FROM BIG BEN TO THE ACROPOLIS
Day 1 - (Mon.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in London, England. (Tue.) Uniformed Globus Hosts are available to help you make the most of your stay. Day 3 - London. (Wed.) Sightseeing with a Local Guide includes all the famous landmarks: Knightsbridge with Harrods, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. Highlights are a visit to ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL and the ceremonial pageantry of the Changing of the Guard, if held. (B) Day 4 - London - Paris, France. (Thu.) Meet your Tour Director and traveling companions and transfer to the railway station to board the EUROSTAR TRAIN to Paris. (B) Day 5 - Paris. (Fri.) Discover the world capital of chic and style with a Local Guide and admire its most famous sights: the Opéra, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées, Notre Dame Cathedral, and more. For a bird's-eye view, take the elevator to the second floor of Paris" most famous landmark, the EIFFEL TOWER. An optional excursion to the lavish baroque Palace of Versailles is available. Tonight, a lively cabaret show might just be the ticket. (B) Day 6 - Paris - Lucerne, Switzerland. (Sat.) A comfortable ride on the highway skirting Fontainebleau Forest and the vineyards of Burgundy to the Swiss border. Enjoy vistas of the Alps as you arrive in picture-book Lucerne. (B,D) Day 7 - Lucerne. (Sun.) Admire Thorwaldsen's LION MONUMENT on your walking tour through the Old Town and cross the famous covered CHAPEL BRIDGE to the Jesuit Church. Afterwards, shop for Swiss watches and choose from our optional activities: climb a mountain by cable car, take a cruise on the fjord-like lake, or sign up for a folklore party with yodeling and alphorn blowing. (B) Day 8 - Lucerne - Lugano - Venice, Italy. (Mon.) Admire the towering majesty of the Swiss Alps and St. Gotthard on the way to the Italian part of Switzerland. After a lunch break in the subtropical town of Lugano, cross the Italian border and drive past Milan to the Adriatic coast and Venice, a glittering maze of islands, canals, and bridges. (B,D) Day 9 - Venice - Florence. (Tue.) Enter in style by PRIVATE BOAT to ST. MARK'S SQUARE. Admire its Basilica, the Clock Tower, lavish Doges" Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects. In the afternoon, drive across the Apennine Hills to Florence, "Cradle of the Renaissance." (B,D) Day 10 - Florence - Rome. (Wed.) During your walking tour with a Local Guide, visit the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo's celebrated David, the magnificent CATHEDRAL with Giotto's Bell Tower and the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise," and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Time to shop for Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry before you speed south to the "Eternal City." (B) Day 11 - Rome. (Thu.) Meet your Local Guide and start with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL, world famous for Michelangelo's ceiling paintings. Continue to monumental ST. PETER'S SQUARE and BASILICA. Cross the Tiber and visit the COLOSSEUM and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman legions marched in triumph. (B) Day 12 - Rome - Pompeii - Bay of Naples. (Fri.) On the way to the Bay of Naples, enjoy a walking tour with a Local Guide in POMPEII, the Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. (B,D) Day 13 - Bay of Naples. Excursion to Capri. (Sat.) Speed across the bay by JETFOIL to the Isle of Capri, a royal retreat for 2,000 years. Ride the FUNICULAR to Capri village for a guided visit of this pretty town. Free time to explore the little shops on the Piazzetta. (B) Day 14 - Bay of Naples - Bari - Ionian Sea Crossing. (Sun.) A fast drive to Bari in the southern part of Italy. Board your overnight SUPERFAST FERRY bound for Greece. (B,D) Day 15 - Ionian Sea - Patras, Greece - Olympia. (Mon.) Sail across the sea which Ulysses explored in the Odyssey. Dock at Patras and continue by coach to Olympia. Learn about the history of the original Olympic Games from your Local Guide as you walk among the impressive remains of the GYMNASIUM and the Temples of Hera and Zeus, and visit the MUSEUM. (B,D) Day 16 - Olympia - Delphi. (Tue.) Drive to mythical Delphi and enjoy a guided visit of the ancient sanctuary of the god Apollo in its dramatic setting on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. Hear about the Oracle, tour the EXCAVATIONS, and visit the ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. (B,D) Day 17 - Delphi - Athens. (Wed.) History comes alive this morning on your way to Athens as your Tour Director will tell you about Thebes, the setting of Sophocles" Oedipus Rex, and Marathon, where in 490 BC 10,000 Athenians defeated more than twice that number of Persian invaders. In Athens, sightseeing with a Local Guide features the Parthenon's crowning beauty atop the ACROPOLIS, the Erechtheum with its Porch of Maidens, the beautifully preserved Theseum, Roman Temple of Zeus, and more. Vistas of the Royal Palace, government buildings, and elegant homes in the modern city provide a striking contrast to the remains of a glorious past. (B) Day 18 - At Leisure in Athens. (Thu.) A full day at leisure. How about an optional day cruise to the islands of Aegina, Hydra, and Poros" Ask your Tour Director for exciting evening outings to celebrate your last night in Greece. (B) Day 19 - (Fri.) Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (B) |
