European World Travel offers an 11-day Rome, Paris and London luxury tour package from Monograms, a division of Globus Travel. The itinerary balances independent time with guided tours of classic tourist attractions: the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum and the Vatican Museum in Rome; the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower in Paris; Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace in London. In addition to planned sightseeing, there are shopping discounts, afternoons to explore the cities on your own, meals in gourmet restaurants and first-class hotels.
Tours are scheduled in April, May, June, July, August, September and October in 2010, and rates are $2,393 to $2,573 per person, double occupancy.
European World Travel
3175 Waialae Ave., Apt. 302
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
808-732-5587
europeanworldtravel.com
Spend 11 days in Europe and take it all in on the Cosmos "Six Countries, Venice & Paris" tour. You'll sample the best of Western Europe, stopping in England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. In each stop you tour the city highlights and boat on the Rhine, the Thames or a Venice canal. Feed the pigeons---or not---in the Piazza San Marco; sigh over Juliet's balcony in Verona. Treat yourself to dinner in a Montmartre café or a singing gondolier on the Giudecca.
You can enjoy the tour guides and your introduction to each site and then create your own walking tour. Or you can check out the activity you've always wanted to experience from a menu of optional excursions. Stay at first-class or superior tourist accommodations throughout. Tours run year-round and begin at $1,379 (as of March 2010), double occupancy. The bel canto gondolier is 40 euros extra, plus a tip. Change $55 plus tip to euros at your Venice hotel.
Cosmos
5301 South Federal Circle
Littleton, CO 80123
800-276-1241
cosmos.com
Blue Marble Travel is a cycling adventure that offers week-long European trips for the whole family. In 2010, it has two "Family-Friendly" bike tours scheduled---one in the Austrian Alps ("Sound of Music," anyone?) and one in France's Loire Valley. For U.S. cyclists, the bikes and shipping are included in the vacation package. The day's cycle is planned, with longer, more challenging options for older kids and teens and a direct route and sag wagon for shorter legs and attention spans. There is downtime along the route for sightseeing and lots of meals in local restaurants. Start to finish, all accommodations are included, all breakfasts and most dinners, and any trip transport between cycling areas. Stuffed animals are always transported free. Discounts are available for traveling children, depending on age and whether they share a parent's room.
The Austria Alps trip begins at $2,095, double occupancy, with a child rate available. The Loire Valley tour starts at $1,875, with a child rate.
Blue Marble Travel/U.S. office
350 Ramapo Valley Road
Suite 18-131
Oakland, NJ 07436
210-465-2567
bluemarble.org/
