Harz Mountains and Rhine Gorge

We meet our Tour Manager and the rest of our group of travellers at London St Pancras where we join the Eurostar to Brussels. Travelling in spacious Standard Premier Class we enjoy a light meal at our seats. On arrival in Brussels we change trains and travel in First Class to Cologne, where we spend a night. We arrive around mid-afternoon and the rest of your day is free to explore the historic riverside city of Cologne. The city's main attraction is its impressive cathedral with twin spires. You might like to join a riverboat cruise to see the sights from the Rhine River. This evening we dine together at our central hotel.

• Dinner

Early this morning we are transferred to the rail station for a first class rail journey from Cologne to Hanover, where we start our journey through the Harz Mountains by coach. Our first stop is the scenic mountain town of Goslar, where there's free time to look around. With a history of over 1,000 years, Goslar was declared a World Cultural Heritage site due its 1,500 half-timbered houses from different periods. The Imperial Palace is one of the must-see buildings. Until 1988 the town was also an ore mining centre and at exactly 3pm each day, the clock in Goslar's Market Square chimes and wooden figures with a glockenspiel enact the story of the town's mining history. On the edge of town is the Rammelsberg mountain, a former UNESCO-protected mining site that's now an informative museum.

From Goslar we continue to charming Wernigerode, known since the 19th century as 'the colourful town of the Harz Mountains', and check into our hotel for four nights. This evening we join a welcome meeting before dinner at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

After a leisurely breakfast we travel by coach from Wernigerode to Alexisbad, where we board the Selketal Railway to Gernrode. This is the oldest narrow gauge railway in the Harz mountains and we enjoy a nostalgic, steam-hauled journey, passing verdant forests and brooding mountains, following the course of the valley and the winding River Selke.

On arrival in the striking hillside town of Gernrode, we continue by coach to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO World Heritage city with a peaceful Romanesque church and perfectly preserved houses with red roofs. With a free afternoon here, you may like to walk from the Old Town up the castle hill to the 10th century Quedlinburg Castle, which has superb views over the Harz Mountains and the enchanting forests all around. There is a small tourist train running through the town and the tourist office also offers guided tours for this afternoon. We return to Wernigerode and dine at our hotel this evening.

• Breakfast, Dinner

We journey into the deep forests of the beautiful Harz Mountains today, with breathtaking views across a blanket of trees and the national park on the Brocken Railway. This remarkable route is the highest narrow-gauge railway in Germany, at its steepest incline the gradient is 1 in 30.

On board, we enjoy an exclusive experience in our carriage, celebrating with a welcome drink before the train steams towards Mount Brocken.

We have free time at the summit of Mount Brocken, where you could visit the Brocken House Museum. Brocken was once rife with espionage, and you can learn about and see GDR bugging devices, and also take an interactive flight over the mountain.

• Breakfast

Today you have a full day stretching out ahead of you to enjoy as you wish. You may like to visit the local sights, such as Wernigerode's beautiful castle, perched on a forested hill above the town which can be reached by a quaint motorised train. Starting in the town centre, this tourist train departs every 30 minutes and travels up to the castle where there is also a restaurant. You can hop on and off at various points, and may like to combine a visit to Castle Wernigerode with a city tour and a visit to the wildlife park.

In the town's main cobbled square you'll see the 16th-century town hall, with its attractive half-timbered façade, surrounded by colourful townhouses. Another option is to take a ride on the Harz Narrow-Gauge Railway, the longest in the country, or visit the Museum für Luftfahrt und Technik, a popular aviation museum housing about 45 aircraft and more than 1,000 aerospace-related exhibits.

As you're dining independently this evening, you may like to book a rail-themed dinner at Restaurant 1835 inside the nearby Hotel Altora, which is popular with our customers and is recommended by our Tour Managers.

• Breakfast

We bid farewell to the Harz Mountains this morning and set out on our journey to Assmannshausen in the Rhine Valley. This starts with a coach transfer to Hildesheim and continues by First Class Rail to Frankfurt. From this buzzing city, we continue by rail to Assmannshausen, a picture-postcard destination nestled among the vineyards of the Rhine Valley. We arrive in the afternoon and check into our traditional, family-run hotel for a three-night stay. Originally a 15th century wine tavern, this characterful half-timbered hotel is in the centre of the village, below a hillside of vineyards. This evening we dine at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast we are taken by coach to the riverside town of Boppard where we have time to look around before a relaxing Rhine cruise to St Goar. This scenic route takes us past medieval villages, fortresses and castles to St Goar, which is overlooked by the enchanting 13th Rheinfels Castle. On arrival, we are free to explore the town and maybe stop for lunch in a café or traditional restaurant.

In the early afternoon we return by boat to Assmannshausen, sailing through the most celebrated section of the UNESCO-listed Rhine Gorge. The river banks deepen here, and we are surrounded by dense forests and endless miles of green vineyards. During this passage we see the mythical Lorelei Rock, a beautiful site which has inspired folklore. The rock was once believed to be home to a beautiful nymph who would lure sailors with her heavenly voice.

This evening we enjoy dinner at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Today is our last day in the lovely Rhine Valley, and you are free to explore Assmannshausen or the surrounding area. The medieval village centre is remarkably well-preserved, crammed with timber-framed houses and crooked narrow streets.

A popular option for the day is to take a ride on the Niederwald cable car, which rises high above the vineyards. Or, you could visit one of the nearby wine estates, which produce some of Germany's most popular red wines, for a tasting. You could also take a chairlift or cable car gondola to charming Rüdesheim, a picture-book town, renowned for its excellent viticulture. Here, you could stroll along the cobbled street among quaint shops and wine bars, and maybe visit Siegfried's Mechanical Music Museum, to see and hear one of the world's largest collections of self-playing instruments, or take the town's cable car up over the vineyards for wonderful views of the region.

• Breakfast

Following breakfast this morning, we transfer to Cologne by coach where we take our First Class seats aboard the train to Brussels with time to reflect on the highlights of our holiday. From here, we travel in spacious Standard Premier Class on the Eurostar with a light meal served at our seats enroute to London St Pancras.

• Breakfast