Sistine Chapel contemplation ● Michelangelo's David and the Uffizi without summer's crush ● Ravenna's Byzantine mosaics — the Western world's most spectacular outside Istanbul ● Giotto's revolutionary frescoes from Assisi to Padova — the arc of Western art's greatest turning point ● Cinque Terre by boat and on foot ● Siena's medieval lanes and San Gimignano's towers, unchanged since the 13th century ● Venice by vaporetto, on foot, and at the pace the city rewards

Vienna bookend experience: ship introduction plus two immersive nights for museums, opera, and coffeehouse culture ● Schonbrunn Palace baroque gardens with time beyond cruise-day visits ● Exclusive Oktoberfest celebration aboard ship with Bavarian music ● UNESCO Wachau Valley scenic cruising past terraced vineyards ● Melk Abbey's baroque masterpiece and medieval manuscripts ● Budapest's Szechenyi thermal baths where locals play chess in steaming pools ● Jewish Quarter including Europe's largest synagogue and ruin-pub architecture ● Belvedere Palace and Klimt's "The Kiss" with unhurried gallery time.

Helsinki's Temppeliaukio rock church and Suomenlinna fortress ● Stockholm's Vasa Museum and Nobel Prize halls ● overnight Baltic Sea ferries ● Copenhagen's Rosenborg Castle and canal cruise ● Oslo's Viking Ship Museum ● Flåm Railway and Nærøyfjord cruise ● Bergen's Hanseatic wharf

Sapporo city touring including the Sapporo Beer Museum ● Ainu cultural experiences at Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Museum ● Scenic countryside touring in Furano and Biei ● Riding the Asahidake Ropeway into Daisetsuzan National Park ● Glass-bottom boat on Lake Shikotsu ● Exploring Jigokudani's geothermal wonders ● Hakodate's historic waterfront, Motomachi district and evening ropeway view ● Riding the Shinkansen bullet train ● Oirase Gorge walk and Lake Towada boat ride ● The Edo-Tokyo Museum and Asakusa's Senso-ji temple

World-class whale watching in nutrient-rich Atlantic waters ● Emerald crater lakes and geothermal springs in volcanic calderas ● Madeira's ingeniously terraced mountainsides and subtropical "floating garden" ● Unique Guanche heritage blending with Spanish island culture ● Endemic flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth ● Dramatic volcanic panoramas from Teide's peaks to Lanzarote's lunar landscapes

Chagall windows at Fraumünster ● Jungfraujoch at 3,454 metres ● eight-hour Glacier Express journey through UNESCO rail landscapes ● Gornergrat cog railway beneath the Matterhorn ● medieval Bern, Lucerne, and Fribourg ● St. Gallen's baroque library and manuscripts

Immerse yourself in Japanese culture and society ● visit major sites and monuments and special places out of the way ● Ryokan and temple stays ● strong culinary aspect - fun and educational cooking class ● travel via famed Bullet Train

Glitzy Riyadh ● Oasis towns ● Beautiful Shammar Mountain region ● Desert landscapes ● fascinating cultural immersion ● Historic forts & Mosques ● spectacular Wadi Al-Disah ● Nabatean ruins at Madain Saleh ● Historic Jeddah

The Victorian Gothic extravagance of Cardiff Castle ● underground descent into Big Pit guided by former miners ● Walking behind the cascading curtain of Sgwd yr Eira in Waterfall Country ● St Govan's Chapel wedged into the sea cliffs, followed by a boat to Ramsey Island's seabird colonies ● The summit of Snowdon by Britain's only rack-and-pinion railway ● Tynwald Hill and the summit of Snaefell on the Isle of Man