Paris & Switzerland — 8 Nights

Met at Charles de Gaulle and driven into the city. The first evening is deliberately light: a walk along the Seine to the Île de la Cité, the Eiffel Tower lit on the hour after dark, and dinner near the hotel. Overnight in Paris.

Up the Eiffel Tower in the morning with tickets booked ahead, then across the river to the Trocadéro for the view back at it. The afternoon is the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, or the Louvre if you would rather begin with the art — it is a long day inside and we would suggest a guided route rather than an attempt at all of it. A one-hour river cruise in the evening. Overnight in Paris.

Sacré-Cœur and the lanes of Montmartre while the morning is quiet, then the Louvre or the Musée d'Orsay, depending on what yesterday covered. Late afternoon in the Marais and the Place des Vosges, with the Tuileries gardens on the walk back. Overnight in Paris.

A choice we settle when you book: the palace and gardens at Versailles, which take most of a day, or Disneyland Paris for families — both are under an hour from the city by train and both are pre-booked. Anyone who wants a free day in Paris instead simply takes one. Overnight in Paris.

From Gare de Lyon across eastern France and into Switzerland, with the change at Basel or Zurich for Lucerne — about five hours door to door. The evening is for the Chapel Bridge, the old town and the lakefront. Overnight in Lucerne.

To Engelberg by train and up to Titlis by cable car, with the rotating Rotair cabin for the last stage and snow, the glacier cave and the Cliff Walk at the summit. The afternoon back in Lucerne can be the Lion Monument or an hour on the lake by boat. Overnight in Lucerne.

The morning free in Lucerne, then the two-hour panoramic train over the Brünig Pass and along Lake Brienz into Interlaken. Check in, and if the sky is clear take the Harder Kulm funicular above the town for the view of both lakes and the Jungfrau range. Overnight in Interlaken.

Through Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg and on by the Jungfrau Railway to the highest station in Europe. The Sphinx terrace, the Aletsch Glacier and the snow plateau, then down through Grindelwald for the second valley. A last Swiss dinner in Interlaken. Overnight in Interlaken.

The train to Zurich takes about two hours, and the private transfer takes you the last stretch to the airport for your flight home. With a late flight there is time for the Zurich old town on the way.