EUROPE IN DEPTH - 2010

27 days incl. travel, or 26 days from London to Paris (KM)

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Vacation Overview

From the North Sea and the English Channel to the Bay of Biscay and Italian and French Rivieras, you’ll see it all on this in-depth adventure! Visit Europe’s most famous cities, with 2-night stays in London, Lucerne, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Nice, Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris. Sightseeing includes all the major landmarks, like St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Changing of the Guard (if held) in London, Grand’Place in Brussels, Cologne’s gothic cathedral, the Lion Monument and Chapel Bridge in Lucerne, Innsbruck’s opulent Golden Roof, Salzburg’s Mirabell Gardens, Hofburg Palace and the Strauss House in Vienna, Doges’ Palace and the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Rome’s Sistine Chapel and Colosseum, Michelangelo’s David and Signoria Square in Renaissance Florence, the Roman Amphitheater in Arles, Sagrada Familia and Montjuïc Hill in Barcelona, Madrid’s Prado Museum, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and Notre Dame Cathedral and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. You’ll also enjoy a high-speed Eurostar train ride from London to Brussels, a canal cruise in Amsterdam, a Rhine River cruise in Germany, the Black Forest, the Rhine Falls, Liechtenstein, a private boat transfer and glassblowing demonstration in Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, an excursion to St. Paul de Vence, a perfume factory visit in Nice, Burgos, Biarritz, a high-speed TGV train ride from Bordeaux to Paris, and a bird’s-eye view of Paris from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.

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Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story Vatican Museums

"In the early 1500s, Rome was full of neglected ruins from the days of the ancient Empire, which still contained artworks buried amongst the rubble. The Renaissance had seen a sudden growth of interest in all things classical, and the popes – cultivated men who were in touch with the intellectual currents of the day – were the richest art collectors in Italy. They began offering substantial cash rewards for any sculptures, until Rome was scoured by freelance treasure hunters on the hunt for pagan masterpieces. The most dramatic discovery occurred in 1506, when a Roman father-and-son team of excavators reported a promising find near the ruined Baths of Titus. The artist Michelangelo himself excitedly hurried over to help with the work, followed by the pope’s official agent, Guiliano da Sangallo. When the excavators brushed away the dirt of 1,000 years, they found an enormous marble sculpture, perfectly intact, of a muscular Trojan hero being attacked by giant snakes. Guilano cried out in amazement, “This is the very Laocoön described by (the ancient Roman author) Pliny!” The sculpture was carted off to the Vatican Museum."