Chocolates and Cappuccino – 10 Day Tour
Venice 2 • Salzburg 2 • Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1 • Lucerne 2 • Lake Maggiore 1
A dream comes true as your wide-bodied jet thunders off the airstrip: you're on your way to Italy! Time for a meal, a movie and a nap. Then it gets light again, first off the left-hand side of the airplane, then everywhere. It's morning, and Milan, Italy!
Days 1-2: Arrival Milan, Verona, Venice
Enjoy a sightseeing stop in Verona, the city immortalized by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It's still surrounded by 16th-century walls enclosing the Centro della Città, full of little alleys and arcaded passageways. See Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House) and its courtyard with the famous balcony and a bronze statue of Juliet.
Day 3: Venice Guided Walking Tour
After a water bus ride to the greatest square in the West, Piazza San Marco, enjoy a walking tour led by a local guide. You will see the Doges' Palace and St. Mark's Basilica.
Visit a glass workshop, where you will view a glass-blowing demonstration and learn about the art of making the world-renowned Venetian glass.
Day 4: Alps, Salzburg
Travel to Salzburg, through the Alps
Sit back and enjoy the ride through Alpine landscapes, where pastures and woods blanket the lower slopes of rocky summits. Travel to Austria and Mozart's enchanting city, Salzburg.
Day 5: Salzburg Guided Walking Tour
Get acquainted with the City of Bells (thus nicknamed for the innumerable church bells that regularly chime throughout the day) on a walking tour led by a local guide.
Mozart's Birthplace
Visit Mozart's Birthplace, the house in which he was born in 1756 and where he composed most of his child-prodigy works. See personal documents, pictures of his family and his childhood instruments.
Optional Excursion to Hellbrunn Palace
Watch out for the famous Wasserspiele! This amazing system of whimsical trick fountains was designed by Marcus Sitticus himself for his amusement, as he inflicted his unique sense of humor on his unsuspecting guests.
Day 6: Hallein, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Have fun as you dress in miner's clothes and slide down a chute into the mine to explore its dark underground chambers and cross the mine's subterranean lake! Multimedia installations complete the entertainment.
Board your coach which takes you through the breathtaking Alpine landscapes of the Austrian Tirol towards Germany's top ski resort, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, located at the foot of Germany's tallest summit, the Zugspitze. Fun fact: At the top of Zugspitze, an impressive 360° panorama opens up to reveal extensive views over 400 mountain peaks in four countries – Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
Day 7: Neuschwanstein, Liechtenstein, Lucerne
Today, travel through the romantic Germany of fairy tales into fantasyland.
Neuschwanstein Castle guided tour
Enjoy a guided visit to the dream castle built by Bavaria's "mad" King Ludwig II. Neuschwanstein inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland and Cinderella’s castle in Disney World.
Cross the border into Switzerland, traveling through its historic cantons to William Tell's country.
Day 8: Optional Excursion to Mt. Pilatus, Lucerne Walking Tour, Stadtkeller Dinner and Show
Optional Excursion to Mt. Pilatus
Enjoy a morning excursion to the top of the world, with an ascent to the summit of Mt. Pilatus, nearly 7,000 feet high! Up one side of this towering peak by cable car; down the other side, through mists and tinkling cowbells, by a narrow-gauge cog railway train (the steepest in the world for this form of traction).
Enjoy a 60 minute lake cruise across the "Lake of the Four Forest Cantons" from Alpnachstad to Lucerne where your courier will introduce you to Lucerne's Old Town.
Stadtkeller Swiss folklore dinner and show
A fondue dinner and folklore performance are included tonight at the Stadtkeller. Brightly colored skirts, yodeling, and ten-foot mountain horns set a joyous context you'll long remember.
Day 9: St. Gotthard Tunnel, Lake Maggiore, Excursion to the Borromean Islands
More tinkling cowbells and jagged peaks as you climb up to the St. Gotthard Pass. Travel through the tunnel dug under the pass, then down to Switzerland's Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. Drive through the idyllic lake district, famed for its white chocolate, crystal-clear air and mountain views.
Your coach takes you to the most idyllic of the Italian lakes, Lago Maggiore. The reflection of the Alps in the lake's deep blue waters is a sight not soon forgotten, nor is the surprising contrast of Alpine vistas framed by tropical vegetation.
Excursion to the Borromean Islands
Enjoy a boat excursion to Lake Maggiore's Borromean Islands.
Borromeo Palace
On the island of Isola Bella, you will visit the lovely Baroque palace and terraced gardens built by the princely Borromeo family in the 17th century.
Day 10: Milan, Departure
Ciao! Laden with souvenirs, gifts and wonderful memories, you're heading back to the USA!
