2009 The Traditional Grand Tour in the Spring
Italy, the Alps & Paris: inspired by Byron and Shelley and popular since the 18th century.
Enjoy an Earlybird Special of $1000 per person off
any 2009 tour booked before December 15th 2008.
Once paid in full, prices of 2009 tours are guaranteed. Contact us today!
Show Itinerary Calendar
2009 Tours Brochure (2.1MB PDF)
2009 Booking Form (220KB PDF)
Detailed Tour Itinerary
Tour dates highlighted - click on a date to view details.
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JETTING OFF
Monday, April 13th:
This afternoon we join our Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore. The flight timetable permits us to overnight in an airport hotel, and avoid the tiring all-night flight to Europe. There is no need to collect your luggage; you may check it right through to Zurich and bring just an overnight cabin bag.
SWISS ALPS & LAKES[D]
Tuesday, April 14th:
Back on board Singapore Airlines this morning, our daylight flight brings us to Zurich. Watch out for fabulous views of the Alps as we approach Zurich. On arrival you are welcomed to Europe by your Tour Leader and transferred to beautiful lakeside Lucerne and our hotel. Join your fellow travellers for a welcome drink and dinner. Tonight's Dinner [D] is included in the tour cost.
SWISS ALPS & LAKES[B]
Wednesday, April 15th:
Every day on our Great Trains of Europe Tours starts with a full Buffet Breakfast [B] We commence our love affair with the Great Trains of Europe today with a tour highlight, through an Alpine Wonderland. We ride the tiny red Glacier Express through the Swiss Alps at 7,000 feet. Have your cameras at the ready for stunning Alpine vistas. We are back in Lucerne in the afternoon before the shops close.
SWISS ALPS & LAKES Day trip on the Jungfrau[B]
Thursday, April 16th:
Today is free for the shops in beautiful Lucerne or, alternatively, you may choose to enjoy the Lakes and Alps of Switzerland up close and personal on the optional excursion by mountain train and rack railway to the “Top of Europe”, the Jungfrau, whose railway station is a staggering 11,333 feet above sea level. Here we lunch with dizzying views across glaciers and alpine peaks. Home to our Lucerne hotel tonight.
To ROME[B][D]
Friday, April 17th:
Our luggage is transported on ahead as we take our reserved First Class seats in one of Europe's great trains, the Swiss-Italian Cisalpino, crossing the Alps through the 16km St Gotthard Tunnel to Italy. We break the journey in Milan for a short sightseeing tour to see Leonardo da Vinci's magnificent “Last Supper”. Don't mention The Da Vinci Code. Our Eurostar Italia train then speeds us through an evocative Tuscan countryside of cypresses, stone farmhouses, and olive groves to Rome, the Eternal City. We arrive in our centrally located hotel, our home for 3 nights in plenty of time for our first Italian Dinner, followed by the traditional evening stroll, la passegiata - part aid for digestion, part fashion parade!
ROME[B]
Saturday, April 18th:
Catholic Rome today, including entrances and a guided tour of St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's masterpiece. The fashion shops on the Via Condotti are open this afternoon. Dinner in the Piazza Navona as we watch the water play in Bernini's fountains?
ROME[B]
Sunday, April 19th: ^ Top ^
Today's sightseeing focuses on Classical Rome and includes entrances to the Pantheon, the Forum and the Colosseum. “Roma - non basta una vita!” (Rome - one life is not enough!) A stroll to the Trevi Fountain after dinner? If you throw three coins in the fountain, your return to Rome is guaranteed, so the legend goes.
To FLORENCE[B][D]
Monday, April 20th:
Farewell to the Eternal City this morning. Our luggage is taken care of as we make our way to the Termini Station to join our Eurostar High Speed Train to Florence, the cradle of our civilization and birthplace of the Renaissance. This is our home for 4 nights. After lunch, on our walking tour, we tread the same cobblestones as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Cosimo de Medici, through the Renaissance city heart to the twelfth century Ponte Vecchio bridge. Put off all your shopping until you get to Florence - leather coats, handbags and shoes from heaven. Dinner in a 700 year old trattoria tonight.
