Waterways and Mountaintops
9 DAYS
Bruges 2 • Paris 3 • Lausanne 2
Basic Inclusions
Accommodations
Accommodations in centrally-located three-star or four-star hotels. Rooming on a triple basis. Double rooms: $50 per night, per person.
Meals
All breakfasts. All dinners.
Transportation
Round-trip transportation on scheduled airline. All public transportation tickets included where applicable.
Guide
Services of a specially-trained passports Tour Director throughout. All tips are included in the Program Cost. Whisper headsets included.
Travel Protection
Passports provides and pays for a Post Departure Travel Protection Plan that includes coverage for Trip Interruption, Trip Delay, Medical Expense and Evacuation and more.
Tour Summary
Itinerary Includes
Unlimited public transportation
Days 1-2: Home - Bruges
Arrival transfer, Drive-through tour in Brussels, Grand-Place, Photo stop at the Manneken-Pis statue
Day 3: Bruges
Bruges guided walking tour: Local guide, Visit to the Basilica of the Holy Blood, Visit to the Church of Our Lady
Canal cruise
Day 4: Bruges - Paris
Amiens Cathedral
Optional Seine River cruise
Day 5: Paris
Paris City Sightseeing, Excursion to the Palace of Versailles, RER train to Paris
Photo stop near Notre-Dame Cathedral
Day 6: Paris
Visit to the Louvre Museum
Ascent to the second level of the Eiffel Tower: Optional Eiffel Tower Summit (subject to availability)
Optional Capitaine Fracasse dinner cruise
Day 7: Paris - Lausanne
Departure transfer, TGV train Paris-Lausanne, Arrival transfer
Day 8: Lausanne
Excursion to Chillon, Montreux and and Gruyères,: Chillon Castle guide
Day 9: Lausanne - Home
Departure transfer
UNPARALLELED STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE
Detailed Itinerary
Days 1-2: Brussels, Bruges
A short night passes quickly, sped on by the thrill of anticipation. Your jet airplane touches down with the dawn in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium.
Discover this cosmopolitan city on a drive-through tour: see landmarks such as the Royal Palace and the Gothic Town Hall.
Stop for photos at the Grand-Place, heart of the Old Town, which is surrounded by the magnificent façades of guildhouses and of the Gothic Town Hall.
Walk to Rue de l'Étuve, located off the Grand-Place, to meet the Manneken-Pis. This 1619 bronze statue depicting a little boy who saved Brussels, according to local lore, has become an emblem of the city's tenacity.
Travel to Bruges, once a modest fortification against Norman invaders, later a world-famous trading center and cradle of Flemish art, now a beautiful reminder of medieval times and pageantry.
Overnight: Bruges
Day 3: Bruges Guided Walking Tour, Bruges, Canal Cruise
In the company of a local guide, explore this delightful city, which is crisscrossed by little canals lined with 16th-century gabled town houses like the Old Recorder's House. Bruges was one of the wealthiest cities in all of Europe during the Middle Ages. The town's merchants made their fortunes from the cloth trade. With the profits, they constructed impressive public buildings, including the ornate City Hall and the soaring Belfry on the Markt (market square).
A local guide specially-trained on the history and culture of Bruges will accompany your group.
Visit the Heilig-Bloedbasiliek, a "double church" with a Romanesque lower level begun in 1134, and and a Neo-Gothic upper level that houses the revered relic of a Cloth with the Holy Blood of Jesus.
Enter the Onze-lieve-Vrouwekerk, a cathedral-like church whose steeple remains one of the world's three tallest brick towers. Inside, among the art treasures, you will see a marble Madonna and Child sculpted by Michelangelo.
The afternoon is unscheduled.
You may want to admire the rich collections of Flemish paintings at the Groeninge Museum.
You may want to visit the Kantcentrum to see how the renowned Belgian lace is handmade according to ancient techniques.
Overnight: Bruges
Day 4: Amiens, Paris, Optional Seine River Cruise
Your coach takes you across the scarred battlefields of World War I to Amiens, the ancient capital of Picardy. Like Bruges, Amiens was a prosperous city during the Middle Ages thanks to its textile industry.
