Recapping our 2025 Gourmet Tuscany, Lake Como & Lucerne Plus Romantic Rhine River Cruise! We had such a great time exploring Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Cooking Italian dishes in Tuscany, tasting local wines, relaxing by Lake Como, and taking in the mountain views in Lucerne made every day feel special. The Avalon Panorama cruise along the Rhine was the perfect finish with castles, cozy towns, and plenty of good laughs with great company.
Tour Managers: Steven and Naomi Lee
Travel Photo Gallery
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Landed in New York with a quick overnight stay at the TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport.
TWA Hotel
Landed in Motecatini, Italy and checked into the Hotel Settentrionale Espianade.
Aloha from the balcony!
Street bordering the hotel.
Hotel Settentrionale Espianade
Welcome dinner at the hotel on our first night in Montecatini.
Day 4: Visited the quaint village of Vinci, birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci
A sculpture rendition of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.
View from the panoramic tower in Vinci.
More views from the tower.
Focaccia baking class at Famiglia Desideri Laboratorio.
Enjoying some lunch after the class. Salami, ham, prosciutto, focaccia, cheese and wine.
Walking to the Ristorante Fattorio Il Poggio for dinner.
Our 24 year old tour guide (the daughter of the owner), Rebecca, showed us around the property along with Bruno, the family Burmese Mountain Dog. She said she plans to take over the business.
Al fresco dining at the beautiful Ristorante Fattorio Il Poggio.
Florence American Cemetery
Local shop in Greeve.
Greeve, Italy
Tasting the fine wine at Ambrogio E Giovanni Folonari.
The vineyard at Ambrogio E Giovanni Folonari.
Standing in front of the furnicular station.
Went up to Montecatini Alto via Griglia and returned back via Gigio. The oldest furnicular cars in the world!
Views from the furnicular.
Approaching the crossroads with another car coming our way.
Another view from the funicular.
Cooking lessons at Agriturismo La Piaggia. The sign reads "Welcome to my rose garden."
Gorgeous roses
Tour managers Naomi and Steven!
Agriturismo La Piaggia
Ernie & Cindy chopping up veggies for the soup.
We learned how to correctly pronounce pistachio, "pistaKIO" like Pinocchio.
Frontoiana Soup preparation of cut vegetables.
Paco holding the fnished Frontoiana Soup!
Next up, pasta!
Getting a tour of the grounds.
Time to eat!
Day 7: Spent the day in Lucca. Here is Camille and our local Lucca tour guide, Vittoria Calafati.
Duomo di San Martino, Lucca, Italy.
Local flowers
Palazzo Pfanner
Beautiful garden of Palazzo Pfanner
Duomo di San Martino
Palazzo Mansi National Museum
Light lunch, salad...not tossed.
More of Lucca!
La Cascina Restaurant for dinner.
Yakisoba, risotto, duck, sliced beef, and pizza.
Day 8: Day excursion through the vineyard-dotted countryside to Bolgheri.
First stop, La Regola Winery.
The wine menu
Lots of tasting!
And a tour of the winery.
We stopped at Castagneto Carducci, known for its splendid panoramic views of the Etruscan Coast.
Lunch with a view of the Etruscan Coast in Castagneto Carducci.
Castagneto Carducci
Reading the Bolgheri News.
Sampling of local liquor (digestive & vita C)
Amazing OLD olive tree!
Gelato time!
October 7-12 in Montecatini. Average number of steps. Lots of walking to work off the pasta and gelato!
Optional quarry excursion to Cava Olmo.
One of over 80 active marble quarries in Carrerra.
Ancient Roman quarry site.
Marbles from around the world.
Sampling some lard for energy!
Gorgeous views from the same spot we sampled the lard.
Nativity scene sculpted in marble.
Buongiorno from your Tour Manager, Steven!
Ladies shopping at the open market in Montecatini! We bought so many nice clothes!!!!
