France, Switzerland, Austria & Germany

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll also have a private coach and driver while touring .

This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Please note Notre Dame Cathedral is currently closed due to fire damage.

View the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Work began in 1163 on a spot that had been a holy shrine since Roman times. Over the centuries, the cathedral has been the scene of some of France's most momentous occasions, including the coronation of Napoleon.

The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a Medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world--one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate, 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence, the ultra-chic shops of the Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, and the gardens of the Tuileries. You'll pass the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836, and the Place Vendôme, a huge square surrounded by 17th-century buildings. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded), the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater), and the Conciergerie (the prison where Marie Antoinette was kept during the French Revolution).

Tuileries was originally the name of an old tiles factory. Yet, in the sixteen century, the queen of France, Marie de Medicis, ordered to build a castle with a long French garden at this place. Parisians used to call this new building the Tuileries Palace. During three centuries the garden was exclusively reserved for the court and the King. During the nineteen century, the Tuileries palace became the residence of Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X, Louis-Phillipe and Napoleon III. In 1871, Parisians burnt down the castle of Tuileries, during the last French Revolution and the insurrection of Paris.However, the garden kept its 17th-century design and became a popular place, always crowded in summer time.

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.

Visit the enchanting and historical town of Basel.

Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a focal point of the region. Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne, within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne is traditionally considered first and foremost as a tourist destination.

Before a backdrop of snow-capped Alpine mountains and green, cow-filled pastures, join your Tour Director on a trip to Lucerne’s famous sights. Weave your way through a maze of narrow, winding streets until you reach the River Reuss and the Medieval Kapellbrücke Bridge. Stop to marvel at the bridge walls, decorated with murals that recreate the 14th-century originals destroyed in a fire. Journey down the cobblestone streets in the Old Town to see the Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument), the somber sandstone wild cat gazing down into a reflecting pool, and ponder this artfully chiseled statue created to honor the Swiss Guards who died defending the Tuileries in 1792.

One of the city's famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge, or Kapellbrücke, a wooden bridge first built in the 14th century. It has also been voted as the 5th most popular tourism destination in the world.

View the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal, created in 1820 in honor of the Swiss Guards who lost their lives in 1792 during the French Revolution.

View the impressive Jesuitenkirche which was the first large baroque church built in Switzerland. The ostentatious baroque style architecture is meant to represent the power and glory of the Catholic tradition.

Stroll through the picturesque medieval Weinmarkt Square and the Kornmarkt Square in the historical heart of Lucerne.

Take a walk through a backdrop of towering snow-capped mountains that transform this down-to-earth cobble stoned city into a world class ski resort. Venture through Old Town (Altstadt) and pass clusters of identical rustic white stuccoed homes trimmed in brown that blend into the environment. Come face to façade with the glittering Little Golden Roof, sheltering the balcony where Maximilian I Habsburg and his love Bianca promised to stay together forever. Look closer and count 2,657 squares of shiny copper shingles. Discover Triumphbogen, the arch commemorating many Habsburg marriage matches made in political heaven. Head for the hills on a visit to the steep ski jump on hill Bergisel, the site of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Imagine what it would be like to soar over it as you bask in Alpine grandeur.

Travel to the picturesque Bavarian village of Hohenschwangau which is located between two famous castles: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Visit Hohenschwangau Castle, the childhood residence of King Ludwig II, and enjoy a hike up towards Neuschwanstein Castle for breathtaking views of the castle and the surrounding Bavarian Alps.

Learn about the castle’s history and its significance as the childhood home of King Ludwig II. The views from the castle are breathtaking, with the serene Lake Alpsee and the surrounding Bavarian Alps providing a picturesque backdrop.

Enjoy a scenic walk up the hill to Neuschwanstein Castle and over to Queen Mary's Bridge (known locally as Marienbrücke) for unbeatable views of King Ludwig II's fairytale castle and the surrounding Bavarian Alps.

Enjoy Bavarian- or Berlin-style sausage with traditional sides, made from veal and pork back bacon (Bavarian-style), or fried pork (Berlin style).

