Welcome Orientation Dinner • London Pomp & Pageantry Sights • EuroStar - English Channel Crossing • Paris Museum Pass • French Bistro Dinner • Paris-by-Night • Seine River Boat Cruise • Overnight French Express Train • ROMA Pass * Viva Italia Pizza Party • Rome’s Ancient Ruins • Trevi Fountain • Vatican City & St. Peter’s Basilica • Lavish Roman Banquet...AND MUCH MORE!
Day 1
Travel to London
Board
your jumbo jet for an overnight flight toward the rising sun
in pomp and pageantry London.
Meals:
In-flight meals
Day 2
London
You have
the afternoon to rest or to explore a bit before our welcome
orientation and Pub Dinner. Then join some of your new travel
mates during your free evening: go on a pub-crawl or hobnob
with royalty at a posh nightclub.
Meals:
In-flight meals, Fish & Chips dinner
Day 3
London
AESU shows
you all the best of London Town today: Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus,
St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and more. Spend your
free afternoon strolling through Hyde Park, or hop on a double-decker
bus to the fashionable area of Knightsbridge to shop for cashmeres
and tweeds at Harrods. After dusk, you may want to attend a
West End Play or take in some Shakespeare at the Globe Theater.
Meals:
Breakfast
Day 4
London * Eurostar to Paris
The sleek
Eurostar train whisks us through the English Channel tunnel
at speeds of up to 186 miles per hour! The magnificent monuments
and fountains of Paris await. Our local art historian shows
us the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, and Place de la Concorde
where the guillotine stood. We'll also see Napoleon's Les Invalides
and the hunchback's beloved Notre Dame. Tonight dine on regional
French specialties at our Bistro Dinner. Afterward, take a moonlight
cruise down the Seine River beneath the graceful bridges on
a glass-topped "Bateau Mouche."
Meals:
Breakfast, French bistro dinner
Day 5
Paris
Spend a
leisure day shopping in designer boutiques or viewing masterpieces
of art at the Louvre, Pompidou or Rodin museums. Your included
Paris Museum Pass allows access to over 70 museums and monuments
in and around Paris.
Meals:
Breakfast
Day 6
Paris * Optinal Cabaret Show
Consider
exploring the Left Bank bookstalls, have your portrait done
by Place du Tertre artists or sample the delectable pastries
for which this country is famous. Your free evening may find
you
watching the world go by from a sidewalk cafe on the Champs
Elysées or join in the excitement at a can-can cabaret.
Meals:
Breakfast
Day 7
Overnight Train to Rome
After another
exciting day in Paris, we say au revoir and board our express
train for an overnight journey south through France's Burgundy
wine country to sunny Italy. Enjoy the opportunity to move around
freely and meet other travelers as you watch the beautiful countryside
roll by.
Meals:
Breakfast
Day 8
Rome * Vatican City
Check in to our hotel and enjoy a leisure afternoon exploring Rome. Tonight, join us for our Viva Italia Pizza Party. Following dinner, perhaps walk to Piazza Navona, one of the city’s most beautiful Baroque squares and try the local gelati.
Meals:
Breakfast, Pizza party dinner
Day 9
Rome * Operional excursion to the Catacombs of San Callisto
This morning see the historic ruins of Caesar’s Forum and the Colosseum where Gladiators fought. A trip across the Tiber River takes us to Vatican City, where we’ll visit St. Peter’s Basilica. Free afternoon, make sure to visit the Vatican Museum to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. We’ll also offer an optional excursion to the Catacombs of San Callisto, located outside of Rome along the ancient Appian Way. Explore the four levels of hand-dug tunnels to the tombs of a half-million Christians. Buried here during the 1st - 4th centuries A.D., these early Christians rejected the pagan custom of cremation and practiced their rituals in secret. This macabre labyrinth of tunnels with tomb niches and bones is chillingly fascinating. An evening on our own might include a visit to the Trevi Fountain-toss in three coins to ensure your return to Rome.
Meals:
Breakfast
Day 10
Rome * Vatican City
The entire
day is free to discover all the splendors that are still Rome.
Go shopping for Italian leather goods on the elegant Via Condotti,
sip cappuccino on the Via Veneto or immerse yourself in the
historic and artistic treasures that abound in this city. Tonight
we indulge in our Roman Banquet Farewell Dinner. Enjoy mouth-watering
Italian specialties as live music entertains.
Meals:
Breakfast, Roman Banquet farewell dinner
Day 11
Travel Home
Reluctantly
we say farewell to Europe and new-found friends. Jet back home
with thoughts of planning your next European Adventure!
