Final-year school trip to Switzerland: Zurich, Lucerne, the Jungfrau, Bern and Geneva (7 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and arrival in Lucerne

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time, and daytime drive to Switzerland via Luxembourg, Alsace and Basel (about 650 km from Brussels, 7½ hours’ driving excluding stops), with two drivers on board.
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Lunch at your own expense on the way.
• Arrival in the late afternoon and check-in at the accommodation in or around Lucerne for two nights; dinner and quiet evening.

Day 2: The Rhine Falls and Zurich

• Drive to the Rhine Falls at Neuhausen, near Schaffhausen (about 1 hr 15 min), among the most powerful waterfalls in Europe.
• Boat trip to the rock standing in the middle of the falls (on request).
• Drive to Zurich (about 45 min), lunch at your own expense, then walk through the old town: the Bahnhofstrasse, the Grossmünster, the Fraumünster and its Chagall windows, the banks of the Limmat and the lake.
• Return to Lucerne (about 1 hr), dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Lucerne and on to Interlaken

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and walk through Lucerne’s old town: the Chapel Bridge, the squares with painted façades and the Lion Monument.
• Cruise on Lake Lucerne, between mountains and lakeside villages.
• Lunch at your own expense, then drive to Interlaken over the Brünig Pass (about 1 hr 15 min), with a stop on the shore of Lake Brienz.
• Check-in at the accommodation in or around Interlaken for two nights; dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Lauterbrunnen, the Jungfrau and Grindelwald

• Drive to Lauterbrunnen (about 20 min), the valley of dozens of waterfalls, and stop at the Staubbach Falls.
• Cogwheel train up to the Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest railway station (3,454 m), facing the Aletsch Glacier (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then supervised free time in Grindelwald, at the foot of the Eiger North Face.
• Return to Interlaken, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: Bern, Gruyères and Lake Geneva

• Rooms vacated and drive to Bern (about 1 hr): the UNESCO-listed arcaded old town, the clock tower (Zytglogge) and the Federal Palace seen from outside.
• Drive to Gruyères (about 1 hr), lunch at your own expense and walk through the medieval hilltop village below its castle.
• Visit to La Maison du Gruyère, a demonstration cheese dairy (on request).
• Drive to Lake Geneva (about 1 hr) and check-in at the accommodation in or around Lausanne for two nights; dinner and supervised evening.

Day 6: Lausanne and Geneva

• Morning in Lausanne: the Gothic cathedral and the steep old town, then the Ouchy waterfront on the lake.
• Visit to the Olympic Museum (on request).
• Drive to Geneva (about 45 min), lunch at your own expense, then walk: the Jet d’Eau, the English Garden and its flower clock, the old town and the Reformation Wall.
• Return to Lausanne (about 45 min), dinner and last supervised evening.

Day 7: Return to your school

• Rooms vacated after breakfast, luggage loaded into the coach.
• Departure early in the morning and daytime drive to Belgium via Basel and Luxembourg (about 800 km to Brussels, 9½ hours’ driving excluding stops), with two drivers on board.
• Lunch at your own expense on the way and regular stops.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.