Join a professional licensed tour guide for a whirlwind look at Munich. Founded in the 12th century by Henry the Lion, Munich now roars with the hustle and bustle of modern German life. As you pass by Marienplatz (named after the square’s gilded Virgin Mary and Child statue), mechanical knights joust and coopers dance to the folk-music chimes of the Neues Rathaus’s Glockenspiel. The twin onion-bulb towers of the Frauenkirche Cathedral frame this whimsical display, while the scents, sounds and colors of the nearby food market attempt to draw your attention elsewhere. Resist temptation and continue on to Olympiapark, a new suburb built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Pass by several museums, such as the BMW Museum, Alte Pinakothek (home to Munich’s most precious art collections), and the Deutsches Museum of science and technology.

Visit Olympia Park, site of the 1972 Olympics. Buildings include the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Hall, and the Aquatic Center. Many cultural events are still held at Olympia Park.

Discover the area of Munich around Marienplatz, which is dedicated to the patron of the city. See the Neues Rathaus and observe the Glockenspiel on its facade. This is the fourth largest chiming clock in Europe, and stages an elaborate performance twice a day.

Your visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp will be one of the most powerful moments of your Holocaust study tour. In 1933, what had once been a quiet little artists' community became a tragic symbol of the Nazi era, the first German concentration camp. Your tour of the camp includes the memorial chapels and two of the rebuilt barracks. The Museum is housed in the large building that once contained the kitchen, laundry, and shower baths.

Visit the hills that are still very much alive with music. Surrounded by towering snow-capped Alpine mountains, Salzburg was fashioned in Baroque style architecture by three Bishop Princes back in the late 16th century. Discover all kinds of medieval spires, domes, belfries and turrets atop city buildings and houses of worship. Visit Mozart’s birthplace in Old Town. Relive scenes from The Sound of Music at the yellow castle the infamous von Trapp family called home. You’ll also visit the salt mines. The area near Salzburg is one of the oldest centers of salt production in the world. You’ll journey back to the time when salt was still considered “white gold”.

Feel the rhythm of Salzburg’s Old Town Square as you enter the unassuming yellow domicile at Getreidegasse 9. This is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. View an impressive collection of the young composer’s first instruments and immerse yourself in the captivating saga of this prodigy’s early life.

Join a professional, licensed tour guide as you discover one of the most historical cities in Germany. Although nothing remains of the mortar and cement-block barrier between East and West Berlin, the Berlin Wall (built in 1961; destroyed in 1989) is still a main “site” in Berlin. View the well-known Brandenburg Gate, once a main gate hidden behind a 10-foot barrier and now known for celebratory dancing on its flat top during the reunification. Travel to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the most famous border crossing point. Checkpoint Charlie, once a wooden guard hut, was the most (in)famous border-crossing point between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. All that remains of the checkpoint itself is a skeletal watchtower and a memorial of attempted escapees. Follow your guide as they lead you through the museum’s accounts of the most ingenious of these escape attempts— even a few by hot air balloon.

Follow the route of the Berlin Wall viewing numerous crosses and wreaths to remind us of the tragedies which occurred after the wall was built in 1961.

Spend time at the Brandenburg Gate, a triumphal arch, which stood in "no man's land" between East and West Berlin during the Cold War and became a symbol of a divided Germany. Enter the Room of Silence, built into one of the guardhouses, where visitors gather to meditate and reflect on Germany's past.

The Topography of Terror in Berlin is a museum and historical site that chronicles the crimes of the Nazi regime, particularly those committed by the Gestapo, SS, and Reich Security Main Office. It offers exhibitions, educational programs, and includes historical remnants like a section of the Berlin Wall to provide a thorough understanding of this period.

Located on the line that once separated East and West Germany, this stirring museum was built in the shape of a warped Star of David and focuses on the realities of Jewish life in Germany, from ancient times up to the horrors of the Holocaust.

Seen as Germany’s “Little Hollywood” from 1921 through WWII, Potsdam was the dazzling city of Frederick the Great, with countless marble fountains, exotic pavilions and Baroque castles (mostly built in the name of Frederick and Prussia’s power). Among the parks are testaments of Frederick’s eclectic and sometimes odd tastes such as the parasol-toting Buddha on the roof of the Chinesisches Teehaus pavilion, Frederick’s “guest house."

Visit the Neues Palais, ordered by Frederick the Great, including the Palace, the Grotto, and the Theater.