• 4 Dinner (D)
• 8 Breakfast (B)

• “Guests are always amazed and intrigued by the vast amount of beautifully decorated sweet treats on offer in Germany during the festive period.”
• “Munich is the capital of beer, so taking guests into the famous Hofbräuhaus, at any time of year, gives them a small idea of what it’s like to attend Oktoberfest.”
• “It’s magical to see how a group of guests comes together over the course of our trip. I can always tell when that’s happening because suddenly the enthusiasm is palpable.”

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

• Mainz: Enjoy getting to know your fellow travelers as you savor a delicious dinner in a local restaurant.
• Salzburg: Taste traditional Gluhwein, a spiced wine recipe dating to the 15th century, in Salzburg’s Christmas market. With your Travel Director, learn how warming blends of cinnamon, clove and citrus have become a hallmark of Austria’s festive season, as you explore one of Europe’s oldest Advent markets.
• Innsbruck: Savor a special dinner at Swarovski Crystal World.
• Heidelberg: Toast the culmination of your travels at a rousing dinner.

• 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.

Explore a perfectly preserved medieval town as you walk the encircling walls and wander lanes lined with half-timbered houses. Pause on the Marktplatz to admire the Town Hall’s tower and the famed Plonlein corner straight from a storybook.

Absorb Rothenburg’s role on the historic trade routes of Franconia and its revival as a jewel of Romanticism. In December, the Reiterlesmarkt fills the streets with candlelight, mulled spices, and artisan stalls.

See Bavaria’s capital on an orientation drive and walk, taking in the Feldherrnhalle, the Residenz, and elegant boulevards before arriving at Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel. Hear bells chime beneath Gothic spires as locals cross the square with steaming paper cones of roasted almonds.

Learn how Wittelsbach rulers shaped Munich’s art and architecture, from royal palaces to beer halls. Your Travel Director points out vantage spots for photos and the best cafés off the main square.

Join a Local Specialist to sample seasonal treats and uncover lost and forgotten Advent traditions. Warm your hands around spiced Gluhwein and bite into soft, fragrant Lebkuchen as you explore festive stalls and church squares.

Hear the stories behind regional bakes, evergreen wreaths, and candle customs that light Bavaria’s winter. Along the way, discover how guilds and monasteries kept these rituals alive as the city grew into a cultural powerhouse.

Explore Salzburg with a Local Specialist, strolling the formal Mirabell Gardens and crossing the Salzach into the Getreidegasse, where wrought-iron signs hang over Baroque shopfronts. Visit Mozart’s Birthplace and enjoy a musical interlude on his original pianoforte.

View the skyline crowned by the Hohensalzburg Fortress and hear how court musicians, merchants, and archbishops shaped the city’s golden sound. Pass the Residenz Fountain and cathedral squares alive with choral echoes in winter.

Experience one of Europe’s oldest Advent markets as you taste traditional Lebkuchen and sip a steaming cup of Gluhwein among twinkling stalls by the cathedral. Aromas of cinnamon and citrus mingle with choral music drifting across the square.

Learn how the 500-year-old Christmas market grew from church fairs into a beloved civic celebration. During Advent, stallholders share local lore, from gingerbread molds to handcrafted nativity figures.

Walk beneath pastel facades and arcaded lanes to the glittering Golden Roof, whose 2,657 gilded shingles reflect the Alpine light. Hear street musicians beneath snow-dusted eaves as market stalls offer Tyrolean crafts and steaming punch.

Discover Innsbruck’s role as a Habsburg showpiece between Italy and Germany. View Gothic bay windows and Baroque palaces, with the Nordkette range framing the city in dramatic peaks.

Step into Swarovski Crystal Worlds, a fantastical realm conceived by André Heller. Wander the Chambers of Wonder where artists and designers reinterpret crystal with immersive light installations and kinetic sculptures that shimmer like winter frost.

Celebrate Austrian innovation and artisanship spanning more than a century, then relax over a special dinner on site. The meal pairs contemporary Tyrolean flavors with a sparkling setting that turns evening into theatre.

Meet your coachman and settle into a horse-drawn carriage ride through valleys edged by snowy firs and chalet roofs. Hooves clip along quiet lanes while cold air carries woodsmoke and the jingle of harness bells.

