Final-year school trip to the Rhine, Alsace and Switzerland: the Loreley, Strasbourg, Colmar, the Rhine Falls, Lucerne and Bern (8 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school, Koblenz and the Rhine valley

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time, and daytime drive to Germany (about 250 to 400 km depending on the departure point, i.e. 3.5 to 5 hours excluding breaks).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Arrival in Koblenz, lunch at your own expense and a walk to the Deutsches Eck, where the Rhine and the Moselle meet.
• Cable car ride over the Rhine to the Ehrenbreitstein fortress (on request).
• Check-in at the accommodation in the Romantic Rhine valley (Bacharach or St. Goar) for one night, dinner and a quiet evening.

Day 2: Cruise on the Romantic Rhine and drive to Strasbourg

• Rhine cruise from St. Goar to Bacharach, below the Loreley rock and the hilltop castles of the valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (on request).
• On by coach to Rüdesheim and lunch at your own expense in the Drosselgasse.
• Drive to Alsace (about 230 km, i.e. 3 hours excluding breaks).
• Check-in at the accommodation in or near Strasbourg for three nights, dinner and a quiet evening.

Day 3: Strasbourg, European capital

• Visit to Notre-Dame cathedral and its astronomical clock; climb to the viewing platform, 66 m high (on request).
• Walk through the Petite France, with its half-timbered houses and covered bridges.
• Lunch at your own expense, then a visit to the European Parliament, free of charge on reservation and depending on the session calendar.
• Boat trip on the Ill with Batorama (on request).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Riquewihr and Colmar

• Drive to Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle (about 1 hour) and a visit to this restored medieval fortress overlooking the Alsace plain (on request).
• Stop in Riquewihr, a wine village with ramparts and 16th-century houses.
• Lunch at your own expense in Colmar, then Little Venice, the Maison des Têtes and the Tanners’ quarter.
• Return to Strasbourg, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: The Rhine Falls and Lucerne

• Departure after breakfast and drive to Switzerland (about 210 km, i.e. 2.5 to 3 hours excluding breaks).
• Discovery of the Rhine Falls at Neuhausen, the most powerful in Europe, from the riverbanks.
• Boat trip to the rock in the middle of the falls (on request) and lunch at your own expense.
• Drive to Lucerne (about 1 hour 15 minutes) and check-in at the accommodation for two nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 6: Lucerne and Lake Lucerne

• Walk through the old town: the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), the Lion Monument and the towers of the Musegg wall.
• Lunch at your own expense by the lake.
• Excursion to Mount Pilatus by boat, cogwheel railway and cable car (on request), or a visit to the Swiss Museum of Transport (on request).
• Dinner and last supervised evening.

Day 7: Bern and drive to Freiburg im Breisgau

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and drive to Bern (about 1 hour 15 minutes).
• The old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: its arcades, the Zytglogge clock tower, the Federal Palace and the bear park by the Aare.
• Lunch at your own expense, then drive to Germany (about 210 km, i.e. 2.5 to 3 hours excluding breaks).
• Arrival in Freiburg im Breisgau and check-in for one night, dinner and an evening walk around the cathedral and the little canals (Bächle).

Day 8: Return to Belgium

• Departure after breakfast, around 8 am.
• Daytime drive to Belgium (about 500 to 650 km, i.e. 6.5 to 8 hours excluding breaks), with regular breaks.
• Lunch at your own expense on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.