Paris, Switzerland and Rome by Rail

Arrive in Paris

Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly Airport to your hotel in central Paris

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Paris
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Rooms are usually ready by mid-afternoon; if yours is not, the hotel keeps your bags and Paris is outside the door. If you land early, sit at a café on a square, walk the Tuileries or look at the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro terrace.

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group and hands out the rail plan for the week: every train, every change, and how your suitcase travels between stations and hotels, so the logistics are settled before the first departure. Then we walk together along the Seine towards the Île de la Cité as the lamps come on, and sit down to a welcome dinner of bistro dishes in a local restaurant.

Compris

• Pick-up at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) or Orly (ORY)
• Welcome briefing and rail plan with your guide
• Evening walk along the Seine
• Welcome dinner

The Louvre at opening, the Seine at dusk

Paris: the Louvre, the Tuileries and the Île de la Cité

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Paris
• En bateau

Après-midi

Lunch wherever you like in the Latin Quarter, then perhaps the Musée d'Orsay, Montmartre or a long sit in the Luxembourg Garden.

Soir

At dusk the group meets again for an hour on a Seine boat, passing the Louvre, the Orsay and the Eiffel Tower as the lights come on; after dark the tower sparkles for five minutes on the hour.

Compris

• The Louvre at opening with a timed entry and a licensed local guide
• The Tuileries and a walk to Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité
• One-hour Seine boat at dusk

Activités en option

• Musée d'Orsay (closed Mondays)
• Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur

TGV to Basel, then Lake Thun to Interlaken

Paris Gare de Lyon to Basel by TGV Lyria, then Bern and Spiez by Swiss train, and the lake boat to Interlaken

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Interlaken
• En train

Matin

A morning TGV Lyria from Gare de Lyon runs east through Burgundy and Franche-Comté to Basel in about three hours, and a van takes the bags across Paris to the platform so you board with a day bag.

Après-midi

At Basel we break the journey with a sit-down lunch near the station, then an onward Swiss train runs through Bern to Spiez in about an hour and three quarters, so no single leg is much over three hours. At Spiez we leave the train for the lake boat: about an hour and a quarter across Lake Thun to Interlaken West, past the pyramid of the Niesen and the cliffs below Beatenberg, while your suitcase goes ahead by road to the hotel. The boats run this route from about April to October; outside those months the train covers the last twenty minutes. Interlaken sits between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and from the Höhematte meadow in the centre you see the Jungfrau, 4,158 m, at the head of the valley.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• TGV Lyria from Paris to Basel, first class with reserved seats
• Sit-down lunch in Basel
• Swiss train from Basel to Spiez via Bern
• Lake Thun boat from Spiez to Interlaken West (about April to October)
• Suitcases by road to the hotel

The Jungfraujoch

Interlaken to Grindelwald Terminal, the Eiger Express to Eigergletscher and the Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch, down via Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Interlaken
• En train

Matin

We take one of the first trains of the day, ahead of the late-morning crowd, from Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald Terminal, where the Eiger Express gondola lifts us in about 15 minutes to Eigergletscher under the north face of the Eiger. From there the Jungfrau Railway, finished in 1912, climbs inside the Eiger and the Mönch to the Jungfraujoch at 3,454 m, the highest railway station in Europe. Up top, the Sphinx terrace looks down the Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps and the centre of the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site; there is an ice palace cut into the glacier, and the snow plateau when the weather allows.

Après-midi

We come down by train the other way, to Kleine Scheidegg at 2,061 m, for a sit-down lunch facing the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, then ride the Wengernalp railway down through Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, past the Staubbach Falls, and back to Interlaken.

Soir

Late afternoon is free, and tonight we eat together: a Swiss cheese dinner, fondue or raclette.

Compris

• Train to Grindelwald Terminal and the Eiger Express gondola to Eigergletscher
• Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch with your guide: the Sphinx terrace, the ice palace and the plateau
• Sit-down lunch at Kleine Scheidegg
• Train down via Wengen and Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken
• Swiss cheese dinner in Interlaken

Lake Brienz and the Brünig Pass to Lucerne

Interlaken Ost to Brienz by lake boat, then the Luzern-Interlaken Express over the Brünig Pass to Lucerne

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Lucerne
• En bateau

Matin

Your suitcase leaves the hotel by road this morning, and we walk to the pier at Interlaken Ost with day bags for the boat across Lake Brienz, about an hour and a quarter on milky turquoise water, past the Giessbach Falls dropping through the forest on the south shore. At Brienz we board the Luzern-Interlaken Express, which climbs on a rack section over the Brünig Pass at 1,008 m and runs down past Lake Lungern and Lake Sarnen to Lucerne in about an hour and a half.

