European Explorer: Spain, France & Italy Itinerary

Madrid doesn’t really feel like a capital city. In its pedestrianized heart, you hear chatter from al fresco cafe terraces. All around its plazas you smell coffee and cooking, not exhaust fumes. Even though evenings can be lively, it’s not a city that never sleeps, more of a city that enjoys itself, and later sneaks off to bed at midnight. Of all the destinations on this vacation, Madrid is the most relaxed. Meet a guide at the airport, transfer to a central hotel, and take some time to rest and refresh. The guide takes you on a two-hour walking tour of Central Madrid, adjusting you to a European rhythm. Soak up the atmosphere and get your bearings, then the guide can suggest many potential places for a relaxed dinner.

After a leisurely breakfast, you join the guide on a trip to Toledo, a medieval city of towering spires and hilly cobbled streets. The artist El Greco is a lens from which to explore, his most majestic works found inside this old World Heritage city where he is laid to rest. Hop between the churches, admiring the fabulous mosaics and gold within. Stop for coffee on a plaza that’s half in a cathedral’s shadow. Witness how Christian, Jewish, and Islamic heritage has always lived side by side. Then return to Madrid and get yourself ready for an evening tapas tour. Hopping between small bars, you taste delicacies from all across Spain – like an octopus from Galicia and paella from Valencia – each dish a perfect size to try and share.

Whizzing to Barcelona on the train, you realize the isolation that Madrid enjoys, the capital city surrounded by ochre landscapes of farmland and desert shrub. You’re soon on the coast, touring the Catalan capital with a local guide, using Antoni Gaudi as the focal point. First see the cathedral, La Sagrada Familia still unfinished after a century of construction. Then discover flamboyant townhouses in an upmarket neighborhood. Now move across the city to Park Guell, where mosaic serpents juxtapose with twisted trees and city serenity. The sunset is wonderful from here as you look down on Barcelona and across to the Mediterranean. That evening experience new flavors, Catalan coastal cuisine that is quite different from what you will have tried in Madrid.

Choir song rings out through an arresting monastery, just like it has done for centuries. It gives praise to the Virgin of Montserrat and provides harmonic tranquility to a busy tour. From this World Heritage monastery, you ascend the mountain by cable car for views across Catalonia and beyond. It’s amazing how wild this place feels, barely 30 miles from Barcelona. Back by the coast in the afternoon, you have some free time to discover Barcelona. Visit the art museums, head to the beach, or walk the famous Rambla. In Barrio Gothic, you find Roman history turned to boutique shops, while at Montjuic you find a castle that looks down on the entire city. As with all nights on this tour, the choice of restaurants is superlative.

Fly to Paris this morning, and immerse yourself in local neighborhoods. The Eiffel Tower can wait. First, you must get a sense of the smells and sounds. You must taste the history and wander past street musicians. This is where Paris’ charm is most apparent, inside the neighborhoods that haven’t changed for centuries. With a local guide, you first hit Saint Germain, a place along the river where macarons were born, and you taste chocolate with a chocolatier. Ile de la Cite is like a living museum on an island in the river, flanked by Notre-Dame Cathedral and Sainte Chapelle. Out on the hills of Montmartre, you follow the story of Van Gogh and the Impressionists. When you hit the bed this evening, you’ll have a wonderful impression of what makes Paris tick.

Coffee on a terrace as church bells chime in the distance. That’s a morning experience in Paris. One that’s followed by the train to Versailles and one of the grandest palaces ever built. Step behind the red rope on a behind-the-scenes tour that explores various royal apartments and rooms. Priceless art hangs from the corridors, ostentatious tastes are visible all around, and the palace’s gardens help bring you down from the glitz and glamor. Back in Paris, you enjoy a tutored French culinary experience. Pair wines with cheeses and meats from across the country, exploring regional specialties that continue to be kept secret. There are so many delicacies to try and each has its own historical story.

