European Whirl.

Before the tour · United Kingdom

London: skyline views, riverside walks and a little Harry Potter.

There were six of us on this trip: Frances and Francis, Frances’s parents and Francis’s two sisters. We travelled together throughout the tour, starting with time exploring London before joining European Whirl. We went up The Shard for a view over the city, with the Thames winding past Tower Bridge below us. Back at street level, we walked by the river to take in more of London’s landmarks, including Tower Bridge and the London Eye.

We also visited Parliament Square and St James’s Park, then made a stop at the famous Platform 9¾ photo spot at King’s Cross station. From the skyline to a trolley disappearing into a wall, London gave us quite a range of things to point the camera at.

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Joining the tour: an early start in London.

We stayed at a Radisson Blu near Park Plaza London Riverbank, our pickup point. At 7 am, we were picked up for the transfer to St Pancras International, where we joined the rest of the tour group for the train journey to Amsterdam, which was included in our tour price. London was part of our time before the tour; our overall trip included four extra days before and after the 12-day Trafalgar itinerary.

Netherlands

Amsterdam: cheese, wooden clogs and canals after dark.

Our European Whirl tour began with the train journey from London to Amsterdam, included in the price we paid for the tour. We travelled with Frances’s parents and Francis’s sisters—six of us for the whole journey. Our train photo captures Frances and Francis with Francis’s sisters, ready for the next stop.

Before reaching Amsterdam city centre, we stopped at a cheese and wooden-clog factory on the outskirts. A local worker showed us how the cheese was kept and demonstrated how traditional wooden shoes, or clogs, are made. The rows of clogs hanging overhead made quite a backdrop.

By evening, we were on a canal cruise, passing Amsterdam’s classic narrow houses and bridges lit up against the night. We also saw the leaning canal houses often called the “Dancing Houses”—a fitting nickname for buildings that seem to tilt towards their neighbours.

Our time in Amsterdam was very quick. The factory visit and evening cruise gave us a taste of the area, but left us wanting more. We came away hoping to return for a longer stay, with time to explore at our own pace.

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Germany

Boppard, a Rhine cruise and a very cold Heidelberg.

Our next stop brought us to Boppard, where we waited beside the Rhine for our cruise boat. Frances, her mum and her two sisters-in-law found a bench by the river, and we took a few photos with the colourful houses behind us before boarding.

Once on board, we spent time inside the boat and went up to the open upper deck for views along the river. Riverside houses, church spires and castles on the hills gave us plenty to look at. Our photos also capture a family meal beside the window, with the Rhine passing by.

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A stop for cuckoo clocks.

After the cruise, we visited a cuckoo clock shop filled with carved wooden clocks. There is a long German clockmaking tradition behind them: cuckoo clocks were being made in the Black Forest by the middle of the 18th century, and the region helped develop the familiar designs. That history belongs especially to the Black Forest, rather than being specific to Boppard or the Rhine Valley.

On to Heidelberg.

We then boarded the tour coach for Heidelberg. It was very, very cold when we got there—the kind of detail you remember just as clearly as the view. Our final photo shows the castle above the town, with striped-roof stalls in the foreground.

Germany

Munich: a festive beer hall and a sausage stop.

The following morning, we stopped in Munich and visited Hofbräuhaus am Platzl in the old town’s Graggenau quarter. Inside, it was big, busy and festive, with people enjoying beer and loud music filling the hall. The painted vaulted ceilings gave us plenty to look at while we took it all in.

Outside, showers meant we kept the photography brief. We still managed a family photo at Platzl, with the Orlandohaus behind us and rain on the cobblestones.

We also had bratwurst and currywurst during our Munich stop. We were in Germany, after all—it felt like the appropriate thing to do.

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Austria

Innsbruck: festive streets and our first snow.

After our lunch stop in Munich, we continued by coach to Innsbruck. It was wet and cold on the way, with rain on the windows and grey skies over the river beside the road. Innsbruck gave us a cheerful welcome, though: cute, colourful buildings, festive stalls and lights reflected on the wet streets.

We wandered among the cafés and shops and visited the Swarovski Kristallwelten Store in the old town. The brand has its roots nearby: Swarovski was founded in Wattens in 1895, rather than in this Innsbruck shop.

Then, at around 9 pm, it started snowing. This was the first snowfall of our tour, and we stopped for a photo together beside a giant illuminated Christmas ornament. For one of Francis’s sisters, it was her first time experiencing snow, which made the evening especially memorable for our family.

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Venice · Italy.

Venice was one of the places where we particularly appreciated travelling in winter. It was less crowded during our visit, which made the cold feel like a fair trade.

Tuscany and Rome · Italy.

The Italian stretch takes us through Tuscany and on to Rome. It is a good example of the pace of this itinerary: a lot of places in a short time, with the journey itself forming part of the experience.

Vatican City and the Colosseum.

Our next chapter brings together our Vatican visit and the Colosseum in Rome. Vatican City is a separate country, while the Colosseum is in Italy; the film groups these visits into one chapter.

Florence · Italy.

Florence rounds out the Italian city chapters before we continue towards Switzerland. Use the film button below to see this stop without having to search through the full video.

Lucerne · Switzerland.

We had already experienced Switzerland in spring, but winter offered something new. The snow-capped mountains were a highlight, and Lucerne leads into our Mount Pilatus visit in the film.

Mount Pilatus · Switzerland.

We experienced snowfall on Mount Pilatus. It was cold, but seeing the mountain landscape in winter was one of the reasons this trip felt different from our earlier European travels.

Paris and Versailles · France.

The final stretch takes us towards Paris, followed by Versailles and the Eiffel Tower at 14:09. Paris was another destination where we noticed fewer crowds during our winter visit.

Disneyland, La Vallée Village and the Louvre.

The closing sightseeing chapter includes Disneyland, La Vallée Village and the Louvre. Our trip included extra time around the tour; use this film as a record of our overall journey rather than a list of what Trafalgar included.