Highlights of Europe Vacation Tour Package

The morning fills with the decadent aromas of a full English breakfast. The city comes to life on the cobblestone streets. Your plate is filled with eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, toast, and mushrooms, accompanied with the herbaceous scent of fresh brewed black tea. The morning mist quickly dissipates from the streets leaving a slight gleam across the city. Your guide escorts you to St. Pancras Station, home to the Chunnel train. The Chunnel was opened in 1994 and runs over 31 miles between Kent, England and Calais, France. You board the train and find comfortable, cushioned seats and cool air flowing through the vents.

The train ride is brief, taking you outside of London, through the verdant countryside filled with rolling hills, into the tunnel that runs beneath the Channel waters. You come out into a similar looking countryside, but with noticeable French ambiance before arriving at the Gare du Nord station in Paris. The city enchants you the moment you step off the train. The station is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan with a looming main hall. The entrance has a large, pristine stone façade adorned by the tricolore, the blue, white, and red of the French flag. The city needs no introduction, home to the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the enveloping aroma of freshly baked macaroons.  In the evening, the Eiffel Tower lights up the sky like a brilliant beacon, a constant reminder of the city’s famed elegance.

You wake up to the aroma of freshly pressed coffee and flaky, buttery croissants. The city comes slowly to life, where people sit in cafes, sipping their cappuccinos at a sidewalk table, watching people stroll to work. After breakfast, you follow your guide through the wide-lane streets lined with shading mulberry trees. 19th-century architecture encompasses entire city blocks with fringed lining. Shop windows open up to the street where you can see bakers stacking fresh baguettes, office workers staring dreamily out to the street, and dress shops displaying the latest fashions. At the base of the Champs-Elysees, you can see the Arc  de Triomphe standing proud at the far end of the street.

The nearby Tuileries Garden glows with emerald leaves, offering a fresh, blossoming perfume to the air. You come closer to the Arc de Triomphe and realize how large it really is. The monument was constructed in the 19th century and rises 164 feet above the encircling roundabout with a neoclassical design. Above the sculpted soldiers are a number of shields commemorating major victories in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. When you stand atop the arch you have an unfettered panorama of the cityscape, to the Eifel Tower, and over the 12 streets reaching outward from the arch’s central positioning.

There are few things harder than leaving the city of Paris. The glass pyramid at the Louvre glints in the sunlight. The Seine River quietly rushes around the city creating a dividing line through various neighborhoods. The D’Orsay fills an antique train station looking out to pearled façade Sacre Coeur atop Montmartre. The cityscape turns into the rolling hills of the French countryside, taking you through the region of Burgundy, known for its delicious wines. Bright yellow mustard fields are interspersed around the lush hills.

Medieval villages sprout from behind bends. Vineyards stretch outwards to the horizon. You can see the occasional hot-air balloon lingering in the sky for a perfect aerial view of the region. The Alps appear suddenly, towering over the landscape. You wind along the foothills rising higher into the mountains, away from France and into Switzerland, arriving in Lucerne. The city is picturesque, capturing the quintessential feel of a Swiss alpine town. The lake shines cobalt beneath the lining, meandering mountains.

When you reach Old Town, the wooden exteriors are painted bright white with decorating floral images. The sweet aroma of chocolate emanates from the air. The culture of the city is a combination of nostalgia and forward thinking. The Lion Monument was constructed in the 19th century and stands 33 feet long. It captures the image of a dying lion etched into the rock face to commemorate Swiss soldiers that gave up their lives defending King Louis XVI during the French Revolution. The provocative sculpture reflects in the glassy pond’s surface below.

The morning stretches over Lucerne with light clouds drifting passed Mount Pilatus. The summit reaches an elevation of 6,982 feet above sea level, standing an extra nearly 2,000 feet above Lucerne itself. You can take the world’s steepest railway or the aerial gondolas for a postcard view of the Swiss Alps. The mountain air is crisp and fresh. The lake sparkles in the sunlight. The rugged mountaintops provide a moment’s insight into the strength and beauty of nature. Your guide meets you back at the hotel where the aroma of decadent chocolate continues to glide through the city.

You leave Lucerne behind, crossing over into the Lake District of Italy, passing Milan, and arriving in the absorbing northeastern Italian city of Bergamo. The medieval architecture has stood watch over the Renaissance and two World Wars, all the while providing breathtaking views over the southerly plains. When you wander along the cobblestone medieval streets of the Città Alta, the town at the top of the hill, you find around three miles of Venetian walls made of quarried stone, inviting you to explore deeper into the city’s vibrant history.