FLORENCE[B]
Tuesday, April 21st:
We begin the exploration of Florence's museums and galleries today. Two “must sees” are Michangelo's “David” at the Academy and the whole collection at the Uffizi, arguably the greatest collection of Renaissance art in the world. Florence is conducive to people-watching over a coffee in the square. If you loved the movies “Room with a View” and “Tea with Mussolini”, this is your town. This afternoon it is possible to visit nearby Pisa with its Leaning Tower.
FLORENCE Day trip to Tuscan Countryside[B]
Wednesday, April 22nd:
More of Florence's museums, galleries and shops? The Central Market is open from daylight six days a week. Alternatively, today there is an optional excursion into the Tuscan countryside with its cypresses and vineyards to the walled mediaeval village of San Gimignano and the artistic gem of Siena. If you enjoyed “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “My House in Umbria”, today's excursion is a must.
FLORENCE Day trip to Assisi[B]
Thursday, April 23rd:
We are almost at the halfway mark of the tour, so you might like a quiet day people watching from one of Florence's many sidewalk coffee shops. There are dozens of museums, churches and shops you haven't visited yet. There is an optional excursion available to the beautiful Umbrian village of Assisi, forever associated with the lives of St Francis and St Clare. Do the St Francis pilgrimage or simply enjoy another beautiful Italian hill village and watch the water sparkle in the fountains in the square.
To VENICE[B][D]
Friday, April 24th:
Enjoy a sleep-in on our last morning in Florence or make a final dash to the markets. We join our Eurostar Italia train mid-morning for the 2.5 hour journey through the Apennines, the backbone of Italy, passing Bologna and crossing the agriculturally rich Northern Italian Plain to Venice. You really should try one meal on a European train: perhaps lunch today? Our luggage awaits our arrival in our hotel room. Late this afternoon we take the vaporetto down the Grand Canal as dusk settles and the lights come on in St Mark's Square. “Europe's grandest ballroom, with the stars for chandeliers”, Napoleon called it. Dinner tonight as the canal waters lap nearby.
VENICE[B]
Saturday, April 25th: ^ Top ^
This morning we begin to explore the art and history of Venice. Byzantine St Mark's is considered by many to be the most beautiful church in the world and the historic Doge's Palace and its Bridge of Sighs are “must sees.” Venice is best taken slowly, wandering along her canals and bridges.
VENICE[B]
Sunday, April 26th:
There is time for a gondola ride or for a visit to an outer island - Burano for exquisite lace, Murano for world-famous Venetian glass. Art lovers will want to see the Tintoretto paintings in the Scuola di San Rocco, the Titian in the Friary Church, and the collection of Venetian Renaissance art in the Academia Gallery.
To INNSBRUCK[B][D]
Monday, April 27th:
A last free morning in Venice. Hang the expense - go back across to Murano and buy that chandelier. If you don't spend it, your grandkids will. Shortly after midday we cross to the Station to join our EuroCity train for Innsbruck, crossing the Austrian Alps at the Brenner Pass. Our home for 3 nights is an Alpine lodge-styled hotel in the village of Igls, 15 minutes above Innsbruck. We arrive in time for a sundowner on the terrace overlooking the Alps, as our luggage arrives. Dinner tonight is in the hotel restaurant. It is one of the region's best.
INNSBRUCK[B]
Tuesday, April 28th:
Choices today. Right outside our hotel, there are many lovely Alpine walks through meadows filled with wildflowers. Alternatively join your Tour Leader in an exploration of Innsbruck, the Imperial city of the Hapsburgs. We commence by riding a tramcar through forests and farms down to Innsbruck below. There is an interesting mediaeval quarter to explore before taking a ride up the Hungerberg rack railway for a panorama of the Alps and Innsbruck.
INNSBRUCK Day trip to Salzburg [B]
Wednesday April 29th:
Today, like Lionel Hardcastle in “As Time Goes By”, you may do very little, very slowly - potter about the village, or take the tram back down into Innsbruck to the shops. There is an optional excursion by Austrian InterCity train to Mozart's birthplace, Salzburg. On arrival in Salzburg, firstly we enjoy a panoramic view of the city from the castle fortress at the top of the rack railway, and then visit the cathedral where the great man made his first acquaintance with music. There is plenty of time to wander the narrow cobble-stone streets or visit Mozart's house, now a museum.
