Italy and Switzerland with Alsace and Fairy Tale Route End Prague (2024)

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Welcome to Europamundo! Upon arriving at the airport, we will be waiting to transfer you to your hotel. Check the information boards in the hotel reception area for details of the welcome meeting with your guide and fellow travelers.

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We include a panoramic tour of the capital of Italy and one of the oldest and most influential cities in Western civilization. The Colosseum, the Roman forums, the squares and fountains in the center, the great life of the city. We finish in St. Peter´s of the Vatican, an independent state within the city of Rome and center of the Catholic Church. You can visit the basilica and the museums.In the evening we include a transfer to Trastevere, a lively neighborhood of the city known for its small traditional restaurants.

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Free time the whole day to keep exploring the city. Today we suggest you take an optional excursion to Naples, Capri and Pompeii.

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We travel to the capital of Tuscany - FLORENCE, upon arrival we will make a stop to take a photo at the Michelangelo viewpoint, where we can have one of the most beautiful views over the city. After that we include a sightseeing tour with a local guide of the capital of Tuscany, one of the most visited cities in the country, considered the cradle of the Renaissance and few of the most influential artists and thinkers in history, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli or Raphael. Highlights include the Gothic cathedral (duomo), the ancient Stone Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) with its goldsmiths´ shops and the Signoria square - the political heart of the city with the town hall in a medieval building.

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We will leave Florence early, we travel towards northern Italy crossing the Apennines. VENICE. We include a boat transfer to the city center, where we take a walking tour of the St. Mark’s area, where the Basilica or the Campanile are located. We will also visit a Murano glass factory, where we can admire traditional glass-working techniques. Accommodation in the Mestre area.

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We will leave Zurich to BASEL, an important city on the banks of the Rhine, border with Germany and France. You can walk through its old town, where the town hall square stands out and contemplate its cathedral that dominates the Rhine River. We continue our route to Alsace, a French region contested over the centuries between France and Germany, which maintains a dialect of its own German, "the Alsatian", and an architecture and traditions of great Germanic roots. We will make a stop in COLMAR, city with unique architecture, with colored wooden houses and canals that cross it. It is known for its white wine and its gastronomy. We will have time for lunch and a peaceful walk. In the afternoon we will visit two of the most beautiful villages of Alsace: RIQUEWIHR, medieval town with cobbled streets and colored houses that seem to get out of a fairy tale and that inspired scenes of the movie “the Beauty and the beast”. RIBEAUVILLE, with its historic center and castles in ruins that dominate the town. STRASBOURG, arrival in the evening. We suggest walking through the Cathedral and Petite France area, full of charming places and small restaurants.

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Time in STRASBOURG, the capital of Alsace. The city is the seat of the European Parliament. Its historic center is beautiful, with its picturesque medieval streets, its impressive Gothic cathedral and its canals and flowers. We include a boat trip through the canals of Petite France. After that we go to Germany, admiring beautiful mountain landscapes and towns of the Black Forest. In FREIBURG, we have time to have lunch and walk through this university city with its medieval center and its cathedral. Among wonderful landscapes we will continue to TRIBERG, one of the most picturesque towns in the Black Forest known for its cuckoo clocks. We include the admission to the Triberg Falls, the highest in Germany, which we access through a beautiful path. We continue towards GENGENBACH, a small town with its beautiful central square. Accommodation in BADEN-BADEN, a spa city that attracted nobles and upper bourgeoisie from all over Europe, its casinos, its architecture and its parks remind us of this.

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Some time in Baden-Baden to stroll through its parks before leaving for Rhineland-Palatinate. SPEYER, on the banks of the Rhine River, its great Romanesque cathedral is a World Heritage Site, you can visit it and have a walk through the old quarter, where the Alte Munze tower stands out. We continue our route to HEIDELBERG. We include a cable car to its impressive castle (admission to the castle´s exterior park, wineries and pharmacy museum included), with its great views over the city. After that we will have time for lunch and a walk through the old town and its Markt Platz. In the afternoon we will arrive in FRANKFURT, a large financial city, with its modern skyscrapers, its old town, the views over the Rhine River and its well-known nightlife.

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Today we will see the valleys of the Rhine and Mosel, two rivers loaded with history and sprinkled with charming villages. We take a short cruise on the Rhine, between the villages of RUDESHEIM and ST. GOAR, undoubtedly the most picturesque section of the river. Then we will go on to the river Mosel, and will have time for lunch in COCHEM, a very picturesque village on the bank of the river, dominated by its imposing castle, whose origin dates back more than a thousand years. After that we travel to COLOGNE. Time to visit its impressive Gothic cathedral, which with its 154 metres of height was the tallest building in the world until the end of the 19th century. You can also have a walk along the Rhine River and through the lively city center before going on to our hotel in DORTMUND. Note: On dates with trade fairs or congresses, accommodation may be given in a nearby city.

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Today we will have a stage full of magic, reminding us about the stories and movies from our childhood, as we travel through towns that inspired the Brothers Grimm and that is called today the Fairytales Route. We will travel to TRENDELBURG, a picturesque walled village dominated by its large medieval castle. We visit the castle with its RAPUNZEL TOWER (entrance included). We continue along small roads, crossing forests while we imagine "Hansel and Gretel". Time for lunch in HOXTER, a small town full of life where Corvey Abbey is located, an ancient monastery from the 9th century, a World Heritage Site (a stop to photograph its walls and interior patios). We continue our route making a brief stop in POLLE to photograph the exterior ruins of "Cinderella´s" castle. We continue to HAMELIN, a city popular for the story of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin". After enjoying following the mouse tracks we continue to HANNOVER with some time to get to know the center of this thriving city and a walk next to the old town hall. Note: On dates of fairs or conferences, accommodation may be provided in a nearby city.

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TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Visit to the beautiful villages of Goslar and Quedlinburg.After breakfast, we continue the route to GOSLAR; We are in one of the most beautiful villages of Germany, with its wooden architecture, its walls, its squares. Time to walk. We travel to QUEDLINBURG, a city declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO due to its fascinating historic center of more than 2100 half-timbered girder houses that have managed to survive almost unscathed for centuries. It also noteworthy its town hall and castle. Time for lunch. Continuation to BERLIN. Arrival in the afternoon. Free time.

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Ease your way into the local culture with a guided tour of Germany’s incredible capital, Berlin. We will visit the historic center, Museum Island, the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and the city’s magnificent parks. We continue our visit by stopping at the Holocaust Memorial and the Berlin Wall Museum. Optionally you will have the opportunity to visit the Potsdam area with its beautiful palaces.

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After breakfast, end of our services.