Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands

Basic Inclusions

Detailed Itinerary

Days 1-2: Arrival, Geneva

Arrival Geneva
A dream comes true as your wide-bodied jet thunders off the airstrip, Europe-bound. The night sky soon gives way to dawn, and you're closer to your destination, Switzerland. Arrive at the Aéroport Genève-Cointrin. All of a sudden you're experiencing a new world! This is la Suisse and Genève, its international capital city, situated at the western tip of Lac Léman.
Free time in Geneva
Enjoy some free time in Geneva today.

Day 3: Travel to Lyon via Annecy

Travel to Lyon via Annecy
Enjoy a ride in the foothills of the Alps on your way to the "Venice of the Alps" - a picturesque town framed by snow-capped summits and etched by a couple of canals which meander their way to a pristine glacial lake.
The 18th-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who famously fell in love with Madame de Warens while in Annecy, found inspiration on the shore of France's third-largest lake, the lovely Lac d'Annecy.

Day 4: Lyon Heritage Walking Tour, Dinner at Paul Bocuse Brasserie

Tour director-led walking tour with public transportation pass
Fourvière Funicular
Enjoy a ride on la ficelle (the string), the local slang for funicular. It will take you all the way to the top of the Fourvière Hill, from which you will have a splendid overview of Lyon. On a clear day, the view can extend all the way to the Mont Blanc!

Visit to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Enter the basilica consecrated in 1884 that crowns the Fourvière hill. View its floor-to-ceiling mosaics.

Tour director-led walking tour down the Fourvière Hill
Walk down the Colline de Fourvière, past the Roman Ruins, on your way to the medieval and Renaissance districts of the Old Town. Then, you'll cross the Saône River to reach the heart of the modern city.

Visit to the Cathédrale Saint-Jean Baptiste
Visit the Gothic cathedral begun in 1180 on the site of an Early Christian church. It has hosted church councils, a Pope's coronation and a royal wedding. Inside, you'll see stained-glass windows, and the 30-foot-tall Astronomical Clock with its astrolabe and automated figures, which was first installed in 1383.

Sightseeing stop at the Lugdunum Roman Ruins
Step onto a site of the Roman city of Lugdunum, capital of Roman Gaul, which was founded in 43 BCE. See the ruins of the amphitheater first built in in 15 BCE and enlarged in the 2nd century CE to accommodate 10,000 spectators. The Odeon theater was added for smaller audiences. Restored in the 20th century, both theaters are used for summer festivals.

Walk along the Longue Traboule (hidden passageway)
Lyon's most unique feature is the maze of narrow, mostly covered passageways known as traboules which link streets in the Old Town. Built by silk merchants to safely transport their goods, they were used as escape routes during uprisings, and during World War II, when Lyon became the capital of the French Resistance. You'll follow the Longue Traboule, the longest and one of the best-known of these secret itineraries. It will take you through four buildings and their inner courtyards as it meanders its way out of sight, from No. 54, rue Saint-Jean to No. 27 rue du Boeuf.

Photo stop at the Rose Tower
As you walk through the Vieux-Lyon, you'll reach the district built in the 15th century by Italian merchants attracted by Lyon's grand fairs. See the Tour Rose, the city's most beautiful Renaissance building, reminiscent of Italy.

Visit to the Museum of Cinema and Miniatures
Make your way to the tall Renaissance house adorned in 1516 with three tiers of balconies. Restored by the Lawyers Guild in the 1980s, it's part of the of the Old Lyon UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name La Maison des Avocats. It's now home to an astonishing museum, le Musée Cinéma et Miniatures. Founded by the miniaturist artist Dan Ohlmann, who excels in small-scale reproductions, this museum displays a collection of jaw-dropping miniatures as well as a collection of pre-digital age film sets, props, animatronics, robots, masks, and costumes, all designed to create illusions and special effects.

Photo Stop on Place bellecour
Between the two rivers lies the heart of the modern city, settled in the 17th and 18th centuries and centered around Place Bellecour, one of France's largest city squares.

Dinner at a Paul Bocuse Brasserie
You'll eat in one of Paul Bocuse's brasserie restaurants tonight.

