Just Back From ...

Touring Europe with Globus

By Andrea Chiaverano

I have just finished a wonderful Globus Tour of Europe flying Emirates and have had a fantastic experience. Emirates is a great airline to fly with and I would recommend to anyone! The staff are friendly and helpful and do all they can to make your trip as comfortable as possible.

We flew into London and spent the afternoon on an open top red bus sightseeing tour which was very "touristy" and great fun. The tour is about 3 hrs long and takes you around all the major sites of London but also offers you a commentary with some interesting facts of not so popular tourist sites, streets and landmarks that you would otherwise never know about that were really interesting. Just a tip – if you do this in the afternoon take warm clothes as the temperature drops once the sun goes down and it can get extremely cold and windy!

The following day we took the Eurostar train to Brussels. The train was excellent and an enjoyable and relaxing experience; a much better option for any traveller crossing the English channel – no long queues at airports and no sea sickness on the ferry – just a pleasant, reliable and fast option across the channel.

We then started the main part of our tour and drove to Volendam near Amsterdam. Volendam is a quaint fishing village with shops and local dining which we all enjoyed. We then continued to Amsterdam and went on a canal trip through the city with a local guide which was a fantastic way to see how the locals live in such a beautiful and interesting city where there are more bicycles than people!

From Amsterdam we drove through Germany and visited a gothic cathedral in Cologne and also went aboard a boat on a Rhine River Cruise. The afternoon cruise was relaxing and we were able to see the beautiful scenery along the river, from vineyards to historic ruins and beautiful country houses.

The following day we travelled through the Black Forest and stopped at an original German Cuckoo Clock shop. It was great to be able to stop in a picturesque place like this and do some shopping as well as meet some of the local personalities of the village.

We then traveled to Lucerne; a picture book city where the mountains and the pristine lake surround you. One of the highlights of this tour was Mt Pilatus. Here we were lucky enough to experience the first snow of the season at the top of the mountain! I have never been in the snow before so this was a wonderful experience and some of our group even managed to have a snow-ball fight! We also enjoyed a lake tour of the city on a boat amongst the picturesque surroundings.

We then travelled to our final destination – Paris. If you only ever visit one city in Europe, then this is the one to see! Paris is not only beautiful because of its famous landmarks but also for its stunning old buildings that surround you and its quaint and interesting little side streets with boutiques for interesting shopping and browsing. The buildings are all kept in perfect condition as they are cleaned regularly as well as the streets and you can’t help feeling the romantic aspects of this city with its beautiful bridges that cross the river Seine and the cobble stoned streets around you.

A visit to the Louvre Museum is a must and Globus does this with local guides that show you the most famous paintings and sculptures of the museum, and also explain the history of the building itself.

Overall this was a fantastic trip and experience and I would recommend Globus to anyone who wants first class service on a tour staying at four star hotels and excellent experienced guides that know many interesting facts of all the cities you travel to and the latest coaches to make the travelling a comfortable experience as well.