Après-midi

Lunch is yours when we arrive, by the river or in the old town. In the afternoon your guide walks the group across the Chapel Bridge, first built in the 14th century and partly rebuilt after a fire in 1993, and the Spreuer Bridge with its painted Dance of Death panels, then up to the Lion Monument, carved in 1820 and 1821 for the Swiss Guards killed in Paris in 1792.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Lake Brienz boat from Interlaken Ost to Brienz
• Luzern-Interlaken Express from Brienz to Lucerne over the Brünig Pass
• Suitcases by road to the hotel
• Old-town walk in Lucerne: the Chapel Bridge, the Spreuer Bridge and the Lion Monument

Pilatus by boat, cogwheel and cableway

Lucerne to Alpnachstad by lake boat, the cogwheel railway to Pilatus Kulm, then cableway and gondola to Kriens and back to Lucerne

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Lucerne
• En bateau

Matin

We leave Lucerne mid-morning on a lake boat, about an hour and a half across Lake Lucerne below the Bürgenstock to Alpnachstad. There the Pilatus cogwheel railway, opened in 1889 and the steepest in the world at gradients up to 48 percent, climbs to Pilatus Kulm in about half an hour, through meadows and then bare limestone. At the top, short paths lead to the Esel and Tomlishorn viewpoints, over a dozen lakes and across to the Bernese Alps you saw from the Jungfraujoch.

Après-midi

Lunch is a proper sit-down meal at Pilatus Kulm. We come down the other side by the aerial cableway to Fräkmüntegg and the panorama gondola to Kriens, then a short bus ride back into Lucerne by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is free: the Swiss Museum of Transport, a swim from a lakeside lido or a drink by the river.

Compris

• Lake Lucerne boat from Lucerne to Alpnachstad
• Pilatus cogwheel railway to Pilatus Kulm
• Sit-down lunch at Pilatus Kulm
• Aerial cableway and panorama gondola down to Kriens, bus to Lucerne

Activités en option

• Swiss Museum of Transport

Over the Gotthard to Milan and Florence

Lucerne over the old Gotthard line to Bellinzona, then Milan and the high-speed train to Florence

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Florence
• En train

Après-midi

This is the one long rail day, about seven hours including a long lunch in Milan, and we chose it over a flight because the line is the point. We ride the old Gotthard mountain line, opened in 1882, instead of the 57 km base tunnel opened in 2016; the exact train, and any change at Arth-Goldau, is confirmed when we book. It follows the Reuss valley up to Wassen, where the loops show you the village church three times from three levels, runs through the 15 km summit tunnel at Göschenen to Airolo, and spirals down the Leventina into Italian-speaking Ticino. At Bellinzona, below its three UNESCO-listed castles, we change for Milan via Lugano. A sit-down lunch near Milano Centrale breaks the day before the Frecciarossa high-speed train to Florence, just under two hours. We reach Florence in the late afternoon, and as the light goes your guide walks you to the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio.

Soir

Dinner tonight is your choice.

Compris

• Train over the old Gotthard mountain line from Lucerne to Bellinzona
• Train from Bellinzona to Milan via Lugano
• Sit-down lunch in Milan
• Frecciarossa from Milan to Florence
• Suitcases between station and hotel in Lucerne and Florence
• Evening walk: the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio

The Uffizi at opening, then Rome

Florence: the Uffizi and the Duomo, then the Frecciarossa to Rome

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Rome
• En train

Après-midi

Lunch is yours: the market stalls upstairs at the Mercato Centrale are an easy choice. Mid-afternoon the Frecciarossa reaches Rome in about an hour and a half, and a van takes the bags to the hotel.

Soir

Early evening, your guide walks the group through the centre of the old city as it fills up: the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain, lit after dark. Dinner is free tonight, on whichever piazza you like.

Compris

• The Uffizi at opening with a timed entry and a licensed local guide
• Walk to the Duomo and the Baptistery
• Frecciarossa from Florence to Rome
• Suitcases between station and hotel in Florence and Rome
• Evening walk: the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain

Activités en option

• The Accademia and Michelangelo's David (closed Mondays; book ahead)

Ancient Rome and a Trastevere farewell

Rome: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, then Trastevere

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Rome

Matin

We start at the Colosseum at the first timed entry of the morning, with a licensed Roman guide, before the heat and the queues build. Inside the amphitheatre, finished under Titus in AD 80, you look down on the exposed corridors under the arena floor where animals and fighters waited. From there we walk up the Palatine Hill, where the emperors built their palaces, for the view over the Circus Maximus, and down into the Roman Forum along the Via Sacra, past the Arch of Titus and the Curia where the Senate met.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal together in Monti, a few streets away. The afternoon is free: the Galleria Borghese if you booked it, the Spanish Steps, or a long rest away from the midday sun.

Soir

In the evening we cross the Tiber to Trastevere for a farewell dinner of Roman dishes in a neighbourhood restaurant.

Compris

• The Colosseum at first entry with a licensed local guide
• The Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum
• Sit-down lunch in Monti
• Farewell dinner in Trastevere

Activités en option

• Galleria Borghese (timed entry, book ahead)

The Vatican, then home

Rome: the Vatican Museums and St Peter's, then Rome Fiumicino Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 45 min de route

Compris

• The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel at opening with a licensed local guide
• St Peter's Basilica
• Drop-off at Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO)