Classic Lake Lucerne & Gotthard Express

Your holiday begins by meeting the Tour Manager at London St Pancras, ready to board the Eurostar to Paris. Travelling in Plus class, we enjoy a light meal at our seats on the way to the French capital, where we change trains and continue by First Class rail to Basel.

On arrival in this Swiss city, near the borders of France and Germany, we check in to our 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.

• Eurostar Light Meal, 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 amazingly preserved Old Town. Our tour takes in the highlights of Lucerne, 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 palpable sense of history and culture.

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

• Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, we walk to the pier and board a boat along the shore to the next town, Vitznau, enjoying views of forest-covered 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'. This charming cogwheel railway has been operating since 1871 and offers beautiful views across to Mt Pilatus. There's free time at Rigi's summit to admire the panoramic vistas 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 could 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 quick boat ride to Lucerne to explore Switzerland's 'City of Light' further. However you spend the afternoon, we reconvene at the hotel this evening for dinner at our hotel.

• 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 de facto 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 savour an authentic taste of Switzerland such as fondues, raclettes and röstis.

• Breakfast

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

Departing Lucerne, our train heads west through lush landscapes of forest and flower-speckled meadows, passing the azure waters of lakes Lungern and Sarnen. Continuing through the scenic Brünig Pass, we reach the peak of the line at 3,307 feet, with incredible views of the Bernese Alps and cascading waterfalls, including the imposing Giessbach, plunging over 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.

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

• Breakfast

A highlight of the holiday awaits today as we take a trip up stunning Mt Stanserhorn, taking a train from Lucerne to Stans to board a historic wooden funicular, dating to 1893, to Kalti. We continue on a truly unique cableway, the world's only open-top double-decker cable car, offering 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 these 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.

• Breakfast

Another holiday 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 sprawling views of Lake Lucerne and the 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, watch 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.

• Breakfast, Dinner

This morning, we head out on a guided tour of Milan, a city of ornate architecture and elegant squares, with luxury boutiques lining the attractive avenues.

The Piazza del Duomo has been the heartbeat of Milan since the 14th century, boasting the famed Teatro alla Scala, dating from 1778, and Italy's oldest shopping arcade, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. These beautiful buildings gather round the Gothic cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world, boasting a plethora of eye-catching spires. We enjoy included entry to the Duomo - marvel at the endless intricacies of its interior, with 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 luxury 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.

• 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 immersive 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.

With an early start today, we head to Milan train station to begin our journey home, travelling by First Class rail to Paris, from where we connect to the Eurostar service. As we head back to the UK, we are served a light meal in our Plus class seats before arriving at London St Pancras, where your holiday comes to an end.

• Breakfast, Eurostar Light Meal