Off the Beaten Path: Europe's Provincial Diversions 2011
From Rome to Paris via the Market Towns & Hill Villages of Tuscany, the Swiss Lakes & the South of France.
Tour dates highlighted - click on a date to view details.
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JETTING OFF
Sunday, Sept. 25th:
Tonight join your flight to Europe.
ROME[D]
Monday, Sept. 26th:
On arrival in Rome, we transfer to our centrally located hotel, our home for 3 nights. Get to know your fellow travellers at Welcome Drinks and Dinner this evening. Is there anybody for the traditional Roman evening stroll, la passegiata? It is said to aid digestion, and it permits a fashion statement. Tonight's Dinner [D] is included in the tour cost.
ROME[B]
Tuesday, Sept. 27th:
Every day on our Great Trains of Europe Tours starts with a full Buffet Breakfast [B] 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!) Join your Tour Leader for 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.
ROME[B]
Wednesday, Sept. 28th:
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?
Venice Option:
If you would prefer Venice to Rome as your starting point, you have the option of taking the first 3 days of the tour in a 4 star canal-front hotel in magical Venice. These days will not be escorted.
To SAN GIMIGNANO, Tuscany[B][D]
Thursday, September 29th: ^ Top ^
Our luggage is transported on ahead as we commence our love affair with the Great Trains of Europe, taking our reserved First Class seats on Italy's flagship train, the High Speed Eurostar Italia.
After Florence our rail journey takes us at a slower pace through archetypal Tuscan countryside - vineyards, olive-groves and cypresses - down the Vale of Chianti and up the hill to San Gimignano. This walled hilltop village with its 13 towers, standing almost unchanged since the 12th century, is our home for 4 nights.
Most days a short excursion from San Gimignano is provided (and included in your tour cost). You may choose to join the excursion or simply stay in San Gimignano and relax.
SAN GIMIGNANO, Tuscany[B]
Friday, September 30th:
A drive off the beaten path today through Southern Tuscan vineyards and olive groves to visit two beautiful hilltop villages and wine centres - Montalcino and Montepulciano.
SAN GIMIGNANO, Tuscany[B]
Saturday, October 1st:
This morning we explore the artistic gem of Siena, which stands today much as it did in the twelfth century. You know it from “My House in Umbria” and “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Where better to take lunch than at one of the open air trattoria on the Campo? This is the historic city square, the setting for the Palio horse race in the summer. Home to San Gimignano this afternoon.
SAN GIMIGNANO, Tuscany[B]
Sunday, October 2nd:
We take the local train through the Vale of Chianti today for a visit to Florence, the cradle of our civilisation and birthplace of the Renaissance. After a brief orientation tour, the city is yours - museums, churches and leather shops to die for. Home to San Gimignano this afternoon for our final night.
To SPIEZ, Swiss Lakes[B][D]
Monday, October 3rd:
Our luggage is transported on ahead today as we make our way north via Milan towards Switzerland. A picturesque rail journey as we wind our way through the Italian Lakes District and cross the Swiss Alps through the Simplon Tunnel. We arrive at the pretty lakeside village of Spiez as the sun sets. Here is our home for 3 nights.
SPIEZ, Swiss Lakes[B]
Tuesday, October 4th:
A quiet day in the picturesque village of Spiez. Pay a visit to its mediaeval castle or take a steamer ride down the lake to Interlaken.
SPIEZ, Swiss Lakes[B]
Wednesday, October 5th:
Truly one of the Great Rail Journeys of the World today on the Jungfrau Railway as we climb and tunnel through the Eiger to Jungfraujoch, Europe's highest railway station - an unbelievable 11,333 feet above sea level. Superlatives fail when one tries to describe the view across the roof of the world. Home to Spiez for our last night.
To VILLENEUVE, Provence[B][D]
Thursday, October 6th: ^ Top ^
By local train to Geneva to join the high speed French TGV train, for Avignon in Provence and the village of Villeneuve. As in Tuscany, excursions from Villeneuve are offered most days and included in the tour cost, but you are free to choose only those that appeal.
VILLENEUVE, Provence[B]
Friday, October 7th:
Off the beaten path again today as we drive through some of Provence's favourite villages, - Lourmarin (Market day) hilltop Bonnieux, rainbow-coloured Roussillon, Gordes - with stops for coffee, lunch and shopping.
VILLENEUVE, Provence[B]
Saturday, October 8th:
A visit today to the historic city of Avignon, home of the Roman Catholic Popes from 1309 to 1377. The historic walled town has some good shopping and excellent restaurants.