Day 5: Colmar, Strasbourg

Travel to Strasbourg via Colmar

Travel to Colmar
Arrive in the city which the writer Georges Duhamel once declared "the most beautiful town in the world!" Set out to explore Colmar to see for yourself.

Tour director-led walking tour in Colmar
Discover the old city center with its Gothic Collégiale Saint-Martin, numerous Renaissance houses, notably the remarkable Maison des Têtes (1609), and the district called "Little Venice" because of its canals. Other landmarks include the Birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, and the Musée d'Unterlinden, one of France's richest art museums.

Travel to Strasbourg
Travel to Strasbourg, a busy port on the Rhine River where France's national anthem, La Marseillaise, was first sung in 1792. Strasbourg is now one of the European Union's capital cities.

Day 6: Old Strasbourg Walking Tour, Train to Paris, Marmottan Monet Museum

Tour director-led walking tour in Old Strasbourg
A walking tour in the historic district will allow you to marvel at half-timbered houses and medieval streets. See the mighty single-spired cathedral, the lively Place Kléber as well as the covered bridges and canals in the neighborhood called La Petite France. You will also hear about the Château des Rohan, and the modern district with European Union entities such as the Parlement Européen and the Conseil de l'Europe.

Visit to Strasbourg Cathedral and its astronomical clock
Visit the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, a Gothic marvel that's known for its 470-foot-high spire (the world's tallest from 1277 to 1874) and its astronomical clock of ingenious complexity. Dating back to the Renaissance, its horloge astronomique was built by Swiss watchmakers, mathematicians and sculptors: it displays its automated figures once a day, at noon.

Train to Paris
Today, travel aboard a TGV train to Paris, the "City of Light!" Settle into your hotel, then have a look at one of the world's most beautiful capital cities. Time permitting, you may want to head to Montmartre, Paris' highest hill and its most celebrated bohemian district. Artists still flock to the charming Place du Tertre, as they did when Toulouse-Lautrec painted the French Cancan dancers at the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Visitors enjoy panoramic views of the city as they make their way to the Sacré-Coeur, the white-domed basilica that anchors the Parisian skyline.

Marmottan Monet Museum
Enjoy a visit to one of the world's most impressive Monet collections at the Musée Marmottan Monet. View paintings created at Giverny during the last years of the artist's life and a canvas titled Impression-Sunrise, from which came the term Impressionism. You'll also see parts of Monet's personal art collection, which includes works by his contemporaries, such as Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley.

Day 7: Paris City Sightseeing, Excursion to Versailles, RER train to Paris, Latin Quarter Walking Tour, Seine River Cruise

Set out on a coach tour of the city in the company of a local guide. On the Right Bank of the River Seine, see Napoléon's Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées, the Place de la Concorde, and the exuberant Opéra Garnier. On the Left Bank, discover the Eiffel Tower, the Invalides, the Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. A full-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Paris and its surroundings, will accompany your group.

Visit to the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles
Enjoy a bit of relevant French history today at the palace where the Sun King, Madame de Pompadour and Queen Marie-Antoinette all come to life. In this ultimate example of Baroque architecture, you will marvel at the lavish decoration, abundant gilding and exuberant ornamentation, particularly in the Royal Apartments of Louis XIV and in the Hall of Mirrors. Imagine the sense of self-importance that must have inflated the ego of these kings and queens. The main gardens, designed by the famous landscape architect André Le Nôtre, are an integral part of the palace's overall design, showcasing a harmonious blend of French formal gardens and Italian Renaissance influences. Covering approximately 800 hectares, the gardens boast intricate geometric patterns, magnificent fountains, and extensive parterres, all aligned with the palace's central axis, creating an awe-inspiring vista. A walk through the main gardens of Versailles offers visitors a chance to witness the spectacular fountains, such as the grand Fountain of Apollo, which represents the Sun King himself riding a chariot drawn by four horses. Visitors can also explore the perfectly manicured lawns, the grand canal, and the numerous statues and sculptures that adorn the garden. The intricate groves, such as the enchanting Bosquet de la Salle de Bal, provide a sense of intimacy and a place for quiet contemplation amidst the grandiosity of the estate. A visit to Versailles' main gardens is a journey through history, offering a glimpse into the lavish lifestyle of the French royalty. Return to Paris using the efficient RER transit system.

