National Trust for Historic Preservation - Grand Tour
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and to mark the arrival of a new millennium, we invite you on an extraordinary European adventure — an eight-part modern-day Grand Tour - of which you may choose one or more chapters.
When, in the 18th century, the English went off on an adventure to France and Italy, they were educating themselves and polishing their social skills while having fun collecting mementoes and prizes of their new-found sophistication. Today, our notion of what is worth seeing has expanded - other countries have been added to the list of those really worth visiting - and as the 20th century ends, the National Trust brings you this nostalgic and romantic notion of the Grand Tour while acknowledging our greater sophistication.
Begin with a transatlantic crossing on the last of the great ocean liners, the Queen Elizabeth 2, to England, the country that invented the Grand Tour; and continue to France, whose kings set new standards of splendor and elegance. The journey continues amidst the amiable riches of Central Europe; from Imperial Austria and its masterpieces to the wild extravagance of Ludwig’s Bavaria. The Grand Tour then moves to those repositories of Western civilization, the ever-fascinating cities of Rome and Venice, and to the Byzantine splendor of Constantinople. And, because there can be no more spectacular way to welcome the new millennium than in St. Petersburg, the Tsars’ capital, the Grand Tour comes to its conclusion in the vast magnificent palace built for the Empress Catherine — a woman for whom self-restraint had never been a goal!
Those travelers of old were not fortunate enough to be privy to the special lectures by our learned study leaders — Olivier Bernier, Grace Gary and Peter Lauritzen, traveling with us on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and in Europe, as well as Countess Marielore Calice — all experts in their fields. Superbly planned sightseeing excursions are included, with visits to private art collections, residences and palaces. And, from the epicurian excellence of meals on board the QE2 to dinner on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and a delightful picnic in the Bavarian countryside, we enjoy the various European cuisines at wonderful local restaurants, private homes and castles where we meet some of Europe’s nobility. Select your choice of accommodations on the QE2 and stay at some of the continent’s most luxurious hotels.
Join us on one, two or even all the chapters of this fascinating Grand Tour, and discover that when it comes to spectacular travel, we can do even better than the English grandees who lived two hundred years ago.
- Chapter I - THE QUEEN ELIZABETH 2: A Transatlantic Symposium - & the ORIENT EXPRESS & LONDON
- Chapter II - ROYAL PALACES & GRAND CASTLES: Paris & the Loire Valley
- Chapter III - LEGENDARY CITIES OF CENTRAL EUROPE: Berlin-Potsdam-Meissen-Dresden-Prague
- Chapter IIIa - Postlude/Prelude - COACHING IN BAVARIA: Munich & the Ludwig Castles
- Chapter IV - ELEGANT AUSTRIA: Salzburg & Vienna
- Chapter V - FROM THE CLASSICS TO NEO-CLASSICISM: Rome-Positano-Naples
- Chapter VI - BYZANTINE SPLENDOR: Venice & Constantinople - Including Ravenna & Padua
- Chapter VII - A GALA MILLENNIUM CELEBRATION IN ST. PETERSBURG
For more information or a detailed itinerary with reservation form, please contact Protravel International, 1-800-227-1059, ext. 455, (212) 409-9555.
