Classic Lake Lucerne & Gotthard Express

Your vacation begins as you arrive in Basel independently, meeting the Tour Manager and fellow guests at our conveniently located hotel.

Nestled beside the Rhine River, Basel is known for its rich cultural heritage, boasting world-class museums and a beautiful Old Town. After checking in, we sit down to our first dinner together at the hotel. Overnight Basel.

• Dinner

Enjoy a relaxed morning in Basel before we walk to the rail station to board a train to the beautiful lakeside town of Lucerne.

Arriving in the early afternoon, we embark on a guided walking tour of the wonderfully preserved Old Town. Our tour takes Lucerne's highlights, including the famous covered bridge, the Kapellbrücke, one of Europe's oldest covered wooden bridges. The cobbled streets and picturesque squares are lined with medieval buildings adorned with painted frescoes, creating a vivid sense of history and culture.

After our tour, we board a boat on the pristine waters of Lake Lucerne to the nearby lakeside town of Weggis, our base for the next five nights. This picture-perfect town offers sweeping lake views and a relaxed atmosphere. On arrival, we check in to our hotel and sit down for dinner together. Overnight Weggis.

After breakfast, we walk to the pier and board a boat along the shore to the neighboring town of Vitznau, enjoying views of forested hills rising from the lake's edge.

In Vitznau, we board Europe's first mountain railway for a scenic journey to the summit of Mt Rigi, known as the 'Queen of the Mountains'. Operating since 1971, this charming cogwheel railway offers beautiful views across to Mt Pilatus. There's free time at Rigi's summit to admire the panoramic views of Switzerland's Alps. To descend the mountain, you can use an open ticket to transfer to Rigi Kaltbad and catch a cable car down to Weggis at your leisure.

With a free afternoon, you might choose to explore our charming base of Weggis - soak up the incredible lake views from the waterfront promenade or enjoy lunch in a café on the quaint central square. Alternatively, take a short boat ride to Lucerne to explore Switzerland's 'City of Light' further. However you choose to spend the afternoon, we reconvene at the hotel this evening for dinner at our hotel. Overnight Weggis.

• Breakfast, Dinner

With your Swiss Half Fare Card providing 50% discounts on rail, boat and mountain railway journeys, you can discover Switzerland your own way after breakfast.

Weggis and Lucerne are perfectly placed at the heart of the country, so there are many options. From Alpnachstad, you could board the steepest cogwheel railway in Europe to marvel at breathtaking views from Mt Pilatus. Reaching a gradient of 48%, the half-hour ascent travels past alpine meadows and rocky outcrops to a land above the clouds. Further afield, the spectacular Lauterbrunnen Valley can be reached by train. Your journey here crosses the dramatic Brünig Pass before arriving in Meiringen - near the Reichenbach Falls, made famous in the Sherlock Holmes stories. An hour's train could take you to Bern, Switzerland's capital, where you can explore the UNESCO-listed Old Town and visit its cathedral - the tallest in Switzerland - and the Zytglogge, a 13th-century clocktower that features an hourly puppet show with original figurines dating to 1530.

Dining independently this evening, you can savor an authentic taste of Switzerland such as fondues, raclettes and röstis. Overnight Weggis.

• Breakfast

After a leisurely breakfast, we set out by boat to Lucerne for a scenic journey on the panoramic Lucerne-Interlaken Express to Interlaken, nestled between the glacial lakes of Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.

Departing Lucerne, our train travels west through lush forests and flower-filled meadows, passing the azure waters of Lake Lungern and Lake Sarnen. Continuing through the scenic Brünig Pass, we reach the point of the line at 3,307 feet, with incredible views of the Bernese Alps and cascading waterfalls, including the imposing Giessbach Falls, plunging more than 1,300 feet into the turquoise Lake Brienz. After passing the quaint chalet village of Brienz, we pull into the celebrated resort town of Interlaken, where your afternoon is free to enjoy at leisure.

