Rouse's London, Paris & the Alps

Step outside your hotel for a stroll through the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, royal parks to street art. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques.

See Trafalgar Square, often used for community gatherings and political demonstrations.

Visit the National Gallery, which contains an unrivaled collection of Western art spanning seven centuries, from the late 13th to the early 20th. The largest portion of the collection is devoted to the Italians, including works by da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Botticelli; but the collection also features works by the Spanish giants El Greco, Goya and Velázquez. The Flemish-Dutch school is represented by Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt; and there is also an immense French impressionist and post-impressionist collection that includes works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Cézanne.

Visit Piccadilly Circus, a shopping and entertainment area brightly lit with video displays and neon signs.

Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centered on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Leicester Square is perfectly situated in the heart of London's West End, with Trafalgar Square to the south, Piccadilly Circus to the west, Covent Garden to the east, and China Town to the north.

Nothing’s more British than fish and chips—there are eight fish and chip shops (“chippies”) for every McDonald’s in the country. Head to an authentic pub with your Tour Director for a taste of this national food, generally served with malt vinegar.

Visit prehistoric Stonehenge, built in 3,000 BC, a mysterious monument of four concentric rings of hefty stones, believed to be a sacred place of worship or some type of calendar. Like a Jane Austen novel come to life. Bath was England's most fashionable spa town in the 18th century. Everyone who was anyone headed to this town on the River Avon to "take the waters" and attend the theaters. Today you'll visit Roman baths, sweeping Georgian-style terraces and buildings made from the honey-hued stone, and art galleries, shops and restaurants.

The history of Indian food in Britain is now almost four hundred years old and today the country is home to some of the best Indian food in the world. Today, traditional meals like Fish & Chips are matched in popularity by curry dishes. Sit down to a delicious authentic Indian meal for dinner tonight. Taste different dishes with fragrant spices to understand why Indian food is one of the nation's favorites.

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.

Afternoon tea started in England in the 1840s when The Duchess of Bedford wanted a small bite between lunch and dinner. What started out as just tea and a small snack quickly grew in popularity when she invited friends, until it became a social gathering for the wealthy social class. You’ll get to sit down to this very British experience and enjoy a selection of savouries, scones with clotted cream and jam, an assortment of cakes, and of course tea!

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.

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.)

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).

The ultimate palace, Versailles was built by Louis XIII, and housed the royal family and its groveling court from 1682, when Louis XIV 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.)

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.

Explore the land of fairytales across 5 amazing lands filled with classic attractions, shows and street parades. Please note that this excursion includes entrance to Disneyland Park. Entrance to Disney Adventure World is not included.

Get out your credit card -- you’re in the capitalism capital of the world. Zurich’s enormous banking system and well-funded residents guarantee fantastic shopping (even if it’s only window shopping!). Explore the city with your Tour Director, who will lead you away from temptation and toward Zurich’s Old Town, a medieval pedestrian zone hugging the Limmat River. On either side of the river stand the Fraumünster and Grossmünster churches, their Gothic towers and amazing stained-glass windows eternally watching over the city.

Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a focal point of the region. Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne, within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne is traditionally considered first and foremost as a tourist destination.

Before a backdrop of snow-capped Alpine mountains and green, cow-filled pastures, join your Tour Director on a trip to Lucerne’s famous sights. Weave your way through a maze of narrow, winding streets until you reach the River Reuss and the Medieval Kapellbrücke Bridge. Stop to marvel at the bridge walls, decorated with murals that recreate the 14th-century originals destroyed in a fire. Journey down the cobblestone streets in the Old Town to see the Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument), the somber sandstone wild cat gazing down into a reflecting pool, and ponder this artfully chiseled statue created to honor the Swiss Guards who died defending the Tuileries in 1792.

One of the city's famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge, or Kapellbrücke, a wooden bridge first built in the 14th century. It has also been voted as the 5th most popular tourism destination in the world.

View the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal, created in 1820 in honor of the Swiss Guards who lost their lives in 1792 during the French Revolution.

View the impressive Jesuitenkirche which was the first large baroque church built in Switzerland. The ostentatious baroque style architecture is meant to represent the power and glory of the Catholic tradition.

Stroll through the picturesque medieval Weinmarkt Square and the Kornmarkt Square in the historical heart of Lucerne.

Scale snow-capped Mount Pilatus to enjoy a bird’s eye view of Lucerne’s skyline and Alpine panoramas galore. In the summer (May to mid-Nov.), you’ll take a boat across Lake Alpnach and then ascend the slope on the world’s steepest cog railway; the rest of the year, you’ll ascend by cable car. Once atop the mountain, it’s your chance to snap some of the most frame-worthy photos -- keep your fingers crossed for a clear day, when mountain-top views span as far as 200 miles.

With its elegant squares and quaint streets, Salzburg is a delightful introduction to the sophisticated world of the classical genius, Mozart.

Feel the rhythm of Salzburg’s Old Town Square as you enter the unassuming yellow domicile at Getreidegasse 9. This is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. View an impressive collection of the young composer’s first instruments and immerse yourself in the captivating saga of this prodigy’s early life.

Explore Salzburg’s Old Town, a maze of meandering lanes, curious steeples, cobbled streets, and spacious squares. Take in the grandeur of Residenz Square and admire the striking façade of Salzburg Cathedral. Pause at Mozart Square, where the composer’s statue honors Salzburg’s most famous son, and listen for the Glockenspiel, an early 18th‑century carillon with 35 bells that can be heard from the cafés lining the square.

Take the funicular up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the former stronghold of the ruling prince-archbishops. We will visit the elegant State Apartments; the Burgmuseum, with a magnificent collection of medieval art and many Gothic artifacts; the Rainermuseum, which exhibits arms and armor; and the beautiful late Gothic St. George's Chapel, with intricate marble reliefs of the Apostles. From the Watchtower view the panoramic sweep of the Alps and from the Kuenberg Bastion, views of the domes and towers of Salzburg.

Visit the historic Kunsthistorisches Museum in the Neue Burg area of Vienna. Among the exhibits are instruments owned or played by Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Liszt, Schubert, Haydn, and Clara Schumann, together with the history of the composers. Explore the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Fine Arts Museum), housing one of Europe’s finest art collections compiled by the Hapsburgs. The collection includes great works from some of Europe’s greatest artists, including Bruegel, Rubens, Durer, Hals, Rembrandt, Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian and Velasquez, just to name a few.

Follow in the footsteps of the imperial Habsburgs as a local guide brings you to the Hofburg, the family's 2,600-room palace that is now home to the Vienna Boys Choir. View the Belvedere Museum and Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, and Stephansdom. End the adventure with a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, where the Habsburg’s ruled until 1918 and six-year-old Mozart serenaded Marie Antoinette.

Stop just outside the city center for a visit to the 1,441-room Schönbrunn Palace, which was designed for the Habsburgs before becoming the imperial summer palace during the 40-year reign of Maria Theresa. It was the scene of great aristocratic events during the Congress of Vienna, including a performance by a 6-year-old Mozart.