Before dawn, a sweet mist spreads across the southern plain. During sunrise, the golden light spreads across the mist causing a natural twinkle encompassing the hillside. The vapor quickly dissolves leaving slight dew over the landscape. The church bells peal in the stone towers, and you leave behind the medieval town make your way to the world famous canals coiling through Venice. Your private water taxi collects you at the port taking you along the Grand Canal around St. Mark’s Square. The marbled Palazzo Ducale continues to decorate the top of the lagoon. The Byzantine domes of the Basilica di San Marco glimmer with the same golden sheen as the sunrise around Bergamo.

The cathedral was constructed in the 9th century and encompasses 91,493 square feet of space. The façade ripples with five niched portals, each one adorned with a specific mosaic and stone arches. On the far left you see a 13th-century mosaic depicting the body of St. Mark arriving in Venice. A triple arch decorates the central entrance with iridescent purple porphyry columns. Quiet vendors sell birdseed in the square where hundreds of pigeons await the brave visitors to cast the birdfeed into the air. The sounds of a bustling city rise from the narrow, meandering alleys, accompanied by the lapping waters, vaporettos, and the occasional operatic song of a traditional gondolier.

The sunlight spreads across the lagoon reflecting off of the water. After breakfast, your guide escorts you away from the romantic city and onto the innate charm of the Tuscan city of Florence. The old city is lined with cobblestone streets and medieval architecture. The essence of the Renaissance filters through every alleyway. On the buildings you can find placards etched in stone, commemorating the book and line a particular house or street was mentioned in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. In Piazza Signoria, sculptures stand out in the open underneath the shadow of the 14th century Palazzo Vecchio. A copy of Michelangelo’s David stands near the side entrance, yards away from the 16th century Fountain of Neptune.

The Arno River quietly sweeps underneath the old bridge where gold and silver vendors have sold their wares for centuries. When walking through the city center you can see Brunelleschi’s impressive dome, adorning the Florence Cathedral. The aroma of rich, powerful espresso fills the air. You can delight on a creamy gelato from Perché No, letting the freshly made, refreshing flavor coat your tongue while you absorb the endless amount of majesty the city provides, from Medici grandeur to the subtle details of nature in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery. After your exploration of the Renaissance city you continue south to Rome.

Rome is known as the Eternal City, constantly moving, filled with the aromatics of fresh tomatoes emanating from countless farmer’s markets, along with endless budding flowers adding color to the millennia-old stone buildings. The Colosseum is a radiant reminder of the city’s power. The Forum ruins add to eternal wonder. After breakfast, your guide takes to the smallest country in the world, the Vatican. St. Peter’s Square was erected in the 16th century, adorned with a central obelisk, and encompassed by an impressive colonnade.

The obelisk is 135 feet tall, originally erected by an unknown Egyptian pharaoh at Heliopolis. Once inside the Vatican Museum the depth of Catholic history and Roman expansion becomes more tangible. The museum’s opulence brims from every polished marble stone. The Map Room is sectioned off with gold leaf outline. The tour winds down into the Sistine Chapel, an amalgamation of brilliance highlighted by the bright colors of paint. Michelangelo painted the ceiling and end-wall in the 17th century.

Images of reflecting angels and the Birth of Man fly over your head. At the end wall you notice the colors darken, connoting the seriousness of the content. There are few manmade things as inspiring and breathtaking as a unique work of art. That sentiment is no truer than when you tilt your head back staring at the vivacious depictions Michelangelo set out to capture of the legends of life, death, and the afterlife.

The delicate aroma of a fresh baked brioche matches the creamy flavor of a freshly brewed cappuccino. The sweet and bitter tastes marry well in the light casting off of the marble pillars near your hotel. The market at Campo de’ Fiori has an everlasting vivaciousness and is also one of the oldest markets in the city, dating back to 1869. The aroma of seasonal vegetables drifts underneath the canopy. Chilies dangle from the ceiling hanging over decadent blackberries. People call out in energetic Italian, their hands motioning as fast as their words. After breakfast, you will have a private transfer, arranged by one of Zicasso's Europe travel agents, take you to the airport for your flight home. You have seen historic cities and embracing cultures, dramatic panoramas, and unforgettable art, having made your way through four magnificent countries.