For breathtaking alpine vistas, you can choose to take the funicular up Harder Kulm, Interlaken's 'local mountain' that features a spectacular viewing platform. Alternatively, enjoy a relaxing cruise on Lake Brienz, admiring the emerald waters, rushing waterfalls and charming villages along its banks. We return to Weggis in the late afternoon, where you are free to find dinner independently. Overnight Weggis.

• Breakfast

A highlight of your vacation awaits today as we journey to the stunning Mt Stanserhorn. Traveling by train from Lucerne to Stans, we board a historic wooden funicular, dating back to 1893, up to Kalti. From here, we continue on a truly unique cableway - the world's only open-top double-decker cable car - complete with an open-air top deck for unobstructed panoramic views.

At the top of Mt Stanserhorn, there is free time to explore and soak up the views. Find lunch at the revolving restaurant that serves regional cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients or visit the marmot 'mini zoo' to see adorable alpine animals in their natural habitat. Local rangers can be found between the revolving restaurant and the summit, providing information on the 62-mile alpine chain and ten lakes that can be seen from Mt Stanserhorn, as well as the plant protection area, an incredible area of floral biodiversity with over 200 species of alpine flowers at the summit, including 13 species of orchid.

We descend to Lucerne for a free afternoon. Dining independently, you can return to Weggis by boat at your leisure. Overnight Weggis.

• Breakfast

Another vacation highlight awaits after breakfast as we embark on a unique journey on the Gotthard Panorama Express, a hidden gem among Switzerland's alpine trains. First boarding a boat to the southern tip of Lake Lucerne, we can look for Rütli meadow and enjoy views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Our train awaits as we dock in Flüelen.

In First Class seats with large picture windows, we set off for a panoramic journey through the Alps with a front-row seat to spellbinding scenery. As we travel, a knowledgeable onboard guide provides information on the route and region. Along the route, keep an eye out for Wassen Church, which appears on different sides of the train as we weave around the village, and the famous Devil's Bridge. After journeying through the historic Gotthard Crest Tunnel, we reach the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.

Our destination is Lugano which, with its Mediterranean feel, is a marked contrast to the German-speaking area around Weggis. Here, we board a regional service to Milan, where we check in to our hotel before dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight Milan.

• Breakfast, Dinner

This morning, we head out on a guided tour of Milan, a city known for its ornate architecture, elegant squares and stylish shopping streets.

At the heart of the city is Piazza del Duomo, the city's focal point since the 14th century, home to the famed Teatro alla Scala and Italy's oldest shopping arcade, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. These beautiful buildings surround the Gothic cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world, crowned with intricate spires. We enjoy included entry to the Duomo, taking time to marvel at its towering columns, ornate stained-glass windows and detailed sculptures.

After the tour, your afternoon is free to continue exploring. You could visit the medieval Sforza Castle for views over the city, view Da Vinci's Last Supper (advance booking required), browse the boutiques in the Quadrilatero della Moda or find a pavement café to grab some lunch while soaking up Milan's atmosphere. This evening, we reconvene and walk to a local restaurant for our final dinner together. Overnight Milan.

• Breakfast, Dinner

This exploration of the beautiful Lake Lucerne region has revealed the awe-inspiring beauty of Switzerland's majestic mountains, serene lakes, and historic cities. From a scenic base in lakeside Weggis, we explored Lucerne's Old Town before summiting the 'Queen of the Mountains', Mt Rigi, on Europe's first mountain railway for panoramic views across the Alps. A free day brought an opportunity to explore central Switzerland on its renowned rail system and a trip on the world's only open-air double-decker cable car to the top of Mt Stanserhorn provided a unique travel experience. An iconic rail journey on the Gotthard Panoramic Express took us south to Italy, where we enjoyed a guided tour of the historic streets of Milan.

After breakfast this morning, your vacation comes to an end and you are at leisure to begin your journey home or continue exploring.

• Breakfast