Day 1: Fly overnight to Switzerland
Day 2: Zurich • Lucerne region
Meet your Field Director at the destination airportTravel to Lucerne
Enjoy dinner at your hotel in the Lucerne region
Day 3: Lucerne region
🔹 Cultural engagement: Take a walking tour of Lucerne
With your Field Director you will see:
- Lion Monument, a sandstone statue commemorating the Swiss Guards slain in the 1792 Paris storming of the Tuileries
- Kapellbrücke, a covered bridge dating back to medieval days adorned with colorful murals overhead
Swiss Alps experience
This exciting half-day adventure takes you to the top of one of the Swiss Alps, the majestic mountainous backdrop of Lucerne. Journey to the base of the mountain by boat and ride a cog railway to the top. You’ll reach the summit and be rewarded with a splendid panorama of Lucerne, its lake, and the glorious snow-capped Alps. On a clear day, you can see for more than 200 miles! You’ll get back to the foot of the mountain by way of a gondola ride. (Please note: Mountains can be cold, even in summer; warm clothes and appropriate shoes are recommended.)
Enjoy a traditional Swiss dinner
Day 4: Lucerne region • Verona • Venice region
Travel via Verona, the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, to Venice
Enjoy dinner in the Venice region
Day 5: Venice
Take a guided tour of Venice
With your local expert guide you will see:
- St. Mark's Square, Venice's primary square and center of cultural importance
- St. Mark's Campanile, a 323-foot bell tower
- Grand Canal, Venice's major waterway filled with gondolas
Visit the colorful Venetian island of Burano
Learn about glass-blowing in a local craftsman's shop and watch expert craftsmen spin molten-hot wares
🔹 Independent exploration: Spend a half day exploring Venice on your own
Day 6: Venice region • Florence
Travel to Florence, the birthplace of the Italian language, opera, and the Renaissance
🔹 Guided learning: Take a guided tour of Florence
With your expert local guide you will see:
- Piazza della Signoria, which is lined with classic statues
- Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge where many of Florence’s famed leather and gold artisans still keep shop
- Basilica of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and others are buried
- Gates of Paradise, bronzed doors that depict scenes from the Old Testament and are considered an icon of the Renaissance
Enjoy dinner in Florence
Day 7: Florence
Tuscan wine tasting
Take an excursion to a Tuscan winery and sample the distinctive wines of the region.
Day 8: Florence • Cinque Terre
Travel to Cinque Terre
Enjoy free time in Cinque Terre
🔹 Cultural engagement: Explore Cinque Terre and its “Five Lands,” a series of small villages that have been carved into the Italian coastline
Enjoy dinner in Cinque Terre
Day 9: Cinque Terre • Monaco • Èze • French Riviera
Travel via Monaco and the seaside city of Èze on your way to the French Riviera
Tour a perfume factory and watch olfactory experts concoct new fragrances
Day 10: French Riviera
Free time in Nice
Take a walking tour of Nice and soak up the white-washed villas and the emerald waters that lap its endless beaches
Enjoy dinner in Nice
Day 11: Depart for home
Add 2 more days
Day 11: French Riviera • Paris
Travel by TGV train to Paris
🔹 Cultural engagement: Take a walking tour of the Latin Quarter, so named because the language was once commonly spoken by the Sorbonne students that populated the area
See Notre-Dame Cathedral, known for its sculptured facade, stained-glass rose windows, and seemingly weightless vaulted ceilings
Enjoy dinner in the Latin QuarterDay 12: Paris
🔹 Guided learning: Take a guided tour of Paris
With your expert local guide you will see:
- Place de la Concorde, a major public square
- Champs-Élysées, an elegant boulevard packed with high-fashion boutiques
- Arc de Triomphe, a monument honoring those who fought for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
- Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair and an iconic symbol of Paris
- Hôtel des Invalides, a grand hospital commissioned by Louis XIV
Explore art from around the world at the Louvre, home to over 35,000 objects including Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa
Day 13: Depart for home
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