This free day in Paris is left to your own imagination. In a city with so many iconic sights, it’s impossible to completely prescribe where to go. For some, it’s the Eiffel Tower and shopping on the Champs-Elysee. For others, it’s the art in the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay. Those who like to wander can walk the River Seine, stopping off at cafes and bridges. Those who want to rest will find many beautiful places to relax. While this is a city with countless postcards, it’s also one of simple pleasures. A free day in Paris means exploring without a map or a plan, stopping to admire anything that is stumbled upon.

Fly to Venice, and within an hour of landing, you’re on the canals with a gondolier pushing you towards a boutique hotel on the water. This is a city with two sides and today is packed with sights, although journeys on the water always provide tranquility to the day. In the afternoon, you go sailing, wind power taking you to the Venetian islands of Burano, Torcello, and Murano. There are fishermen’s houses, famous colored glass, a cathedral of mosaics, and you have lunch overlooking the water. This evening you discover Venice on a private gondola, city lights slowly turning on as you cruise slowly down the canals. It’s from the water that Venice really comes alive and dusk is the most romantic time to be exploring.

Admire rural landscapes on the train to Florence, colors flowing past the window before the train rumbles into a city of countless domes. Florence is where you find Michelangelo’s David, gazing towards Rome. It’s where you find superb works by Raphael and others. It’s the city of the Renaissance, a city that forever influenced the rest of Europe. Meet a local guide and get to know Florentine secrets, a city walking tour revealing piazzas and palazzos, proud monuments, and precious artistic flourishes. This is a city that has feelings and when dusk arrives the locals head out on their evening walk. It’s a wonderful time of day to sit back and watch Italy unfold, or to join a slow amble through 16th-century streets.

Tuscany extends before your eyes, villages clinging to hilltops as vineyards tumble across the hills. Is there a more beautiful setting anywhere in Europe? One of those hilltop establishments is Pisa, a medieval city with a leaning tower as a compass point. Visit before the tour bus crowds and get to know the real Pisa, then escape to the Chianti vineyards for lunch and an afternoon of wine tasting. Back in Florence, the evening is free, time for drifting off beneath the church domes, and continuing your immersion in a city that is mostly unchanged by tourism.

Now Rome, the oldest of Europe’s major cities, and some would say the grandest of them all. Most of Central Rome was built before vehicles, so you have a large pedestrianized area to explore at your leisure. There is the Colosseum, there is the Trevi Fountain, there are the Spanish Steps and it seems everywhere you turn there’s a place from travel dreams. The ancient part of Rome is easy to get around so this day is left free, giving you a chance to make your own impressions and ideas on the past. Into the evening and you might consider Trastevere, a cobbled neighborhood with some fantastic local restaurants. To get back to the hotel you can travel by horse and carriage, a time-honored journey.

St Peter’s Square beckons, so many columns rising around you as the heart of the Catholic church looks down. Travel inside the Vatican City and its riches are revealed, a private tour taking you past the queues and beyond the ropes. Welcome to a world of priceless art, where Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is just the start of the treasures. Explore Raphael’s rooms, find superlative sculptures, listen to how the bells ring, and sense the importance of where you are. Returning to the heart of Rome you have another leisurely evening in Italy. By now you’ll be tuned into the rhythm of the urban outdoors, where life is lived on alfresco terraces and historic lanes.

For this final day in Italy, you go in search of where so much began, a local historian leading your private tour through the heart of the empire. Visit the Colosseum and see how it has changed over the centuries. Travel to the coast and an old city in an evocative state of ruin. Go in search of demigods, who stand statuesque and link Rome to Athens. Go beyond the postcards and dispel the myths. Come to appreciate how the ground you walk on has given so much to the rest of the world. When you rest, enjoy espresso, pizza, perhaps a limoncello. As you dine on a piazza, you reflect on where you have been and the wonders you have encountered over these two weeks.

It’s a leisurely start today before a private airport transfer and your outbound flight.