this compact Mediterranean state, from palace surroundings to the waterfront below.

Choose to step inside the Prince’s Palace of Monaco and explore its State Apartments. Admire richly decorated rooms and Italian Renaissance frescoes within the historic residence of Monaco’s ruling family.

Standing above the old town, the palace traces its origins to a medieval fortress and remains closely tied to the Grimaldi dynasty. This included Insight Choice offers a closer look at the principality’s royal history; it is an alternative to the Oceanographic Museum visit.

Choose to visit the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, where aquariums present marine life from the Mediterranean and tropical seas. Explore displays that also address ocean science and the challenges of research in polar environments.

Founded by Prince Albert I in 1910, the museum reflects his commitment to marine exploration. Its dramatic setting above the sea makes this included Insight Choice distinctive; it is an alternative to visiting the Prince’s Palace State Apartments.

Explore Pisa’s Square of Miracles with a Local Expert and see the Leaning Tower alongside the cathedral and baptistery. Take in the marble architecture and the striking tilt that has made the bell tower an emblem of the city.

The cathedral complex speaks to the wealth of medieval Pisa as a maritime republic. Galileo is traditionally linked to experiments at the tower, adding a scientific legend to this remarkable architectural setting.

Walk through Florence with a Local Expert to view the marble-clad cathedral, bell tower and baptistery, including reproductions of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. Explore Piazza della Signoria and see sculptures around the Palazzo Vecchio.

The square remains Florence’s civic heart and an open-air showcase of Renaissance art. Its statues, including a replica of Michelangelo’s David, recall the artistic achievement and political power that shaped the city.

Discover Rome with your Travel Director on an orientation highlighting the city’s medieval buildings, Renaissance palaces and Baroque churches. See how different eras sit side by side in the streets of the Italian capital.

Rome’s visible layers stretch far beyond its classical antiquities. This introduction helps make sense of a city continually reshaped by emperors, popes, artists and residents, where a walk through the centre can cross centuries of history.

Toast your Mediterranean journey over an Italian dinner with wine in Rome. Share regional flavours and conversation with your travelling companions in a city where food is woven into the rhythms of daily life.

Italian dining invites guests to slow down and savour the table together. This hosted meal gives the group a fitting opportunity to reflect on the places visited, from the French Atlantic coast and Basque Country to Tuscany and Rome.

Explore Vatican City with a Local Expert, visiting the Vatican Museums and standing beneath Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Visit St. Peter’s Basilica to see Michelangelo’s Pietà and Bernini’s monumental papal altar.

The collections reflect centuries of papal patronage and artistic achievement. Access to the museums or basilica may be restricted on some departures; if museum tickets are unavailable, the visit instead features Rome’s Capitoline Museums, with time in St. Peter’s Square.

Experience an evening at a Paris cabaret, combining dinner with live music, elaborate costumes and staged performances. Enjoy the theatrical side of a city whose nightlife has long attracted performers and audiences from around the world.

Cabaret became part of Parisian cultural life in the late 19th century and remains associated with spectacle and showmanship. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Travel through vineyards to a Bordelais château for a cellar tour and tasting of local wines. Visit Saint-Émilion, the limestone village known for its historic wine landscape and remarkable monolithic church carved into the rock.

The area’s winemaking heritage and architecture are recognised by UNESCO. This excursion pairs the craft of Bordeaux wine production with a close look at one of the region’s most distinctive settlements. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore Basque France with a Local Specialist, visiting Biarritz and the coastal town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. See Biarritz’s grand resort heritage and visit the church where Louis XIV married the Spanish princess Maria Theresa in 1660.

These neighbouring towns reveal different sides of the French Basque coast, from seaside elegance to royal history. The cross-border Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Pompeii, the Roman town buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. Explore an archaeological landscape where streets and surviving buildings offer a tangible view of urban life nearly two thousand years ago.

Volcanic material preserved unusually rich evidence of the ancient city, giving the site its profound historical significance. This excursion from Rome is an Optional Experience at additional cost and bookable on tour.

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