The concept of a European Grand Tour started in the late 17th century as a way for young English Aristocrats to further their studies and experience. It was considered a rite of passage. A grand tourist would spend months, even years, going from city to city, place to place in search of liberal education, usually on classical and Renaissance art. Starting from London, one would travel to Paris, cross the Alps into Italy, visiting cities like Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. This was the classic itinerary although later on, German speaking cities and the Low Countries were added to the trip, usually on the way back to England.
We can imagine in modern times, this type of travel would be easy to do because of the advancement of transportation since those days. With airplanes, we can zip through from one city to another in a matter of hours. While this kind of travel allows us to see many places in a short time, it reduces the romance of a European Grand Tour. I am a firm believer that traveling is not about the destination but it is about the journey and Europe is no different. It is not enough just to see the big sights but we have to experience the history and culture of Europe, just like the grand tourists of old used to do. By experiencing in addition to seeing, the memory of our travels will be more strongly embedded in our minds.
So what would enhance our experience in Europe? First we have to think not just about WHERE to go but HOW to go there. Flying from city to city is not only unromantic but also inefficient. Think about the check-in process and the security, which require you to be at the airport 2 hours before take-off. Considering that most airports are located out of town, you have to leave your hotel at least 3 hours before take-off. There has to be a better way to travel in Europe. Fortunately, we can turn to the classical mode of transport: the railway.
Thanks to the advancement of railway technology, Europe is smaller than ever, small enough to render flights almost obsolete. In some instances, taking the train is faster than flying. Take, as an example, London and Paris. With the Eurostar train, they're 2.5 hours apart. Flying between the two cities only takes 1 hour but you need to arrive at Heathrow/Gatwick or Charles de Gaulle airport 2 hours before flight time (compared to 30 minutes with the Eurostar). Also, the train stations are closer to the city center than the airports, which means overall, the train is faster than the plane.
The first grand tourists did not have access to the airplane, which means they traveled exclusively on the ground in continental Europe. Thanks to faster trains, we can easily retrace their routes without flying. For example: we can string together the following route by train: London-Paris-Alps-Milan-Florence-Rome-Venice-Innsbruck-Munich-Vienna-Prague-Berlin-Rhine-Amsterdam-Brussels-London. While we love to do this, the reality is most of us do not have 2 months of holiday to travel around Europe. We have to trim our itinerary to fit 2-3 weeks. The easiest itinerary to follow is the outward journey of the classical grand tour: London to Rome. If we limit ourselves to five cities, we can easily fill a two week vacation. If we have three weeks, we can either include two or three more cities or we can spend more days in our original five cities. So which five cities is in my version of the grand tour? Here they are:
London
We start in London, if only to feel that we're one of those aristocrats doing a grand tour when we head towards the continent. But London should be in anyone's list of places to visit. It has so many great attractions from royalty to museums to parks and of course, theatre. Watching a play or a musical in London is one of those quintessential European experience like hiking in the Alps or having pastry in a cafe in Paris. Theatre had been popular in England since the days of William Shakespeare and you can see the enthusiasm of Londoners when you attend a play. Even plays that have been staged for years still draw a full house.
London boasts world class attractions like the iconic Big Ben, Tower of London, British Museum and many others. Combined with a few day trips, you can easily spend the whole of a two-week vacation in London. Traveling around the city is easy with the Underground system, which covers virtually every tourist attraction. When you have enough, head to St. Pancras station for your next destination, and officially begins your Grand Tour.
Paris
Two and a half hours away, Paris is a major destination for the original grand tourists for good reason: it was the center for studying arts. Today, Paris boasts numerous world class art museums such as the Louvre, Orsay and Rodin museum. Like London, you can easily spend a week in Paris and not exhaust its list of attraction. Historically, Paris was the site of the French Revolution which turned the idea of nation upside down and its effect reverberated across Europe. The Palace of Versailles is an easy half-day trip from Paris and from its opulence, you can understand why the poor citizens of Paris decided to rise up against the Monarchy.
The Eiffel tower is one of Europe's great icons and not to be missed. Another Parisian thing that can't be missed is the food, especially pastry. The macarons of Paris are just a delight to the palate. Even the regular pastries are good. The pain au chocolat in Paris is so much better than pain au chocolat anywhere else. You can also splurge for a French fine dining dinner. After a few days in the city of light, it is time to head to the Alps
Zermatt
The Alps is a massive range of mountains which makes it the most flexible part of the route. The idea is you find a place between France and Italy where you can see an Alpine glacier. There are many places to choose like Lucerne, Bernese Oberland and Lake Geneve area but my pick for the ultimate Alpine experience is Zermatt and the Matterhorn.
First, Zermatt is a car free resort, which is unique on its own. Admittedly, there are many car free resorts in Switzerland like Wengen and Murren in the Bernese Oberland but what makes Zermatt even more unique is its position at the foot of the Matterhorn. It is the most iconic mountain in Europe and the best way to see it is by staying in Zermatt because fog often covers it later in the day. For outdoor enthusiasts, Zermatt offers plenty of hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.
The downside is it can take about 7 hours from Paris with twice changing trains (in Geneve/Lausanne and Visp) but it is not too bad if you take a lunch break in Geneve train station before continuing to Zermatt. Also in winter, it can be very crowded and expensive since it is one of the most famous ski resorts in Europe. In fact, many ski resorts are crowded during ski season so you may want to stay in another town and do an excursion to the mountain.
If you find 7 hours to long, you can always break the journey, such as staying 2 nights in Lucerne or Montreux before moving on to Zermatt. Or you can replace Zermatt by visiting a different glacier from another city that's closer to Paris such as Lucerne (visiting Mt. Titlis), Montreux (visiting Glacier 3000), Geneve (visiting Mont Blanc) or Interlaken (visiting Jungfraujoch).
Venice
Next, is Venice, which is about 6-7 hours train ride from Zermatt requiring at least one change in Brig or a second change in Milan. You can always take a lunch break in Milan or even see the city a little bit (Milan station has a luggage storage). With more time, you can always stay one or two nights in Milan before continuing to Venice.
Venice is on my grand tour list (and also on the list of many grand tourists back then) because it's a unique city, where the traffic is on water rather than road. It's a joy just to wander the alleyways and get lost in them. Unlike London, Paris and Rome, there is no specific sightseeing to do(except St. Mark's square). Just walk around and soak in the atmosphere. There are some art museums in town but you don't want to museum-out your travel here. I find two nights is plentiful although some people feel they need to stay at least four nights. While I find slow travel appealing, I'm not that big of an enthusiast. I prefer a good balance between slow and fast travel. After a couple of nights in Venice, it's time to head to the fifth and final destination of my grand tour.
Rome
Rome was the ultimate destination of the classical grand tour, although some went further south to check out Pompeii and Herculaneum. Like London and Paris, Rome is an amazing city that can fill one or two weeks with sights and museums. The difference between Rome and those other two is you don't really need to take public transport here because Rome is just a delight to walk around in. If you choose to stay near Piazza Navona, you can walk to every important tourist sites.
Rome's sightseeing can be grouped into four: Ancient Rome (the Colosseum and Roman Forum), Vatican City (St. Peter's and Vatican Museum), Centro Storico (Piazza Navona and Pantheon) and Modern Center (Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps). While you can visit Ancient Rome and Vatican City in one day (and many tour groups do), it's better to split them into two days (because they're massive) to not wear yourself out. The other two should be done on an evening walk known as Passegiata. A walk from Piazza Navona to the Spanish Steps is one of the most memorable Roman experiences.
How many nights in each city? At the very minimum, 3 nights in London, Paris and Rome and 2 nights in the Alps and Venice for a total of 13 nights, not counting travel days in and out of Europe. This gives you 2 full days each in the three big cities and 1 full day in Zermatt and Venice. Admittedly, this is not enough time to fully enjoy each place but the point of this type of tour is not to fully see a place but to travel through Europe following the route of the classical grand tour by train, stopping for a short time at a few interesting places and see the highlights of each. With less than 13 nights, you should consider doing a shorter vacation with 3 cities, such as London-Paris-Amsterdam and Venice-Florence-Rome.
If you have three weeks, it's even better. With 20 nights available, you can spend 4 nights in each place, boosting your European experience. or you can spend 5 nights in the 3 big cities and split the other 5 between the Alps and Venice. Here are some plans that work for me:
13 nights:
3 in London
3 in Paris
2 in Zermatt
2 in Venice
3 in Rome
20 nights (1):
4 in London
4 in Paris
4 in Zermatt
4 in Venice
4 in Rome
20 nights (2):
5 in London
5 in Paris
3 in Zermatt
2 in Venice
5 in Rome
Train rides:
London - Paris 2.5 hours (Eurostar)
Paris - Geneve 3 hours (TGV)
Geneve - Zermatt 3 hours 40 minutes via Visp (SBB)
Zermatt - Milan 4 hours via Brig (SBB/Eurocity)
Milan - Venice 2.5 hours (Frecciabianca)
Venice - Rome 3.75 hours (Frecciargento)
20 nights (3) - this shortens your average train journey by splitting up the long route (Paris-Zermatt and Zermatt-Venice):
4 in London
4 in Paris
2 in Montreux
2 in Zermatt
2 in Milan
2 in Venice
4 in Rome
Alternative route:
London-Paris-Geneve-Milan-Rome
This would be a good route for travelers with heavy suitcases but still want to do the grand tour by train. It eliminates changing train because all the train rides are direct and they're all less than four hours:
London - Paris 2.5 hours (Eurostar)
Paris - Geneve 3 hours (TGV)
Geneve - Milan 4 hours (Eurocity)
Milan - Rome 3.5 hours (Frecciarossa)
You can still visit the Alps from Geneve (Chamonix/Mont Blanc) and you can visit Venice from Milan on a day trip, although it's 2.5 hours each way. It's a good idea to combine it with a stopover in Verona (possible since there will be no carrying suitcases on the day trip). You'd be missing out on the experience of staying overnight in Zermatt and Venice but not having to carry your suitcases from one train to another might be appealing to some.
How to Book European Train Tickets
In general, point to point tickets are almost always better than the Eurail Pass. Most fast trains requires an extra reservation fee which defeats the purpose of the railpass: spontaneity. It's also much cheaper to buy tickets for fast trains months before departure date, and is usually much cheaper than a railpass when you total all the ticket prices.
The best website for European train travel is
Man in Seat 61 which provides every little detail about how to book train tickets in Europe.
For London - Paris:
Eurostar
For Paris - Switzerland:
SNCF (French Railway)
Choose Other countries (EUR) in the country list to avoid being redirected to its affiliate websites.
For within Switzerland and Switzerland - Italy:
SBB (Swiss Railway)
For trains within Italy:
Trenitalia (Italian Railway)
Italo (Private railway company in Italy)