We took a baking class at the hotel and learned how to make apple cake, cantuccini, and a tart.
Must cut while warm.
Sampling the desserts!
Ending the day with a nice dinner at the hotel.
We left Montecatini for Lake Como, and arrived at the Hotel Barchetta Excelsior.
Beautiful Lake Como views.
Europe's fall colors coming in.
Walking tour of Lake Como.
Lots of shops with festive decorations.
We took a boat ride to Bellagio and saw a flying swan! Amazing shot taken by Lauren!
Boat ride views
Arriving at Bellagio
The steps at Bellagio.
Ernie’s crown of Italian glass!
GQ photoshoot, Lake Como edition.
Dinner at Osteria Del Buonumore 5 minutes from our hotel!!
French fries with slow cooked ribs.
Taking a funicular ride for some Lake Como views.
And the view!
Explored Brunate, a small town in Como.
We took a hike to the Volta Lighthouse (Faro Voltiano) in Brunate.
Volta Lighthouse
Views from the top.
Back to Lake Como.
Finishing off last two bottles of wine with paper cups!
Enjoying sunset dinners.
Check out this amazing calzone! Both the calzone and spicy salami pizza along with the salad were all so Ono!!!
We left Lake Como and traveled to Lucerne, Switzerland!
Even dogs like the fresh, clean water of the Lucerne fountains! The water only runs through the fountain once.
Lucerne, Switzerland
Yay Switzerland!
The Lion Monument in Lucerne.
Chapel Bridge, Lucerne
We enjoyed an excursion to Mount Pilatus, 7,000 feet up!
How lucky! A rare sighting on Mount Pilatus...a Capricorn Ibex. Look at that BLUE sky too! Truly blessed!
Spectacular views over central Switzerland.
Mount Pilatus, Switzerland
Above the clouds!
Heading back down.
The fall foliage is unreal!
Ready for the cruise portion of our trip!
Our home, the Avalon Panorama ship!
Ready for the Active Excursion option, a bike-riding tour on the Rhine.
The other excursion was the Discovery Excursion, which included a trip to the Black Forest and a visit to the Vogtsbauernohf Museum.
We got a glimpse at how people lived and worked in the Black Forest up to 600 years ago.
We visited the charming village of Colmar with its half-timbered medieval and early renaissance buildings.
Black Forest, Germany
Cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg in France
Astronomical clock built in 1567!
The largest rose window in the world!
Lovely little town of Strasbourg, France.
Robert Blanck family winery in France.
Obernai, France
From Strasbourg we moved on to Heidelberg, Germany. First stop was the Heidelberg Castle.
Here you can find the Great Vat, aka the world's largest wine barrel.
And get amazing views of Heidelberg.
Philospher's path
View of castle ruins from the Philospher's path.
Then back to the Avalon Panorama for...
... more wine and ...
... lots of laughter!
And a delicious dinner!
Landed in Rudesheim, Germany. These guys got a suprise train ride to the village center of Rudesheim!
The Discover Excursion took us to the Mechanical Music Museum in Rudesheim.
This instrument sells for over a million euros now because they are so scarce.
Spiked coffee break!
Cable car ride over the beautiful vineyards of Rudesheim.
Sailing through the Rhine Gorge with a Titanic moment!
Brrrr... staying warm and enjoying the views.
Castle views on the Rhine Gorge.
Arrived in Cologne, Germany.
Stopping by a local brewery, Peter's Brauhaus.
Kolsch German beer
Chocalaterie in Cologne.
Cologne Cathedral
Final destination, Amsterdam!
Visiting a local clog shop to see how clogs are made.
Historic windmills
Aloha from Amsterdam!
The 3 Dutchies on Disembarkation day! Rick with Captain Victor and Cruise Director Ingrid.
Last night on the Avalon Panorama. Our 21 day tour has come to a close! Such great friendships and memories made!
Find more Europe Tours and River Cruises like this one on our Globus Land Tours or Avalon Waterways River Cruises page.
