The Three Capitals

A local guide will accompany your group.

Take a walk through Covent Garden, the stomping ground of Eliza Doolittle and Professor Higgins. Watch the street performers, browse through stores or check out the vendors for souvenirs.

Your visit to the Royal Observatory includes, in addition to the Astronomy Centre, the Meridian Courtyard and the Camera Obscura, the Meridian Building with the Telescope Gallery and Flamsteed House, location of the Old Observatory, which now houses the Time Galleries with their wealth of exhibits on inventions and instruments.

You will also visit the National Maritime Museum, which holds the world's largest exhibit of ship models, naval instruments and maps.

Attend a performance at a West End venue. In London you can find anything you're looking for, from classical drama to Rodgers and Hammerstein. Perhaps a good tear-jerker?

Board the high-speed Eurostar train in London for an exciting ride under the English Channel, through the "Chunnel." Arrive in downtown Paris less than three hours later!

The afternoon is unscheduled.

Wander under the 19th-century arcades of the Rue de Rivoli, lined with fancy boutiques and cafés.

An excursion takes you into the very essence of the history and culture of France. See two of France's loveliest châteaux, which define the sophistication of the Renaissance.

Discover the prettiest of the Loire Valley châteaux, which spans the River Cher. In 1547, King Henri II gave this property to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. On her orders, splendid gardens were added and a bridge was built to link the castle to the other bank of the Cher. The famous gallery later erected upon that bridge by Queen Catherine de Medici served, during World War II, as an escape route between Nazi-occupied northern France and unoccupied southern France.

Lunch is included on this excursion.

Enter the largest of the Loire Valley castles (440 rooms and 80 staircases). At the age of 25, King François I decided to build a sumptuous residence, and he did. However, over the 32 years of his reign he only spent 42 days at Chambord!

Today, visitors marvel at the park (enclosed by a wall 18 miles long), at the grand façade, and at the famous Double Helix Staircase (Grand Escalier), which leads to a roof adorned with 200 chimneys!

The insights of a national museum guide help you to rediscover the masterpieces, delve into a particular theme, or focus on one artist's pieces. Tours are aimed at art enthusiasts and novices alike.

Ascend to the third level of the tower.

Today's flight takes you to Germany's third-largest city.

A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Munich, will accompany your group.

Visit Nymphenburg Palace, once the summer residence of the Bavarian sovereigns. See rooms decorated in their original Baroque style from the 17th century, as well as Rococo and Neoclassical decor. The gardens were landscaped in the 18th century by an employee of André Le Nôtre, who designed the gardens of Versailles.

Today, follow a scenic route into fantasyland.

Enter the dream castle built by Bavaria's "mad" King Ludwig II. About Neuschwanstein, the model for Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty's castle, it is said that Ludwig employed a stage set designer rather than an architect. The result is pure theatrical fantasy, stimulated by the King's fancy for Wagnerian music: from artificial grottoes to ornate rooms to dazzling views of the Alps from the belvedere.

Your coach takes you to the Austrian mountain resort of Innsbruck, which hosted the Winter Olympic Games twice, in 1964 and 1976.

Travel over the 600-foot Europa Bridge to the historic Brenner Pass and Italy.

Visit a glass workshop, where a skilled glassblower will demonstrate the techniques and artistic sense required to produce the world-renowned Venetian glass.

View a wealth of artwork from the 15th and 16th centuries at the Galleria dell'Accademia, including the best known of all Florentine treasures, Michelangelo's monumental David.

In the nave of the Cattedrale Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as the Duomo, visitors marvel at a cathedral begun in 1296 and consecrated in 1436 that remains one of the largest in Christendom. It houses precious masterpieces, notably Domenico di Michelino's 1320 painting titled Dante holding the Divine Comedy.

Next on your program: the church that's the final resting place of luminaries such as Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo. Santa Croce is also famous for its art treasures, notably the Cappella dei Pazzi, a chapel attributed to Brunelleschi that's hailed as a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture.

Watch a craftsman demonstrate steps used in the manufacture of the world-renowned Florentine leather goods.

Just north of the city center, discover the Campo dei Miracoli and its trio of remarkable Moorish-style religious buildings. The most famous of the three is the Leaning Tower, now tilting nearly 13 feet from its vertical axis. Hear about the various solutions proposed to counteract the sinking of its foundation.

Enter the sumptuous Romanesque Duomo, a 900-year-old sanctuary consecrated in 1118 that remained Europe's largest cathedral for nearly 100 years. Inside, art treasures include notably 14th-century mosaics, the 17th-century wooden ceiling decorated with gold leaf, and Giovanni Pisano's outstanding 13th-century marble pulpit.

Travel to Assisi, where flowers overflow the window boxes which adorn the pink stone buildings typical of the town.

If your schedule allows, consider a visit to the Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most celebrated sights, which was the terminus of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct. Throw a coin over your right shoulder and into the spray to ensure your return to this wonderful city!

Discover outstanding masterpieces collected for the Vatican Museums since the early 1500s. See exceptional statues from antiquity, such as Laocoön and His Son and the Apollo Belvedere, as well as stunning Renaissance paintings, notably the The School of Athens fresco in the Raphael Rooms.

Walk through the plaza built on the site of Domitian's Stadium. Lined with grand buildings and trendy cafes, this oblong square is adorned with statues and fountains, notably Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers.