Harz Mountains & Rhine Gorge

Your holiday begins as you meet the Tour Manager and your fellow travellers at London St Pancras, where we join the Eurostar to Brussels. Travelling in spacious Plus class, we enjoy a light meal at our seats as we glide through northern France and into Belgium. On arrival, we change trains and travel in First Class to Cologne for an overnight stay.

After checking in to our central hotel, you have the rest of the day to explore this historic city. In a prime position on the Rhine, Cologne is a charming cultural and economic hub, famous for the immense Gothic cathedral, reconstructed Old Town and beautiful river views. For a romantic introduction to the city, you might like to join a riverboat cruise along the Rhine, admiring the skyline from a different perspective.

In the evening, we gather for our first dinner together at our hotel.

• Eurostar Light Meal
• Dinner

Early this morning, we transfer to the station for a rail journey in First Class from Cologne to Hanover, where we begin our journey across the Harz Mountains by coach. Our first stop is the scenic mountain town of Goslar, an extraordinary UNESCO-listed town with 1,000 years of history and 1,500 picturesque half-timbered houses.

As you wander the charming streets, look out for the Imperial Palace, one of the town's must-see buildings. Until 1988, Goslar 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 reenact the story of the town's mining history. On the edge of town is the Rammelsberg mountain, a UNESCO-protected former mining site that now hosts 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 in to our hotel for four nights. This evening, we enjoy dinner at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, we travel by coach from Wernigerode to Alexisbad, where we board the Selketal Railway to Gernrode. Riding the oldest narrow-gauge railway in the Harz Mountains, we enjoy a nostalgic steam-hauled journey past brooding peaks. Winding alongside the meandering River Selke, we enjoy views of verdant forests and gentle waterfalls.

On arrival, we continue by coach to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO World Heritage city with a peaceful Romanesque church and perfectly preserved houses with striking red roofs. With a free afternoon here, you could walk from the Old Town up the castle hill to the 10th-century Quedlinburg Castle, which has superb views over the Harz Mountains and enchanting forests all around. For a guided tour, you could hop aboard the small tourist train or check with the tourist office.

In the evening, we return to Wernigerode by coach. You're welcome to dine independently, choosing from the town's restaurants and bars.

• Breakfast

After breakfast, we join Germany's highest narrow-gauge railway for a journey deep into the forests of the beautiful Harz Mountains. On the Brocken Railway, we admire breathtaking views across a blanket of trees and the national park on our way to the summit.

With free time at the top, you could visit the Brocken House Museum. During the Cold War, Brocken was rife with espionage, and here you can learn about and see bugging devices used by East German authorities and take an interactive flight over the mountain.

After our time in Brocken, we board the railway for our return journey, enjoying the same scenic views from a different perspective. Back in Wernigerode, we enjoy dinner together at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Today, you're welcome to explore Wernigerode independently. You might like to visit the town's beautiful castle, 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 you can also find a restaurant. As you can hop on and off at various points, you might like to combine this with a city tour or a visit to the wildlife park.

In the town's main cobbled square, you'll find 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.

Dining independently tonight, you could 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 the beautiful Rhine Valley and our hotel in Assmannshausen. Starting with a coach transfer to Hildesheim, we continue by rail to Frankfurt in First Class, passing the rolling hills and dense forests of central Germany.

From the city of Frankfurt and its gleaming financial towers, we continue by local train to Assmannshausen, a picture-postcard village nestled beside the Rhine. Arriving in the late afternoon, we make our way to our traditional, family-run hotel along the attractive lanes, which appear wedged between the surrounding hills covered in ancient, terraced vineyards.

At our hotel, we're welcomed with a glass of local wine and hear about the history of our hotel, the wine region and the family. Originally a 15th-century wine tavern, this characterful half-timbered hotel is in the centre of the village, looking out across the vine-laden hills. In the evening, we enjoy dinner.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Today provides the opportunity to explore Assmannshausen or the surrounding area at leisure. The medieval village centre is remarkably well-preserved, crammed with picturesque timber-framed houses and narrow, crooked streets.

Another popular option is to hop on a cable car high above the vineyards to Niederwald for great views of the Rhine and surrounding areas. From here, you can continue to the renowned wine town of Rüdesheim, where you can stroll along Drosselgasse, a cobbled street with quaint shops and wine bars, or visit Siegfried's Mechanical Music Museum to see and hear one of the world's largest collections of self-playing instruments.

Alternatively, you might like to visit one of the nearby wine estates for a tasting of some of Germany's most popular red wines. Dining independently this evening, you could experience a taste of the region by sampling sauerbraten, a national dish of roast beef marinated and cooked in red wine.

• Breakfast

After breakfast, we board a coach to the riverside town of Boppard, where we have time to explore before a relaxing Rhine cruise. This scenic route takes us past medieval villages, fortresses and castles to St Goar, a riverside town overlooked by the 13th-century Rheinfels Castle. On arrival, you are free to explore 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 riverbanks deepen here and are surrounded by dense forests and endless vineyards. This captivating cruise provides the opportunity to gaze up at the mythical Lorelei Rock. A cliff face which has inspired folklore, the rock was once believed to be home to a beautiful nymph who would lure sailors with her heavenly voice.

In the evening, we enjoy our final dinner together at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

On this holiday, the charming towns of Goslar, Wernigerode and Quedlinburg boasted pretty, half-timbered houses gathering around historic squares, while the beautiful heritage railways of the region transported us to the summit of Brocken Mountain and through the picturesque Selke Valley. An enchanting cruise along the UNESCO-listed Rhine Gorge revealed breathtaking views, while the riverbank towns of Assmannshausen and St Goar exhibited traditional German architecture and warm hospitality.

Leaving Assmannshausen this morning, we transfer by coach to Cologne, where we take our seats in First Class for the journey to Brussels. From the Belgian capital, we travel in spacious Plus class on the Eurostar back to London, enjoying a light meal at our seats.

• Breakfast
• Eurostar Light Meal