To PARIS[B]
Thursday, April 30th:
Two of the world's great trains today: Germany's ICE and the world's fastest (until pipped by the Shanghai airport rail transfer), the French TGV. We depart Innsbruck this morning on the ICE and cross into Germany. At Stuttgart we join the French TGV. Skirting the Black Forest, we cross the Rhine into France and are soon in Paris, the City of Lights. Some say that Paris, not Venice, is the world's most romantic city. Our luggage awaits our arrival.
PARIS Trip to Versailles [B]
Friday, May 1st:
Our morning sightseeing includes the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and Notre Dame Cathedral, ending up at the Louvre to say hello to Mona Lisa. This afternoon an optional excursion is available to the Versailles Palace of King Louis XIV. Major decisions tonight: which of the thousands of excellent restaurants? Anyone for snails?
PARIS Trip to Somme Battlefields [B]
Saturday, May 2nd: ^ Top ^
There is an optional excursion offered today to the Somme Battlefields of World War I. Here we visit sites sacred in Australia's national history. Alternatively, you may wish to visit the Paris fashion stores, or some more museums.
PARIS Trip to Monet's Garden [B][D]
Sunday, May 3rd:
The museums beckon today. There is an afternoon optional excursion to Monet's Garden at Giverney. A Farewell Dinner in Paris tonight, overlooking the Eiffel Tower.
HOMEWARD BOUND[B]
Monday, May 4th:
The tour ends after breakfast this morning. We bid “au revoir”, and transfer to the airport for the homeward flight. A stopover is possible in Singapore. Alternatively, you may extend your stay in Europe for up to six months, flying home from any city served by Singapore Airlines (this may increase the airfare), or join the Optional London Add-On. See Optional Excursions.
ARRIVE HOME
Wednesday, May 6th:
Costs:
Option 1. $AUD 9,950 per person Twin Share. Land Content only (i.e. join the tour in Lucerne and leave the tour in Paris or London)
Or:
Option 2. $AUD 11,950 per person Twin Share. Including return economy class airfares to Europe from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.
Single Room supplement $AUD 2000.
Enquire about Business or First Class airfare upgrades (Remember, if you don't fly First Class, your grandchildren will).
Combined Tours Discount: Combine this Traditional “Grand Tour” and the “Springtime Gardens Tour” and save 10% on the land content cost of the second tour.
What's included?^ Top ^
All Great Trains of Europe Tours include:
- All stops 3 nights minimum
- Quality, centrally located hotels
- First Class travel on Europe's Great Trains
- Luggage transported on ahead
- Escorted by Australian historian / tour guide
- Guided orientation / sightseeing tours in all cities
The Traditional Grand Tour, departing April 13th 2009 also includes:
- Return economy airfare - but NOT taxes - from your Australian international airport to Europe, with airport transfers if arriving and departing on group dates. Inquire about the cost of earlier departure or later return. Not included if you have opted for the “land content only” option.
- Twin share accommodation with buffet breakfast in centrally located First Class (European 4 star) hotels with private facilities and air-conditioning (see notes on air-conditioning in Booking Conditions).
- One restaurant dinner (3 courses plus wine or beer) on the first night in each new city, but on the last night in Paris.
- First Class rail travel in reserved seats on many of Europe's great trains - Glacier Express, Cisalpino, Eurostar Italia, Eurocity, French TGV. (Second class seats only available on some sectors).
- Entrances to the “Last Supper” in Milan, the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and the Pantheon in Rome, the Academy (David) and Uffizi Galleries in Florence, the Doge's Palace in Venice,
- Luggage handling between cities (except on Eurostar for London Add on).
The TOUR COST does NOT include:^ Top ^
- Hotel incidentals (eg. Mini-bars, telephone calls, laundry), airport and departure taxes, local transport in any city.
- Optional excursions listed or meals other than breakfast and the one restaurant dinner in each city - the first night in each new city, except Paris where it takes the form of a farewell dinner. On other nights, the Tour Leaders are available to accompany group members to local, authentic restaurants.
Traditional Grand Tour in the Spring Tour Optional Excursions: ^ Top ^
Jungfrau add $325
April 16th:
This is a long day, and quite expensive, but well worth it for a once in a lifetime experience. We meet in the hotel foyer at 8.30am and cross to the railway station where we join another of Switzerland's' little mountain trains, the “Brunig Panoramic Express” to Interlaken, situated - as its name suggests - between the lakes. The next rail leg has us winding along a riverbank up to Lauterbrunnen. Here we begin the ascent of the Jungfrau.
