Highlights of Europe start Amsterdam - From £4,482

In Amsterdam, bicycle bells ring beside you along the canals, with gabled houses shimmering in the water. This evening, join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for a cruise through the Old City, passing under bridges and between tree-lined banks as the city’s narrow waterways guide you towards dinner. At a local restaurant, dinner and wine with your fellow travellers mark the start of your Europe journey.

From Amsterdam, your route runs into Germany, taking you to Boppard before you board your Rhine cruise to Sankt Goar. On board, a cool glass of local wine rests in your hand as river air moves across the deck and the water curves past terraced vineyards, stone castles and the steep Lorelei Rock. Later, you'll follow the Neckar River into Heidelberg, a university town of cobbled lanes and old squares, where your Local Specialist leads you through the historic quarter as the sound of church bells drift between the sandstone buildings.

Beyond Heidelberg, your road skirts the northern Black Forest, passing towering pines before the Bavarian Alps rise ahead. Beneath Hohenschwangau and King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein, you stand below pale towers and steep rooftops, with mountain rock around the castles that are said to have inspired Walt Disney’s famous fairytale design. Across the Austrian border, you catch sight of the Golden Roof gleaming above Innsbruck’s Old Town, with 14th-century houses lining the lanes and cool alpine air around the Imperial Palace.

Across the Italian border, your route winds through the Dolomites, past sheer peaks, valley villages, forested slopes and hillside vineyards. In the Veneto region, known for its crisp white wines, you'll stop at a family-run winery to learn the craft behind spumante, with the pop of corks, fine bubbles in the glass and a tasting that lingers on the tongue. Venice waits beyond, Queen of the Adriatic, before you join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for dinner.

At a traditional Venetian glassblowing workshop, you catch golden flashes of molten glass glistening in the furnace as expert artisans shape it into delicate forms with centuries-old skill. Your private cruise carries you towards St Mark’s Square, where you look up at the basilica’s gold mosaics, Byzantine arches and marble detail, traces of Venice’s former wealth and power. Nearby, you can admire the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs before setting out to make your own discoveries, or you might choose today’s Optional Experience: a cruise across the Venetian lagoon to Burano for local specialities and wine.

The road south from Venice leads you into the Apennine Mountains, through the soft folds of Tuscany and Umbria as cypress trees, stone farmhouses and distant hill towns pass by. Following the Tiber, you'll enter Rome with church bells overhead, scooter engines at the kerb and trattoria tables laid out for the evening. For a closer look at the city, join an Optional Experience with a Local Specialist through Rome’s streets and stories. Or join an Optional Experience for dinner, drinks and live music.

Through the Vatican Museums, you'll follow your Local Specialist past papal treasures, cool marble corridors and ceilings crowded with colour. In the Sistine Chapel, you lift your eyes to Michelangelo’s painted architecture, tracing the nine Genesis stories across the ceiling as prophets and sibyls sit high around the vault. Continue into St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the largest churches in the world, where you'll walk beneath vast stretches of carved stone and gold. Later, you'll cross the River Tiber to the Colosseum, the Roman Empire’s largest amphitheatre, where tiers of weathered arches curve around the ancient arena, their immense stonework bearing the marks of almost 2,000 years of Roman history. At dinner, shared plates, flowing wine and easy conversation bring a warm Roman welcome to the table. Please note: On some departures, access to St. Peter’s Basilica may be restricted due to the Papal Audience. You’ll still have time to experience St. Peter’s Square during your visit to Vatican City.

Past the Chianti Hills’ vineyards and olive groves, you'll travel towards Florence, where terracotta rooftops climb above the streets, church bells sound and the scent from trattoria kitchens drifts through the air. Your Local Specialist accompanies you to the Duomo and the Baptistery, where you trace Ghiberti’s Old Testament scenes carved into the gilded bronze Gates of Paradise. In Piazza della Signoria, you'll wander among fountains, statues and Renaissance masterpieces standing in the open air. The afternoon is yours to browse Florentine craft, running your hand over soft leather or lingering at glass cases of worked gold. You might also choose today’s Optional Experience: a visit to the Accademia Gallery with an art historian to see Michelangelo’s David. Later, Florence moves from gallery grandeur to the simple pleasure of dinner, as you settle into a local trattoria and taste the city through its food.

Leaving Florence, you travel past Milan, Lombardy’s capital, towards the Italian Lake District, where lake air wafts through alpine peaks, villa gardens and dark blue water. At your lakeside resort, the afternoon is yours to watch boats skim the water, feel the mountain breeze or choose today’s Optional Experience: a cruise to Isola Bella, with a guided tour through its palace and botanical gardens. For your Dine-Around Evening, you choose from a selection of hand-picked local restaurants, each with its own cooking style, atmosphere and sense of place.

On Mount Stanserhorn, you step into the solar-powered open-top CabriO cable car for your MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience and ride towards the summit as the cable car hums above the slopes. Up here, you can walk the scenic pathways with the mountains wide around you, scanning the rocks and grass for marmots and native wildlife. On a clear day, your gaze may reach as far as Alsace and the Black Forest in Germany, with a chance to hear a Swiss ranger sharing how the mountain’s flora and fauna are protected. Later, you continue to lakeside Lucerne, where the afternoon is yours to wander at leisure or choose today’s Optional Experience: a cruise on Lake Lucerne, with steep slopes rising from the water and Switzerland opening out in every direction.

Before the Lion Monument, you stand with the limestone cliff in front of you, taking in the wounded lion carved in memory of the Swiss Guards who died defending King Louis XVI during the French Revolution. Cross Chapel Bridge over the Reuss, its covered timber walkway leading you towards the ornate Jesuit Church. With the day free, you can browse Lucerne’s traffic-free Old Town for smooth Swiss chocolate and polished watches glimmering in bright shop windows. You might also choose today’s Optional Experience: a horse-drawn carriage ride into the countryside, where you'll meet local farmers and trade city stone for open fields.

Vineyards and village roofs pass outside your window as you travel through the rural French countryside of Alsace and Burgundy towards Paris. In the capital, you gaze up at the iron lattice of the Eiffel Tower and follow the Seine past stone quays and bridge-laced banks. As your coach winds through Paris' streets, your Travel Director adds local insight to the scenes beyond your window. With the evening free, you might choose today’s Optional Experience: a world-famous cabaret show, with stage lights, music and Paris glittering after dark.

Paris opens up around you on a panoramic tour with your Local Specialist, from the iron lattice of the Eiffel Tower to the sweeping Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées. At Place de la Concorde, you'll see one of Paris’s grandest squares and hear how this elegant setting became the site of the guillotine during the French Revolution. Later, you'll dine at a local restaurant, where good cheer accompanies French cuisine.

Say goodbye to your travelling companions as your Europe journey finishes. Your transfer takes you to Charles de Gaulle Airport.