The medieval Golden Age of Amiens is reflected in its cathedral, a jewel of Gothic art that holds the two records in France: the tallest nave and the greatest interior volume. During your visit, you will see the soaring vaults, the magnificent rose window, and bas-reliefs. Part of the nave's pavement is an octagonal labyrinth of black and white stone that was reconstructed in 1894, based on the original medieval design created in 1288.
Board your coach and proceed to 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.
See Paris transformed into a wonderland like no other during a cruise along the River Seine.
Overnight: Paris
Day 5: Paris City Sightseeing, Excursion to Versailles, RER train to Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral Photo Stop
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.
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.
Then, take a stroll around the Main Gardens.
Return to Paris using the efficient RER transit system.
View Notre-Dame de Paris, gutted by the fire of April 15, 2019, but still standing, solemn and magnificent with its iconic towers miraculously preserved from destruction.
Begun in 1163 and completed in 1272, this cathedral has presided over centuries of glorious and somber French history, including its desecration during the French Revolution. In 1831, Victor Hugo launched a campaign of restoration with a novel he titled Notre Dame de Paris. Because he saw the cathedral as the main character, he strongly objected to the title of the English edition: The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Overnight: Paris
Day 6: Louvre Museum, Paris, Eiffel Tower, Optional Capitaine Fracasse Dinner Cruise
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.
The afternoon is unscheduled.
Check out the Carrousel du Louvre, a cultural and commercial galleria located below the museum. You may want to window shop there, have a bite to eat, or ponder at the inverted glass pyramid, as do all fans of Dan Brown's mystery novel The Da Vinci Code.
Plan a visit to the Père Lachaise Cemetery and its illustrious residents. Jim Morrison of The Doors either read Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, or should have. The two artists lie buried not far from one another. (Move over Balzac, Chopin, Delacroix, and Edith Piaf!)
You may wish to visit the Musée de la Parfumerie Fragonard housed in the Théâtre des Capucines, a theater built in 1900 that was transformed into a museum in 1993. Its collections illustrate the history and manufacture of perfume. A mini-factory with a 19th-century copper distilling apparatus demonstrates the extraction of essences. Visitors also learn all about the esoteric artistry of the "Noses."
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.
Ascend to the third level of the tower.
This evening, dine in style and see illuminations transform Paris into a wonderland like no other as the Capitaine Fracasse cruise ship takes you along the River Seine.
Overnight: Paris
Day 7: Train to Lausanne, Lausanne
There's an exciting ride aboard a high-tech TGV train, which will whisk you away through the hills of Burgundy. Your destination: Switzerland and the lakeside city of Lausanne, on the shores of Lac Léman.
The reflection of the French Alps in the lake's dark blue waters is a sight not soon forgotten.
The remainder of the day is free to plan as you wish.
Walk along the shop-lined streets around the cathedral, which is Switzerland's finest Gothic building.
The International Olympic Committee is headquartered in Lausanne's lakeside district of Ouchy. You may want to visit the Olympic Museum, which retraces more than 2,200 years of sports history, from the games of the ancient Greeks through to the modern revival of the Olympic Games in 1896 to our time. Don't miss the park to view its landscaped grounds and sport-related statuary.
Overnight: Lausanne
Day 8: Excursion to Montreux, Chillon and Gruyeres
Time to explore your surroundings today on a magnificent drive through lakeland, monuments and mountains.
Pause in the glamorous heart of the Vaud Riviera, the lakeside resort of Montreux, renowned for its annual jazz festival.
Enter the romantic Château de Chillon, which inspired Lord Byron's famous poem, The Prisoner of Chillon, back in 1816. Notice the poet's initials carved into the rock walls of the dungeon.
A guide will accompany you on your Chillon Castle tour.
Ride up into the mountains to the town of Gruyères, built on a rocky crag.
Overnight: Lausanne
Day 9: Geneva, Departure
There's chocolate in your flight bag as you head to Geneva's airport!
A la prochaine fois!/ Your jet awaits. You will arrive home later today, eager to share your discoveries with family and friends.
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Bruges, Belgium
Bruges Canal Cruise
Paris City Sightseeing
Excursion to Versailles
Musée du Louvre
TGV Train to Switzerland
Chillon Castle
Going Places Blog
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