A modern cogwheel railway takes us first to Kleine Scheidegg, at an altitude 6700 feet, at the foot of the notorious Eiger North Wall. From here the Jungfrau Railway climbs through the Eiger Tunnel. We enjoy spectacular sightseeing through large observation windows hewn from solid Alpine rock.
We arrive at the Jungfraujoch, Europe's highest railway station at a staggering 11,333 feet above sea level, in the heart of a glorious glacier world on the very roof of Europe! Superb views extend as far as the summits of the Vosges Mountains in France and the Black Forest in Germany. You will never enjoy restaurant views like these again. A set menu lunch is included. We retrace our path, to arrive back in Lucerne around 8pm. « Go back
Tuscan countryside: Siena and San Gimignano add $250
April 22nd:
We bus through a Tuscan landscape of vineyards, cypress pines, stone cottages and hill villages, with mediaeval towers peering through the mist. We lunch in the fortified hill village of San Gimignano with its thirteen towers dating from the twelfth century. Then we visit the city of Siena, home of many Renaissance treasures of art. In the summer, the Palio horse race is run in the city square. « Go back
Assisi add $250
April 23rd:
We bus through Tuscan and Umbrian countryside to the medieval village of Assisi, home of St Francis, everyone's favourite saint. Visits include St Francis' cathedral with its Giotto originals, and St Clare's church. « Go back
Salzburg add $275
April 29th:
This excursion includes the two hour rail journey from Innsbruck. On arrival in Salzburg we taxi into the old town and ride the rack railway to the top of the Hohensalzburg fortress for a panoramic view over the city. We explore the 12th century castle and upon our descent visit Salzburg cathedral where Mozart's father was organist and where the young genius first played. The Altstadt (old city) is very compact and an all-pedestrian zone. Mozart's birthplace is now a museum worth a visit. « Go back
Versailles add $60
May 1st:
This afternoon's excursion to King Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles offers something for the history buff and for the garden lover. We have a tour through the apartments of the Palace and then have free time to wander through the expansive gardens, with the spring blooms just coming out. « Go back
Somme Battlefields Tour add $275
May 2nd:
Departing our Paris hotel at 7.30am, we are in the province of Picardy, in North Eastern France for morning coffee before beginning our visits to the major battlefields and cemeteries associated with the horror of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On that one day, July 1st 1916, 60,000 Allied soldiers fell. We visit the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel, the British Memorial at Thiepval and the Australian Memorials at Pozieres and Villiers-Brettoneux. Lunch in an atmospheric French country bistro is included. « Go back
Monet's Garden at Giverney add $110
May 3rd:
If you love Impressionist art, or if you love gardens, or if you'd just like a drive through some rolling French countryside, this afternoon's excursion is for you. See the waterlilies and have your photo taken on the Japanese bridge. « Go back
London Optional Add-On $600 (sgl. suppl. $100)
May 4th:
Many Australians have family or friends in Britain and prefer to wind up their European holidays there. For these people, especially if you would like to be escorted to London, we offer an escorted London Optional Add-on:
On Monday, May 4th, after farewelling our fellow travellers who are departing Europe today, we transfer to Paris' Gare du Nord Railway Station to join the 300 kph Eurostar under the English Channel. Given the Customs restrictions we must travel with our luggage. You may leave the tour on arrival at London's St Pancras Station (deduct $300), or be transferred to our hotel. Bed and breakfast are included tonight in our London hotel. Check out after breakfast on Tuesday morning. Group rates can be arranged at the same hotel for an extended stay. Singapore Airlines has several flights a day home from London.
Note: If you are continuing on with the Tour Leader to join the “Springtime Gardens Tour”, we do not stopover in London (there is plenty of time in London on the Springtime Gardens Tour), but have a late afternoon flight to Amsterdam, with Amsterdam accommodation included.
Optional Excursions offered subject to a minimum of 12 persons.
2009 Tours Brochure (2.1MB PDF)
2009 Booking Form (220KB PDF)
Note well: Booking Conditions « Tours index ^ Top ^