Customized Group Travel Tours STS Educational Holiday to Europe, North America

Destination > Europe > France

Romantic Europe

Day 1: Home

Depart on your overnight flight to Paris.

Day 2: Paris (D)

Today you arrive in Paris. Upon arrival you will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. En route, enjoy a panoramic sightseeing tour of this city of perfume and charm, everlastingly beautiful and unchanged. No other city has lavished such energy and attention upon its music halls and cabarets: such names as “Opera Comique”, “Follies Bergere”, and “Casino de Paris” are famous around the world. Your city tour includes Les Grand’s Boulevard, L’Opera, Place de la Concorde, Les Champs Elysees, L’Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and more. Upon arrival at your hotel, you have the rest of the day to acclimatize yourself to the time change or wander the fascinating streets of Paris.

Day 3: Paris - Versailles (B, D)

This morning after an early breakfast you will board your coach and head off for a morning excursion to Versailles to visit this creation of the French Monarchy at the time of its greatest splendour. Consisting of the great palace, breathtaking gardens and the Trianons, it is a wonderful harmonious composition of building and landscape, a unique expression of the vitality of French art during the 17th -18th century. Between 1682 -1789, Versailles was the seat of government and France’s political capital. Today the Chateau of Versailles seems outrageously large but in 1682 when Louis XIV took up residence it housed about 15,000 noblemen, servants and hangers–on who moved in with Louis. Built between 1662 and 1690, it took 26,000 labourers and soldiers to construct. Later you will return to Paris and have the remainder of the day free to shop, have lunch and explore on your own the vibrant streets of this historic city. Tonight you may travel up the Eiffel Tower for a spectacular panoramic night view of the city.

Day 4: Paris (B)

Meet your guide for your half day walking tour of this romantic city. Spend the morning meandering the Champs Elysees, marvel at the Arc de Triomphe and then visit the magnificent gilded Dome Church where you will see the imposing tomb of the Emperor Napoleon. The remainder of the day will be free to visit Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and shop or spend time visiting more of Paris’s endless sights. This evening, transfer to the train station for your overnight train to Nice. Couchettes for sleeping will be provided on the train so that when you arrive in Nice you will be refreshed and ready for the delights of the Riviera.

Day 5: Nice (D)

This morning you awaken in Nice. Although Nice is a big sprawling city situated on the Mediterranean, the Old Town is one of the delights of the Riviera. Cars are forbidden on streets so narrow that their buildings crowd out the sky. After you settle into your hotel rooms, you can wander down the cobbled streets of this pedestrian friendly city to orient yourself to the main shopping streets, the spectacular Mediterranean coastline and boardwalk, and the Old Town. Wander on your own, or sit in an outdoor café on a Venetian like square, basking in the purest, most transparent light.

Day 6: Nice (B, D)

Begin your day with breakfast at your hotel and then board your coach for your full day guided excursion into the heart of the Riviera. Today’s tour includes the city of Nice as well as the centuries old city of Grasse and then on to Cannes. Your guided excursion by mountain roads begins with the old city of Grasse, famous for cultivating flowers and distilling three quarters of the world’s essences. Four centuries ago, the town specialized in leather gloves. In the 16th century, when scented gloves became fashionable, the town began cultivating flowers and distilling essences and today three quarters of the world’s essences are made here. It takes 10,000 flowers to produce 2.2 pounds of jasmine petals and nearly 7 million to distil 1 ½ quarts of essence. Most famous perfumeries mix Grasse essences into their own secret formulas. Then it is on to Cannes, famous for the film festival and Antibes, Mediterranean playgrounds for the world’s rich and famous. Return to Nice for your last night in the Riviera.

Day 7: Nice (B)

Free day in Nice. This evening transfer to the train station for your overnight rail transfer to Rome. Sleeping couchettes will be provided for your comfort.

Day 8: Rome (D)

Arrive this morning in Rome and be transferred to your hotel. En route enjoy a panoramic sightseeing tour covering the major archaeological monuments of Rome. The Forum was the city’s religious, political and commercial center in the days of Caesars. It was the colossal size of the Colosseum that gave it its name, but it was its games of bizarre cruelty that made this the most famous building in Rome. 50,000 people could be seated with enviable efficiency. The games were organized carefully; gladiators were recruited from the ranks of those condemned to death and war prisoners. During the years when Christians were literally thrown to the lions along with other “criminals”, Claudius used to arrive at dawn to see the spectacle. The Circus Maximus today is a long esplanade planted with flowers and is all that’s left of the Circo Massimo’s great chariot tract. During the reign of Trajan, it was a huge amphitheatre where 380,000 Romans might gather to watch and gamble on horse or chariot races. The Pantheon, with its original doors and ancient granite columns will not prepare you for the interior. The outside gives little hint of what’s to come – there is nothing like it in the world, the circular opening way on top comes as a shock. The immensity of the round space so high above the coffered ceiling around it is awe inspiring.

Later settle into your hotel and then head outside to explore on your own. The remainder of this day is free for you to discover the wonders of Italy’s capital city. Don’t miss tossing a coin into the legendary Trevi Fountain and relaxing on the Spanish Steps or take the time to stop at a sidewalk café or to do some shopping. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Day 9: Rome (B, D)

Begin your day today with a half day guided tour of this ancient city. No visit to Rome is complete until you have witnessed first hand the majesty of the Papal State, the Vatican. The Vatican is a city unto itself with its own postal service, radio station, newspaper and army. Your guide will ensure that you spend some time visiting St. Peter’s Basilica and Square, the Vatican Museum and of course the Sistine Chapel to admire Michelangelo’s wonderful frescoes which took him 4 years to paint on the barrel vaulted ceiling. Then it will be off to stop and witness first hand the ruins of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The remainder of this day is free for you to perhaps visit one of the many catacombs found in this ancient city.

Day 10: Rome (B)

Today is a free day for you to do some last minute souvenir shopping or perhaps you might visit the Pantheon, the Roman “temple of the gods“, the most extraordinary and best preserved ancient building in Rome. Or spend some time in the Piazza Navona, Rome’s most spectacular piazza which at one time was used for athletic contests, chariot races and other sports.

Day 11: Rome - Home (B)

Arrivederci Roma. Transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Tour includes:

Return Airfare: Home - Paris / Rome - Home
Return airport transfers
7 nights accommodation
Breakfast daily
6 dinners
Panoramic sightseeing tour of Paris
Half day guided walking tour of Paris
2 day metro pass in Paris
Entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral
Half day guided coach tour to Versailles
Entrance to Versailles
Motor coach transfer to train station in Paris
Overnight train from Paris to Nice including sleeping couchette
Full day guided coach tour of the Riviera area
Overnight train with sleeping couchette to Rome
Transfer from train station to hotel in Rome
Panoramic sightseeing tour of Rome
Guided half day tour of Rome
Entrances to Vatican, Museum, and Sistine Chapel

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