VILLENEUVE, Provence[B]
Sunday, October 9th:
The nearby village of L'Isle-Sur-la-Sourge prides itself on being France's second largest antiques centre, and Sunday is its Market Day. The market spreads throughout the town and offers not just antiques: local food produce, crafts, fabrics and gifts also abound. Visa cards with chronic fatigue syndrome have been known here. Quite apart from the markets, L'Isle-Sur-la-Sourge is a very attractive town with streams and water wheels. It deserves its nickname, “the Venice of Provence”. Our last night in Provence tonight.
To SARLAT, Dordogne[B][D]
Monday, October 10th:
As our luggage goes on ahead, we take another rail journey to Toulouse, then the walled mediaeval market town of Sarlat, one of the gems of the Dordogne region. We settle in for 3 nights. As before, excursions from Montignac are offered most days and included in the tour cost, but you are free to choose those that appeal to you or simply to spend the days pottering about in our “home” village.
SARLAT, Dordogne[B]
Tuesday, October 11th:
Today we make our way to the mediaeval cliff-face village of Rocamadour - very much ON the beaten path,a pilgrimage destination since the 12th century. Later we visit the walled 'bastide' town of Domme, with excellent shopping and a ine view of a vast sweep of the Dordogne River Valley.
SARLAT, Dordogne[B]
Wednesday, October 12th:
The morning is free in the village of Sarlat. This is a “foodie's” paradise with a vast array of gourmet shops. In the afternoon we visit one of France's most beautiful gardens, the nearby Jardin d'Eyrignac. [B]
To PARIS[B]
Thursday, October 13th: ^ Top ^
We farewell Sarlat and enjoy a change of pace - a leisurely rail journey on a small local train, trundling down the Dordogne Valley and through Bordeaux vineyards, before a transfer to a High Speed TGV to Paris.
PARIS[B]
Friday, October 14th:
This morning's sightseeing includes the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and Notre Dame Cathedral. There is time to visit Mona Lisa in the Louvre. We are spoilt for choice of restaurant this evening.
PARIS[B][D]
Saturday, October 15th:
The museums and the boutiques beckon today. There is an afternoon excursion to Monet's Garden at Giverney. Here we see the waterlilies and the Japanese bridge. Our Farewell Dinner tonight.
HOMEWARD BOUND
Sunday, October 16th:
Our tour ends after breakfast or you may choose to join the optional London Add-On - see below.
ARRIVE HOME
Monday, October 17th:
LONDON OPTIONAL ADD-ON: Add $600 (single supplement $100)
Take the high-speed luxury Eurostar under the English Channel to London. The first night in a boutique 4 star hotel and full English breakfast are included.
On Monday, October 17th, 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, or be accompanied to our hotel where, after Check-in, there is an orientation tour of London's sights from a double-decker bus. Bed and breakfast are included tonight in our London hotel. The tour ends after breakfast on Tuesday October 18th. Group rates can be arranged at the same hotel for an extended stay.
Tour costs:
Option 1. $AUD 11,950 per person Twin Share. Land Content only (i.e. join the tour in Rome and leave the tour in London)
Or:
Option 2. $AUD 13,950 per person Twin Share including return economy class airfares to Europe from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.
Single Room supplement $AUD 2000.
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
- Full luggage handling
- Escorted by Australian historian / tour guide
- Guided orientation / sightseeing tours in all cities
The Provincial Diversions Tour: off the Beaten Path, departing September 26th 2010 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 “land content only”.
- Twin share accommodation with buffet breakfast in centrally located First Class (European 4 star) hotels with private facilities and air-conditioning in Venice and Paris and in quality, traditional, village inns and hotels with private facilities in rural Italy, Switzerland and France. See note in Tour Conditions on air-conditioning.
- Sightseeing / orientation tour of each overnight city or village. Restaurant dinner (3 courses plus wine or beer) on the first night in each new city or village, except Paris, where the included dinner is our farewell dinner on the last night.
- First Class rail travel in reserved seats on many of Europe's great trains, including Italia Eurostar, Swiss-Italian Cisalpino, French TGV, (Second Class seats on local trains where no First Class provided e.g. Jungfrau Railway, Dordogne Valley SNCF Rail.)
- Luggage handling from each overnight stop to the next (except on Eurostar on London Add-On).
- NOTE: There are no Optional Excursions offered on the Provincial Diversions Tour, other than the 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.
About the European Provincial Diversions 2010 Tour
Brochure & Booking Form (1.3MB PDF)
Note well: Booking Conditions « Tours index ^ Top ^