Harz Mountains & Rhine Gorge

We meet our Tour Manager and our fellow travellers at London St Pancras where we join the Eurostar to Brussels. Travelling in style in spacious Eurostar Plus we enjoy a light meal at our seats as we glide through northern France and into Belgium. On arrival in Brussels, we change trains and travel in First Class to Cologne, where we spend the night.

Arriving around mid-afternoon, the rest of your day is free to explore the historic city nestled beside the Rhine. Cologne's main attraction is its impressive Gothic cathedral with twin spires piercing the sky. Its historic squares are lined with charming buildings housing restaurants and bars. To enjoy a view of the city's skyline, you could join a riverboat cruise to see the sights from the Rhine River. This evening, we gather for our first dinner together at our central hotel.

• Eurostar Light Meal
• Dinner

Early this morning, we are transferred to the train station for a rail journey in First Class from Cologne to Hanover. Here we start our journey across to the Harz Mountains by coach. Our first stop is the scenic mountain town of Goslar, where there's free time to look around. With a history of over 1,000 years, Goslar was declared a World Cultural Heritage site due to its 1,500 half-timbered houses from different periods.

The Imperial Palace is one of the must-see buildings. Until 1988 the town was also an ore-mining centre and, at exactly 3pm each day, the clock in Goslar's Market Square chimes and wooden figures with a glockenspiel enact the story of the town's mining history. On the edge of town is the Rammelsberg mountain, a former UNESCO-protected mining site that now hosts an informative museum.

From Goslar we continue to charming Wernigerode, known since the 19th century as 'the colourful town of the Harz Mountains', and check in to our hotel for four nights. This evening, we have a welcome meeting before dinner at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, we travel by coach from Wernigerode to Alexisbad, where we board the Selketal Railway to Gernrode. This is the oldest narrow-gauge railway in the Harz Mountains, and we enjoy a nostalgic, steam-hauled journey past brooding mountains. Winding alongside the meandering River Selke, we enjoy views of verdant forests and gentle waterfalls.

On arrival, we continue by coach to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO World Heritage city with a peaceful Romanesque church and perfectly preserved houses with striking red roofs. With a free afternoon here, you could walk from the Old Town up the castle hill to the 10th-century Quedlinburg Castle, which has superb views over the Harz Mountains and enchanting forests all around. There is a small tourist train running through the town and the tourist office also offers guided tours. Later we return to Wernigerode by coach where you are free to dine independently this evening.

• Breakfast

A journey on Germany's highest narrow-gauge railway guides us deep into the forests of the beautiful Harz Mountains. On the Brocken Railway, we admire breathtaking views across a blanket of trees and the national park on our way to the summit on tracks that, at their steepest, climb at a gradient of 1 in 30.

We have free time at the top, and you could visit the Brocken House Museum. During the Cold War, Brocken was rife with espionage, and here you can learn about and see bugging devices used by East German authorities and take an interactive flight over the mountain.

Later, we return to our hotel where we have dinner this evening.

• Breakfast, Dinner

There is a full day at leisure ahead of you today. You could uncover the local sights, such as Wernigerode's beautiful castle which can be reached by a quaint motorised train. Starting in the town centre, this tourist train departs every 30 minutes and travels up to the castle where there is also a restaurant. As you can hop on and off at various points, you might like to combine this with a city tour or a visit to the wildlife park.

In the town's main cobbled square, you'll find the 16th-century town hall with its attractive half-timbered façade, surrounded by colourful townhouses. Another option is to take a ride on the Harz Narrow-Gauge Railway, the longest in the country, or visit the Museum für Luftfahrt und Technik, a popular aviation museum housing about 45 aircraft and more than 1,000 aerospace-related exhibits.

Dining independently tonight, you could book a rail-themed dinner at Restaurant 1835 inside the nearby Hotel Altora, which is popular with our customers and is recommended by our Tour Managers.

• Breakfast

We bid farewell to the Harz Mountains this morning and set out on our journey to the beautiful Rhine Valley and our hotel in Assmannshausen. Starting with a coach transfer to Hildesheim, we continue by rail to Frankfurt in First Class, passing the rolling hills and dense forests of central Germany.

From the city of Frankfurt and its gleaming financial towers, we continue by local train to Assmannshausen, a picture-postcard village nestled beside the Rhine, arriving in the afternoon. The attractive lanes appear almost wedged between surrounding hills covered in ancient, terraced vineyards. It is on one of these idyllic streets that we find our traditional, family-run hotel and check in for a three-night stay. Originally a 15th-century wine tavern, this characterful half-timbered hotel is in the centre of the village, looking out across the vine-laden hills. This evening, we enjoy dinner at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

With a full free day, today provides the opportunity to explore Assmannshausen or the surrounding area at leisure. The medieval village centre is remarkably well-preserved, crammed with picturesque timber-framed houses and narrow crooked streets.

Another popular option is to hop on a cable car high above the vineyards to Niederwald for great views of the Rhine and surrounding areas. From here, you can continue to Rüdesheim, renowned for its excellent viticulture. Here, you could stroll along the Drosselgasse, a cobbled street with quaint shops and wine bars or visit Siegfried's Mechanical Music Museum to see and hear one of the world's largest collections of self-playing instruments.

Alternatively, visit one of the nearby wine estates for a tasting of some of Germany's most popular red wines. Dining independently this evening, you could experience a taste of the region by sampling sauerbraten - a national dish of roast beef marinated and cooked in red wine.

• Breakfast

After breakfast, we are taken by coach to the riverside town of Boppard where we have time to look around before a relaxing Rhine cruise. This scenic route takes us past medieval villages, fortresses and castles to St Goar, a riverside town overlooked by the 13th-century Rheinfels Castle. On arrival, you are free to explore and maybe stop for lunch in a café or traditional restaurant.

In the early afternoon, we return by boat to Assmannshausen, sailing through the most celebrated section of the UNESCO-listed Rhine Gorge. The riverbanks deepen here and are surrounded by dense forests and endless vineyards. This captivating cruise provides the opportunity to gaze up at the mythical Lorelei Rock. A cliff face which has inspired folklore, the rock was once believed to be home to a beautiful nymph who would lure sailors with her heavenly voice.

This evening, we enjoy our final dinner together at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Leaving Assmannshausen this morning, we transfer to Cologne by coach where we take our train seats in First Class for our journey to Brussels. From the Belgian capital, we travel in spacious Plus class on the Eurostar back to London, enjoying a light meal at our seats.

With time to reflect on the highlights of our holiday, look back at the delights of the Harz Mountains and Rhine Gorge. The charming towns of Goslar, Wernigerode and Quedlinburg boasted pretty, half-timbered houses gathering around historic squares, while the beautiful heritage railways of the region transported us to the summit of Brocken Mountain and through the picturesque Selke Valley. An enchanting cruise along the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Rhine Gorge revealed breathtaking views while the riverbank towns of Assmannshausen and St Goar exhibited traditional German architecture and warm hospitality.

• Breakfast
• Eurostar Light Meal