Our Trip to Come!

The tourers are none other than Sorelle, Esther, Krista and Sarah - all of whom you will have run into earlier in this site (unless of course this is the first page you've been to which I'm going to gamble is unlikely!)
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We start in merry old England, London to be precise, on the 30th December 2001 at the lovely hour of 6am. We hope to travel around with underground maps in hand and see all, well lots at least of this famous city that only one of us has ever seen before.So after spending a hopefully bleary eyed new year somewhere in that vast city, we begin our tour.
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Contiki

We are travelling from the 3rd January with tour company Contiki, on their European Encounter tour. For 16 days we'll be at their mercy as they transport us around western Europe on their well labelled contiki bus.
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We begin, as can be seen, in London and from here on in I'll use the official contiki itinery - so forgive me if it sounds corny!

London to Amsterdam. Meet your Contiki crew as we drive to the White Cliffs of Dover for our cross-Channel ferry to France. Then through Belgium to Holland and its capital, Amsterdam for the evening.

Amsterdam Sightseeing. Visit the cheese village of Edam, a cheese farm and see clogs being made. Shop for diamonds and take a bicycle tour of the Dutch countryside. Tonight why not get together for a local meal?

Amsterdam to the Rhine Valley. Leaving Holland we enter Germany and head for the Rhine Valley. We travel past Cologne, seeing the barges and boats on the waterways. At St Goar we take a Rhine river cruise past vineyards, castles and the infamous Lorelei rock.
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Rhine Valley to Lucerne. Today we head for the Alps and lakeside Lucerne. Don’t miss an opportunity to take a cable car or cog railway to the summit of Mount Pilatus and enjoy the fabulous views.

Lucerne Sightseeing at Leisure. Enjoy an orientation tour of the beautiful city of Lucerne. An opportunity to see the Lion Monument, cross the Chapel Bridge, spend time wandering through the narrow cobbled streets shopping for watches and Swiss chocolate.

Lucerne to Innsbruck. Now to Austria via Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. Perhaps take the opportunity to try white water rafting before arriving in Innsbruck to see the Golden Roof and take a scenic drive to view the Olympic ski jump.
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Venice to Rome. Southwards as we pass Bologna, climb through the Appennine Mountains, passing medieval hillside villages and on to the fabled Seven Hills of the Eternal City, Rome. Tonight a walking tour of this ancient city includes the Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain the Pantheon and Piazza Venezia.
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Rome to Florence. We drive to Florence where our local expert guide takes us on a walking tour of the Duomo, Giotto’s Belltower, Piazza della Signoria and the Basilica of Santa Croce. Enjoy a demonstration of Florentine leathercraft. Tonight join the locals in a restaurant or club.
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Nice Sightseeing at Leisure. Rub shoulders with the jet-set on the promenade at Nice. A chance to relax, swim or shop for French fashion – the choice is yours!

Nice to Lyon. Visit a French perfumery before our drive to see the Palace of the Popes in the Papal city of Avignon. Then north along the Rhône Valley to Lyon.
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Paris to London. Going north we first visit the Canadian War Memorial situated near the Valley of the Somme. From here to Calais and our cross channel ferry to Dover to arrive in London early evening.
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