Explore the Vatican Museums with a Local Expert, discovering works gathered by centuries of popes. In the Sistine Chapel, look up at Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes before visiting St. Peter’s Basilica to see his Pietà and Bernini’s ornate papal altar.

This visit brings the artistic and spiritual history of Vatican City into focus. Access to the museums or basilica may be restricted on some departures; the Capitoline Museums may replace the Vatican Museums if tickets are unavailable.

• 5 Dinner (D)
• 13 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 dinner at a local restaurant in Rome. This hosted gathering offers an introduction to the group and a chance to discover the flavours of Lazio.

Savour Roman cooking in the city where neighbourhood restaurants remain part of everyday life. Regional ingredients and convivial conversation set the tone for your time in the Eternal City.

Sip a sunset cocktail near St. Mark’s Square while musicians perform and the evening light settles over Venice. Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant as the city takes on a quieter character.

The setting offers a different perspective on Venice after the day-trippers leave. Historic facades, music and conversation make this a hosted evening rooted in the atmosphere of La Serenissima, rather than a standard hotel dinner.

Watch Venetian artisans shape molten glass during a visit to a traditional workshop. See the controlled movements and specialised tools used to turn glowing material into delicate handcrafted pieces.

Venice’s glassmaking tradition flourished from the Middle Ages, particularly on the island of Murano. The demonstration reveals how centuries-old craft skills survive through the expertise of a small number of makers, giving you a close-up view of a distinctive part of the city’s heritage.

Travel by boat along the Giudecca Canal as your Travel Director introduces Venice from the water. Pass historic palazzi and admire the waterfront setting of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Square.

A private cruise brings you to the square, where St. Mark’s Basilica reflects the wealth of Venice’s former maritime republic. Seeing its landmarks from the lagoon reveals why waterways have always shaped the city’s life and identity.

Walk Ljubljana’s riverbanks and squares with a Local Expert, seeing Prešeren Square, the Franciscan Church and Plecnik’s Triple Bridge. Discover the lively streets beside the Ljubljanica and look up towards the castle above the old town.

Slovenia’s compact capital mixes Baroque buildings with the distinctive urban designs of architect Jože Plecnik. Its bridges and waterside public spaces make the city particularly rewarding to explore on foot.

Explore Maribor with your Travel Director and discover the contrasting architecture of Slovenia’s second-largest city. A walk through its streets offers a closer look at this historic settlement on the Drava River.

Maribor’s character reflects centuries as a regional trading and university centre, alongside more recent changes to its cityscape. The guided introduction gives context to a Slovenian city with a pace and identity distinct from the capital.

Tour Vienna’s Ringstrasse and historic centre with a Local Expert. See the Hofburg Imperial Residence, State Opera and Parliament on the grand boulevard, then walk through the streets of the Innere Stadt.

Built along the line of Vienna’s former city walls, the Ringstrasse displays the architectural ambition of the Habsburg era. The walk adds a closer view of the squares and lanes at the heart of the Austrian capital.

Visit a traditional Viennese coffeehouse and enjoy coffee with a slice of Sachertorte, the city’s celebrated chocolate cake. Take time to appreciate the unhurried atmosphere that has long made cafés places to read, talk and linger.

Vienna’s coffeehouse culture is an established part of its social life. This included Insight Choice offers a taste of that tradition; it is an alternative to the included Capuchin Crypt visit, not an additional-cost excursion.

Visit the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna, the historic burial place of the Habsburg dynasty. Explore the imperial tombs and consider the lives of the rulers whose family shaped Austria and much of Central Europe.

Beneath the Capuchin Church, the crypt offers a quieter perspective on the grandeur visible across the city’s palaces and boulevards. This included Insight Choice is an alternative to the Viennese coffeehouse visit, not an additional-cost excursion.

Explore Salzburg with a Local Expert, visiting the formal Mirabell Gardens and seeing Residence Square, both featured in The Sound of Music. View the cathedral and hilltop fortress, and find Mozart’s birthplace along Getreidegasse.

Salzburg’s Baroque squares and garden terraces sit beneath a dramatic Alpine skyline. The walk connects the city’s musical heritage with the real streets and landmarks behind its best-known screen appearances.

Stroll Innsbruck’s Old Town with your Travel Director, admiring its Gothic and Baroque facades. See the Golden Roof, whose gilded copper tiles overlook a historic square, and the exterior of the Imperial Palace.

Innsbruck was an important Habsburg centre, and its streets retain reminders of imperial patronage. The surrounding Tyrolean mountains give this compact old town a setting unlike that of Europe’s larger capitals.

See Vaduz Castle overlooking Liechtenstein’s capital during your visit to the principality. Its position above the town makes the royal residence a striking landmark against the mountain slopes.

The castle remains the home of Liechtenstein’s princely family and is not open for a public interior visit. Viewing it from Vaduz offers a glimpse of the country’s living monarchy and the close relationship between its small capital and Alpine landscape.

Visit Lucerne’s Lion Monument, a wounded lion carved into rock in memory of Swiss Guards killed during the French Revolution. See the Baroque Jesuit Church and walk across the covered Chapel Bridge.

These landmarks reveal different chapters of Lucerne’s history, from remembrance to religious art and medieval civic life. The timber bridge and its waterside setting are defining sights of this lakeside Swiss city.

Ride the open-top cable car to Mount Stanserhorn for wide views across the Swiss Alps and surrounding countryside. Walk the summit pathways, breathe the mountain air and watch for marmots and other native wildlife.

The cable car uses solar power, and this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience supports conservation awareness. You may also have the chance to hear a Swiss ranger discuss local flora and wildlife, adding insight to the mountain scenery.

Cruise the Rhine from Boppard towards Sankt Goar with a glass of local wine. Watch vineyard terraces, riverside villages and hilltop castles unfold along one of the river’s most storied stretches.

The route passes the Lorelei Rock, a landmark entwined with German river legends. Seeing the steep slopes from the water brings the valley’s long traditions of navigation and winemaking into view.

Cruise Amsterdam’s UNESCO-listed canals while enjoying dinner on board. Glide beneath bridges and past merchant houses, gabled facades and illuminated churches as the city comes into view from the water.

The canal ring took shape during Amsterdam’s 17th-century Golden Age. Dinner draws on Dutch-Indonesian culinary traditions, reflecting enduring connections created through historical trade with Southeast Asia. It is a hosted evening that pairs the city’s waterways with its layered food culture.

Explore the ruins of Pompeii on an optional excursion from Rome. Walk through the ancient town whose streets, buildings and public spaces were preserved when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.

The archaeological site offers unusually direct evidence of daily life in a Roman city, from its street layout to the places where residents lived and gathered. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Lake Bled and ride a traditional wooden pletna boat across its clear glacial waters towards the small island at its centre. Take in the wooded shore, island church and mountain backdrop that make this one of Slovenia’s most recognisable landscapes.

Pletna boats are a longstanding local way of reaching the island. The crossing gives you time to appreciate the lake’s calm setting. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a private tour of Schonbrunn Palace and its formal gardens in Vienna. Discover the former Habsburg summer residence associated with Empress Maria Theresa and explore a setting designed to express imperial power.

The palace and landscaped grounds offer a closer look at court life beyond Vienna’s historic centre. Their scale and symmetry reflect the dynasty’s influence across Central Europe. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit the Eagle’s Nest on an optional excursion from the Salzburg area. Set high on the Kehlstein mountain near Berchtesgaden, the site offers expansive views across the surrounding Alps.

Built during the Nazi era, the mountaintop building carries a difficult historical association as well as a dramatic setting. Visiting offers an opportunity to consider that history in context. This optional experience is 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