Tour director-led walking tour in the Latin Quarter
Explore the Quartier Latin, home of one of the world's oldest universities, the Sorbonne, which was founded in the Middle Ages, when Latin was the language of instruction. Walk along the Boul' Mich', past bookstores windowed cafés where students have brooded for centuries over real and imagined injustices.

Visit to the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore
Enter the most famous English bookstore in Paris, Shakespeare and Co., which has been a gathering place for anglophone writers and readers since it was opened in 1919, in the heart of the Quartier Latin.

Seine River cruise
See Paris transformed into a wonderland like no other during a cruise along the River Seine.

Day 8: Louvre Museum, Sainte Chapelle, Eiffel Tower

Visit to the Louvre Museum
Enter the Musée du Louvre and walk along grand galleries filled with treasures. See Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Vénus de Milo sculpted between 130 and 100 BC, the 19th century painting depicting The Coronation of Napoléon among many other masterpieces.

Sainte Chapelle
Visit the former Royal Chapel known as the Sainte-Chapelle, a true gem commissioned by Louis IX in the 13th century to house relics brought back from the crusades, in particular Christ's Sacred Crown of Thorns. The sanctuary combines superb acoustics, soaring architecture and a visual symphony of brilliant colors when sunlight pours in through its magnificent stained-glass windows.

Ascent to the second level of the Eiffel Tower
Take an elevator to the deuxième étage of the most famous cast iron structure ever built, la Tour Eiffel, for an unforgettable panorama of Paris.

Optional Eiffel Tower Summit (subject to availability)
Ascend to the third level of the tower.

Day 9: Excursion to Giverny, Paris, Montmartre Walking Tour

Excursion to Giverny
Today, an excursion takes you along the valley of the meandering Seine River to the Normandy town of Vernon and Giverny, the village across the river.

Visit to Monet's House and Gardens in Giverny
Claude Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. You will tour his carefully-designed gardens, which include well-known features such as the Water Lily Pond and the Japanese Bridge. Of course, you'll see the artist's pink house, a mecca for fans of Impressionism.

Free time in Paris
Enjoy some free time in Paris.

Tour director-led walking tour in Montmartre
Enjoy a walking tour on Paris's highest hill and its most celebrated bohemian district. Artists still flock to Montmartre's charming Place du Tertre, as they did when Toulouse-Lautrec painted the French Cancan dancers at the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret.

Visit to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica
Discover panoramic views of the city as you make your way up to the SacréCoeur for a visit to this white-domed basilica, which anchors the Parisian skyline.

Day 10: Train to Amsterdam, Amsterdam City Sightseeing

Train to Amsterdam
Board a fast Thalys train for the ride up north (no clickety-clacks on these smooth rails). Your destination is Amsterdam, the nominal capital city of the Netherlands.

Half-day city sightseeing
Enjoy a city sightseeing tour of Amsterdam, old and new. See 17th- and 18th-century patrician houses, historic landmarks such as the Royal Palace (Koninklijk Paleis) and churches like the Oude Kerk (Old Church), Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), and the Westerkerk (West Church), where Rembrandt is buried. A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Amsterdam, will accompany you today.

Visit to Anne Frank's House
Enter the house which was the hiding place of the Frank family for two years before they were deported to Germany by the Nazis. The rooms Anne described in her diary have been preserved as they were, without the furniture. She began her life in hiding as she turned 14 and died in a concentration camp at the age of 16.

Day 11: Van Gogh Museum, Diamond Factory, Canal Cruise

Visit to the Van Gogh Museum
Get better acquainted with the life and work of Vincent van Gogh as you view the Van Gogh Museum's collection of paintings, drawings, and letters.

Visit to a diamond cutting workshop
A visit is included to a diamond-cutting workshop. Here you'll be able to watch the incredible transformation from a rough stone to a beautiful jewel!

Amsterdam Canal Cruise
Did you know that this "Venice of the North" is composed of some 90 islands connected by about 1,000 bridges? See for yourself during a cruise with recorded commentary along the city's canals.

Day 12: Departure

Depart Amsterdam
Tot ziens! Villages and bicycles, tulips and wooden shoes all blur together as you make your way to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The U.S. seems a world away. Yet you'll be there later today, eager to share your discoveries with family and friends.

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