-Day 1 Overnight Flight to England (London)
Day 2 Hello London
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Day 3 London landmarks
Details: London guided sightseeing tour
Join a licensed local guide for an in-depth look at London, from the royal haunt of Buckingham Palace (the official London residence of King Charles III) to the slightly more democratic Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park, where anyone can pull up a soapbox and orate to his heart’s content. You’ll see the changing of the guard (season permitting), the clock tower of Big Ben with its 14-ton bell, and Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. After a stop at the Houses of Parliament, continue on to the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral, the masterpiece of London architect Christopher Wren.
Details: Trafalgar Square
See Trafalgar Square, often used for community gatherings and political demonstrations.
Details: Piccadilly Circus
Visit Piccadilly Circus, a shopping and entertainment area brightly lit with video displays and neon signs.
Day 4
Details: Eurostar Chunnel crossing
Take the Eurostar under the English Channel. Faster than you can say... anything, in French, you'll whiz through a tunnel and arrive in Paris.
Details: Paris guided sightseeing tour
What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence and the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded) and the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater).
Day 5 Paris
Details: Louvre visit
The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a Medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world--one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)
Details: Montmartre tour director-led sightseeing
Follow your Tour Director through the artsy hilltop neighborhood of Montmartre towards Basilica Sacré-Cœur. Watch local street artists work their magic in the central square of Place du Tertre before seeking out the iconic red windmill on the roof of Moulin Rouge, birthplace of the French cancan dance.
Day 6 Paris
Dinner on your own
Details: Versailles Guided Excursion
The ultimate palace, Versailles was built by Louis XIII, and housed the royal family and its groveling court from 1682, when the Sun King moved in, to the French Revolution. Everything in Versailles is worth a look, from the 250-foot-long Hall of Mirrors, with themed salons- "war" and "peace" -on either side, to Marie Antoinette's faux country hamlet. When being a queen became too much to bear, she would pretend to be a commoner, tending her sheep and wearing peasant clothes. (Please note Versailles is closed on Mondays.)
Details: LEAP Seize the Château!
A lively role-play puts you in the shoes of the monarchy, clergy, nobility, bourgeoisie, or peasantry to explore the issues underlying the French Revolution.
Details: Lunch
Today, lunch is included in place of dinner
Details: Eiffel Tower ascent
Line up to climb to the top floor of this iconic landmark for a spectacular birds-eye view of the glittering City of Light.
Day 7 Paris--Amsterdam
Travel to Amsterdam via Bruges
Bruges Tour Director-led sightseeing tour
Day 8 Amsterdam landmarks
Amsterdam city walk
Details: Van Gogh Museum visit
Experience the Van Gogh Museum that houses the largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh in the world. Witness the artist's developments and compare his paintings to works by other artists from the 19th century in the collection.
Details: Anne Frank House visit
Take a tour of Anne Frank's house, where three different Jewish families hid for more than two years during World War II and where Anne’s famous diaries were discovered. See where she and her family lived before being betrayed to the Nazi’s and deported to concentration camps.
Day 9 End tour
Tour Includes:
- Round-trip airfare and other transportation described in the itinerary
- Centrally located three- and four-star hotels
- Plentiful daily breakfast to start the day energized and ready to go
- Appetizing, culturally representative, three-course dinner daily (lunch replacement where "dinner on your own" is noted)
- Full time, multilingual, WorldStrides tour director who is LEAP-trained in experiential education
- Local guide at sites and on city tours as described in the itinerary
- LEAP! Learning through Exploration and Active Participation; trademarked immersive approach of learning by doing
- Entrances and transportation to sites and activities described in your itinerary
- Local guide and local bus driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
- 24/7 On Tour Emergency Support
- Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
- Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, any required passport or visa fees, optional excursions, or recommended Tips for the Tour Director or multi-day Bus Drivers. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid tips, or other individual/group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.
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