France & Switzerland — 11 Nights

Met at the airport and driven into the city, with the first evening on the Seine and nothing else scheduled. Overnight in Paris.

A guided route through the Louvre in the morning and the Impressionists at the Musée d'Orsay after lunch — two collections, one day, without attempting all of either. The Tuileries between them. Overnight in Paris.

Sacré-Cœur and the lanes of Montmartre in the morning, the Marais and the Place des Vosges in the afternoon, and the Eiffel Tower with its lights after dark. Overnight in Paris.

South-east by high-speed train and then by road up the valley into Chamonix, with the Mont Blanc massif filling the head of it. An evening walk through the town. Overnight in Chamonix.

The two-stage cable car to the Aiguille du Midi at 3,842 metres, with Mont Blanc across the void and the glaciers below — go early, when the air is clearest. In the afternoon the old Montenvers rack railway up to the Mer de Glace and its ice cave. Overnight in Chamonix.

Down the valley and across the border to the lake, and along the shore to Montreux at its eastern end, where the promenade runs for miles under palm trees the microclimate allows. Overnight in Montreux.

Chillon Castle, on its rock at the water's edge, is a short boat or bus ride along the shore. In the afternoon the terraced Lavaux vineyards that climb above the lake towards Lausanne, by the little vineyard train or on foot between the villages. Overnight in Montreux.

The panoramic GoldenPass line climbs from the lake through the vineyards and over the mountains to Interlaken, with the valley narrowing as the line rises — reserved seats, and the best views on the right going up. Overnight in Interlaken.

By rack railway through Lauterbrunnen and Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch, with the Aletsch Glacier from the Sphinx terrace and the Ice Palace inside the mountain. Down through Grindelwald for the other valley. Overnight in Interlaken.

The panoramic train over the Brünig Pass to Lucerne, and the afternoon for the Chapel Bridge, the old town and the lakefront — the water is the reason the city exists, and the evening promenade is the best introduction to it. Overnight in Lucerne.

A last mountain: Pilatus by the steepest cogwheel railway in the world and down by cable car, or Rigi by boat and rack railway for the gentler, wider view back over the lakes and passes of the whole journey. Overnight in Lucerne.

An hour by train to Zurich and the private transfer to the airport for your flight home.