Glide past hamlets where carved balconies and stacked firewood signal Alpine rhythms unchanged for generations. The mountain silence and sweeping vistas make this a serene pause amid Tyrol’s winter scenery.

Pause in the Principality of Liechtenstein to view Vaduz Castle, the royal family’s residence high above the capital. From the town, look up to stone ramparts set against a year-round Alpine backdrop of snowy peaks.

Hear how this small state nestled between Austria and Switzerland forged its identity. Your Travel Director points out vantage points for photos and explains the monarchy’s role in modern Vaduz life.

Stroll Lucerne’s lakeside lanes to the Chapel Bridge, its medieval paintings peeking from timber rafters. Continue to the emotive Lion Monument, carved into rock to honor Swiss Guards, and admire the elegant Jesuit Church reflected in the Reuss River.

Learn how trade across Alpine passes enriched Lucerne’s merchants, funding its churches and guildhalls. Winter light turns the city’s baroque and medieval silhouettes into a painterly skyline.

Ride the cable car to Mt. Pilatus and step into crisp air above a panorama of snow-capped peaks. Paths lead to lookouts where the Lake Lucerne basin fans out in deep winter blues.

Hear legends of Pilatus’s dragons and the mount’s place in local folklore. On clear days the Alps stretch to the horizon; on misty mornings, ridgelines rise like islands above a white sea.

Visit the mighty Rhine Falls, where the river explodes into thundering cascades over a broad limestone ledge. Walk to viewpoints to feel the misty spray and photograph swirling eddies and rainbows.

Learn how the falls powered mills and trade along the Rhine for centuries. Winter’s cooler light sharpens the drama as branches glossed with frost frame the torrent.

Walk with your Travel Director through Heidelberg’s Altstadt, where lanes open to the Marktplatz and the Neckar glides beneath the Old Bridge. From the riverfront, gaze up to the red sandstone terraces of Heidelberg Castle crowning the hill.

Hear tales of university life and the notorious Studentenkarzer (student prison). Baroque facades, bookshops, and cosy taverns reflect a city that inspired Romantic poets and scholars alike.

Cruise Lake Lucerne aboard a comfortable boat, gliding past snow-laced Alps, forested slopes, and storybook villages tucked along the shore. The water mirrors winter skies as church spires and chalet roofs appear around each bend.

Hear how paddle steamers once linked merchants and mountain communities, turning the lake into a lifeline. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, weather and schedules permitting.

Step inside the world-famous Hofbräuhaus to raise a stein under vaulted ceilings where oompah bands set the rhythm. Long wooden tables, brass plaques, and roasted aromas create a classic Bavarian scene.

Sample traditional fare alongside malty lagers poured in generous Maßkruge as your Travel Director shares beer-hall lore. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit St. Jakob’s Church to contemplate Tilman Riemenschneider’s Holy Blood altarpiece, a masterwork of late Gothic carving that glows with candlelit detail. The hush of the nave heightens every fold and flourish.

Learn how Franconian guilds and patrons shaped this luminous wood sculpture, revered for its emotion and craftsmanship. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit a traditional Austrian chalet for a cosy mountain evening of hearty regional dishes and warming drinks as snow settles outside. Timber beams, tiled stoves, and candlelight set an inviting Alpine mood.

Hear about rural life and folk traditions from your hosts while sampling specialties that follow the seasons. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Insight Vacations

Discover Mainz on foot as you join a guided walk through the atmospheric Cathedral Quarter, where cobbled lanes and half-timbered houses frame lively wine taverns. Step into the shadow of the Dom Cathedral, whose red sandstone towers rise above Baroque facades and market stalls.

Hear how Roman Mogontiacum evolved into a medieval power, and admire the cathedral’s Romanesque nave layered with Gothic and Baroque details. Your Travel Director brings the city’s craftsmanship and river-borne trade to life amid stained glass, guild signs, and winter market lights.

Taste the region from the start as you enjoy a welcome dinner in a local restaurant near the cathedral. Toast your journey with crisp Rheinhessen Riesling and share first impressions with fellow travellers in a warm, wood-panelled setting.

Sample seasonal Rhineland dishes—think hearty roasts, winter greens, and spiced desserts—paired to local vintages. Your Travel Director offers insider tips while the convivial hum of Mainz’s wine culture sets a festive tone for the days ahead.