Day 0b.3. An Alpine Adventure: The People on the Tour …. Albatross Tours to Europe

______________________________________________________________________________

NOTE: If you would like  to see the text in a larger or smaller size, follow this procedure:

If you are right-handed,  hold the control button (Ctrl) down with  your left  hand  on your  keyboard and  roll your  mouse  forward or backwards to get the text to greatly increase in size or greatly reduce in size to get to a suitable reading size for  you. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Note: I would like  to share with  you  through  these few words, photographs and hyperlinked websites, a 3 Dimensional  experience as though you were  actually there with  us. Click on any photograph and it should enlarge to a different size ….. at least half screen or size full screen. It will be clearer in detail than the photo on the post. It will be as if you were  really there looking at the actual  scene. You are an arm chair traveller with us.

___________________________________________________________________________

Albatross Tours: Discover a better way to explore Europe with our Escorted Tours

From the website: Every Albatross Tours itinerary is designed with care by our expert guides. Each day, experience, hotel and town is specifically selected to create the ideal, comprehensive European tour for you. When you journey with Albatross, you won’t just see your chosen destinations – you’ll live them.

What makes our tours stand out?
  • Leisurely 2, 3, 4 and even 7 night stops
  • Personal group sizes from 10 to 40
  • Genuinely inclusive, with no additional ‘on tour’ optional extras
  • Tours designed for Australians and New Zealanders
  • Stay in character hotels in superb locations
  • See more and experience more of Europe

Overall we spent two weeks going through Switzerland  and one week in upper Italy at Lake Garda. We went from Zurich in Switzerland  to Milan in upper Italy over 17 days. We went from the  1st September  to the 17th September  2018.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our tour of 26 people was driven by a wonderful bus driver Michel for three weeks and led by a wonderful tour manager Reinhard. He was Austrian by culture and knew the areas so well …. overall and in the detail. He was excellent with people and even observed that I was three quarters of the way through a book I was reading.

It was wonderful as our tour of 26 people really cared for each other on an individual basis. We all travelled on this big bus with padded leather seats ….. see a photograph of the bus below.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

OUR OVERALL TRIP:

It is our (Ken & Harriet Aitken) 18th trip around the world  which includes big portions of Australia. See:  Ken and Harriet’s Travel posts from 2003 to 2017.

  • Zurich …. 1 night  =  day 1
  • The French Alps  …. days 2, 3, 4
  1. Stay three nights in Chamonix under the shadow of  the Mont Balanc massif
  2. Explore  the Swiss city of Geneva and see the Jet d’Eau  fountain
  3. Experience two incredible  mountain rides  – a cable car to the top of the stunning Aiguille du Midi (3,842 metres high !) & the famous ‘Little Red Train’up to Montenvers station
  4. Visit the exclusive,  chic sky resort town of Megeve
  5. Enjoy a guided tour of the delightful lakeside town of Annecy
  • The Bernese Oberland …. days 5, 6, 7 in a superb spa hotel in Grindelwald 
  1. Drive over  the spectacular Forclaz Pass
  2. Enjoy a guided tour of Byron’s de Chillon in Montreux
  3. Explore hilltop Gruyeres, one of the great sights of Europe
  4. Relax in Grindelwald with a day at leisure to explore the spectacular Jungfrau Mountain  region
  5. Visit the lovely lakeside Luzern
  6. Wander the medieval cobbled stone streets of of Bern
  • Zermatt  …. days 8 & 9
  • Stay 2 nights in the stunning village of Zermatt with of the mighty Matterhorn
  •  Visit  Lauterbrunnen in the magnificent ‘Valley of the Waterfalls’
  • See the thundering Trummelbach Falls  inside a mountainside
  • Experience the spectacular scenery of ‘Le Valais‘
  • Enjoy a day to explore the chic mountain resort of Zermatt and surrounding areas
  • Klosters …. days 10 & 11
  1. Stay two nights in a chalet style hotel in the mountain resort of  Klosters
  2. Ride in panoramic carriages on the amazing Glacier Express, passing over chasms  and through the mighty Alps
  3. Explore Chur, Switzerland’s oldest village
  • Lake Garda …. days 12, 13, 14 & 15
      1. Stay two nights beside stunning Lake Garda
      2. Enjoy lunchtime in centuries old Bolzano
      3. Spend a day at leisure exploring  the lakeside port and villages of  Lake Garda
      4. Enjoyed a guided tour of  Romeo and Juliet’s Verona
      5. Enjoy an early morning visit to historic Salo
      6. Enjoy a wine tasting and lunch at the Redaeli de Zinis wine estate
      7.  
      8. Milan …. days 16 & 17 
      1. Spend your final night stylish Milan
      2. Discover Milan  on a guided tour
      3. Enjoy  a farewell dinner in a local restaurant

____________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________

Groups of People:

_______________________________________________________________________________________