Romantic Escape to France, Spain & Italy Tour

While the Eiffel Tower is a famous image, the Parisian experience is best in small neighborhoods. It’s here you find a local and authentic side to the city, especially when you have a good guide. Today you tour the neighborhoods. Follow your nose to a chocolatier in Saint-Germain, the place that gave the world macarons. Walk through the grandeur of Ile de la Cite, Saint Chapelle to one side, and Notre-Dame de Paris to the other. Explore bohemian history in Montmartre, the place where Van Gogh and the others would hang out at small cafes. Then finish the day in a bistro, trying delicacies from all across the country. The tour will finish in the mid to late afternoon, leading you into another quiet evening in the heart of Paris.

Smells continue to guide you, this time a forest of oak an hour south of Paris. As you walk through the trees, you come across a palace, a magnificent World Heritage Site on the scale of Versailles just without the crowds. Explore its art, admire the gold-gilded corridors, and take a coffee on a verandah with garden views. From here you keep exploring heading into the small town of Fontainebleau, where the farmers market continues as it has done for centuries. Fontainebleau is like a microcosm of old-world France, a mix of regal grandeur, quiet nature, and tradition. After half a day here, you return to Paris and have time to visit any of the Parisian icons you deem essential such as the Louvre or Eiffel Tower.

From Paris to Nice the train journey showcases the landscapes of France. You can picture a Monet painting as you zoom south, open valleys studded with stone cottages and church spires. Food and drinks are provided in the first-class carriage, so sit back and enjoy this window onto what is a relatively rural country. It takes five hours to reach Nice and after you reach your hotel you can stretch your legs on the promenade. The Mediterranean glistens, yachts rock in the harbor, and there are so many al fresco terraces along the water. Nice also provides a good change of tempo after the city. There’s nowhere better in Europe for sunset beach walks.

Take a look around Nice. Old-world grandeur hangs over the Mediterranean, streets have vibrant modern grit, and it seems you’re never more than a step away from the water. Tourists have been coming here since the 18th century, but the city has always retained its local feel. That can be said of nearby Cannes as well. Spend the afternoon and evening in a city that is so much more than an annual film festival. Chic and emanating glamor, Cannes has a luxuriant feel every day of the year. Couture shops juxtapose palaces, designer bars look onto the Mediterranean, a castle, and cathedral rise high above the yachts. This is the French Riviera, and you’ll soon see why it is so revered.

Into the mountains today, the road winding as it ascends towards the vineyards of Provence. They’ve been making wine here for 2,600 years and you can tell, such subtlety and sensuality to what you taste. Visit three chateaux. At one you taste with a winemaker, at another, you explore old vintages, and at a third, you dine with sublime views over the Cote d’Azur. The Rose wines are legendary, the whites are precious, then the full-bodied red wines go well with lunch. After the tutored tasting, you’re back on the French Riviera for a final evening on the promenade. By now you might have a favorite cafe or bar, perhaps even a spot to watch the sun drop into the Mediterranean.

It’s only a short flight to Barcelona but the atmosphere changes greatly. Cured ham hangs from small shops. There’s a bustle to the pedestrianized streets, Barcelona a city that’s quick to whisk you into its atmosphere. Explores the elegant lanes of Barrio Gothic, eat tapas on a terrace, follow the Columbus statue to the beach, and absorb first impressions of this magnificent city. Like your time in Paris, there will be guided exploration in the coming days. But for now, it’s all about the two of you discovering for yourselves.

Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia points to the sky, an epic cathedral of peculiar design. Out in the suburbs, you find the mansions of luminaries, Gaudi’s flamboyant style visible everywhere you look. He wasn’t the only Modernist and Barcelona’s finest buildings are those designed by his teacher. With architecture as a lens, today’s tour also helps you understand different Barcelona neighborhoods, from those that are rugged and charming to those of pure grandeur. Park Guell is a romantic place to end the day, a mosaic serpent glistening as sunset colors enliven the sky. Barcelona remains lively after dark, with musicians on the streets and locals going on their evening paseo (walk). The choice of restaurants is superb and the guides can help you get reservations at Catalan favorites.

On your third day in Barcelona and you have a chance to explore more of Spain. Start the morning with a short drive into the mountains, choir song leading you into the grand monastery of Montserrat. Take the cable car up the peak for views across Catalonia then stop for lunch in a small village, where tradition dictates every day. Just south of Barcelona there are beautiful coastal towns where winding cobbled streets descend onto golden beaches. This day is kept flexible and the guide can adjust where you go based on your mood. That could be more time on the coast or more time in the city, perhaps discovering Barcelona’s superb art scene.

Fly to Rome and once again the atmosphere changes. France, Italy, and Spain have a distinctive feel, one that you can only understand when you visit. Welcome to a land of coffee smells, gelateries (ice-cream stores), and iconic history. You’re in the heart of the old Roman Empire, staying at a hotel that’s around the corner from the Spanish Steps. Walk the pedestrianized lanes, stop for a drink on a piazza, gaze up at The Colosseum, and enjoy your first amorous impressions of Italy. Prepare yourself for many delicious meals of pizza and pasta with a grand range of fine-dining establishments. The guide will give you tips on route to the hotel, telling you where to eat like a local in the heart of Rome.

Columns send shadows across St Peter’s Square. The domes of a grand basilica look down. You’re in the Vatican, gazing around at the magnificence of history. Skip the queues and enter the Vatican Museums, going beyond the rope to take a private staircase used by popes. The art extends with Renaissance sculptures crafted from marble, towering canvases that fill entire walls and chapels enlivened by artistic details. It’s best to go early when museums have just opened. That avoids the bulk of the crowds and leaves a full afternoon to go on exploring Rome. One romantic option today is to take a horse and carriage ride out to Trastevere, a neighborhood of cobbled streets and the most delightful restaurants.

Stand in the Colosseum and inhale the history. Wander into the Pantheon and appreciate its details. Discover the excavated heart of the Roman Empire, where the columns lay cracked yet not bowed. With a historian guide, you see how a city and empire evolved, going beyond the postcards to understand how Rome influenced the rest of the world. It’s a full-day tour with lunch, one that moves at a slow pace so that you can really soak up Rome’s legends. These are not places you can simply photograph and move on. There’s an ineffable feeling of standing in ancient Rome and surrounding yourself with all the legends.

The train from Rome to Naples takes a little over an hour. At the station, you meet a guide and store your luggage, before heading off to discover one of Italy’s most misunderstood cities. Naples is gritty and down to earth, yet it’s also chic and contemporary. The architecture has a faded grandeur, and this lack of polishing is what makes the Naples experience. Discover the key sights then eat pizza in the city where pizza originates. Later on today, you’ve driven a little further south to Sorrento, a town of colorful houses built into imposing cliffs. Relax on the small piazza, look down on the Mediterranean, and feel the brilliance of being perched between mountain and sea.

Sorrento is a romance. It’s waking up late and listening to church bells echo onto the mountain. It’s walking down to waterside cafes and lazing away two hours at a terrace. It’s taking a boat to Capri and finding a quiet beach. From Sorrento, you can easily reach the other side of the peninsula and the towns of the Amalfi Coast. Another option is to spend half a day in the ruins of Pompeii, which stand beneath the looming dome of Mount Vesuvius. But most of all, when staying in Sorrento you can relax. After visiting so many cities, the exploration these last two days are just about the two of you.

It’s a short transfer back to Naples for the start of your outbound journey. The airport transfer is private, and late check-out can be arranged.