Central European Tours
Discover the heart of Central Europe on tour, encompassing Germany, Switzerland, Holland (The Netherlands) and Austria. Discover Alpine panoramas, scenic lakes and picturesque towns where you can meet the locals and sample regional delicacies. From the fairy tale Rhine Valley to the artistic hub of Vienna, you’ll have a holiday to remember on a train journey, small group tour or coach tour through Central Europe.
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13 Days Munich to Zurich
Operator: Cosmos
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APT is an Australian family-owned company whose essence began in Melbourne in the 1920s. More than 90 years on, APT offers life-enriching trips to every more continent, and through the company’s vast industry experience, meticulous planning and unquestionable passion it's earned a place among the world’s most well-regarded travel companies.
From boutique river cruising to small-group 4WD adventures; traditional coach touring with a decadent twist; epic rail journeys to small-ship expeditions; classic ocean cruising to safaris of discovery by both land and air – there’s little APT are unwilling to consider in pursuit of creating the finest holiday experience for its valued guests.
Timeless luxury, exclusive experiences, life enriching moments and true personalisation. APT offers all-inclusive holidays so everything is taken care of. We invite you to join us; you won’t be disappointed.
From boutique river cruising to small-group 4WD adventures; traditional coach touring with a decadent twist; epic rail journeys to small-ship expeditions; classic ocean cruising to safaris of discovery by both land and air – there’s little APT are unwilling to consider in pursuit of creating the finest holiday experience for its valued guests.
Timeless luxury, exclusive experiences, life enriching moments and true personalisation. APT offers all-inclusive holidays so everything is taken care of. We invite you to join us; you won’t be disappointed.
We believe that when you travel, you should never settle for ordinary. You deserve to travel in good company, with someone who cares. We believe that good more value sells itself – you should get what you pay for, and then some, in one upfront price with virtually everything included. Leave your worries at home; we take on all the planning, all the logistics. To you, it’s peace of mind travel, to us, it’s 90+ years of integrity.
Wherever we travel, we’re all about taking you to explore the world’s treasures….discover people and cultures you may not have known existed…and experience extraordinary, life-changing moments. Since 1925, we’ve built our company on the personal referrals and recommendations of our guests. We can think of no higher testament to our journeys and commitment to customer satisfaction – and no better way to tell you what we do than through their words.
Wherever we travel, we’re all about taking you to explore the world’s treasures….discover people and cultures you may not have known existed…and experience extraordinary, life-changing moments. Since 1925, we’ve built our company on the personal referrals and recommendations of our guests. We can think of no higher testament to our journeys and commitment to customer satisfaction – and no better way to tell you what we do than through their words.
Contiki are the world leaders in travel experiences for 18-35’s. We exist to connect young travellers to the time of their lives. We believe in real experiences more and we care about making sure these experiences contribute positively to the people and places we visit. We are focused on discovery, once-in-a-lifetime moments, human connections, and making every second of being young count.
For over 55 years we’ve been perfecting the secret formula to the perfect trip - we know you’re after unique experiences, local insight and accommodation that’s more than a place to sleep. We run over 350 trips across 6 continents, each one designed to get to the beating heart of a destination, understanding the local way of life, unearthing unforgettable experiences and creating lifelong memories. Real experiences, unique accommodation, local food, the best team and awesome people all deliver Contiki’s no regrets experience.
For over 55 years we’ve been perfecting the secret formula to the perfect trip - we know you’re after unique experiences, local insight and accommodation that’s more than a place to sleep. We run over 350 trips across 6 continents, each one designed to get to the beating heart of a destination, understanding the local way of life, unearthing unforgettable experiences and creating lifelong memories. Real experiences, unique accommodation, local food, the best team and awesome people all deliver Contiki’s no regrets experience.
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Must do experiences and highlights throughout Central Europe
Historic Berlin 
The Hills Are Alive 
Canal Cruise Amsterdam 
Cologne Cathedral 
Lakeside Lucerne Recent Reviews
What our clients are saying about their journeys through Central Europe
Winter Xmas
Winter Wonderland
Lorraine , NSW, Australia, Dec 2025
Destinations, bus comfort & top hotels made this tour exceptional. Included meals were always top class & guide was friendly, knowledgeable & helpful. Only negative was that 1 night stops made trip seemed rushed - 2 nights in each location would have provided more leisurely experience.
8 Days Xmas Markets Europe
Christmas Markets of Austria, Germany and Switzerland
Laksh, VIC, Australia, Dec 2025
You get what you signed up for - loads of unvarying Xmas markets! The wares are the same whether it is Vienna, Munich, Salzburg, Innsbruck or Lucerne with minor price diff. The Euro Xmas traditions & stories are interesting. Glugwein mugs are fun to collect. Itinerary is great & good weather definitely helps. You will get more fog than snow due to unseasonably read more warm winter frm mid to late Dec 2025. Optional experiences are grear - be prepared for extra €600. Great timing & organisation to avoid crowds but Tour Director rather blase & not informative. Included meals went downhill after the start at Vienna with mediocre welcome dinner & venue. Accom is central & not bad. Overall- pretty good 7 days tour but counting the last day which is just drop off at airport at Zurich is diabolically misleading!
Make sure you can walk
Christmas in Central Europe, Berlin to Vienna
Mom and Daughter Trip, WA, United States, Nov 2025
We did a mother–daughter trip. We can both walk. Some in our group could not, and it really dragged us down. We also can follow simple travel instructions and pivot to make our own plans for side activities and meals; others could not. That said, we had a great time!
Our CEO, Jelena, was great. However, at times we felt that she could have used some read more office support that she could have contacted. We turned a corner to be at a Christmas market that wasn’t there in Berlin. She did a great job of pivoting, knowing some history to tell us, and found a cathedral for us to go in and tour for a moment. She also explained some other monuments that were in the plaza, which was an old site used for Christmas markets but not in 2025.
The small offers that the tour company provided, such as the currywurst, the glüevine, and lebkuchen, seemed to be more difficult with the budget allowed by the tour company than it really needed to be. For instance, people were given too many options: what was in the budget, or add more money, or pay for the deposit on the mugs and get it back if you want, or keep it if you want. It just seemed very confusing for so many people at once. It would have been nice if it had been arranged that we went to a specific booth for each of those items. Maybe G Adventures is able to look into contracting that in the future. Or making a specific reservation for the cakes and coffee in Vienna. Or working it out ahead of time with the restaurant on the meet-up day for a set meal that’s within the budget, so everybody can get a little bit without having to go over budget, get confused, and feel off-put on our first dinner together.
We loved the Christmas markets. We loved the time that we spent. We loved the bit of history that we learned through our CEO. We know that it was one of the first Christmas market tours of the year, and we definitely felt some hiccups, but we had a good group of people that really tried to make the best of it.
I would recommend this tour for anyone in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. My mom was fine in her 70s, but others younger were not. I don’t want to sound bad, but if you walk with a cane, a walking tour is probably not the tour group that’s best for you. That’s the experience that 17 people had to endure on our tour. They would have to be able to walk multiple miles and deal with their luggage themselves, because one slow person affects 17 other people, and that really isn’t fair for the 17.
We knew we were going to be staying at smaller places, and they were great and had different personalities. Although the one in Salzburg should probably be looked at for the smell in the restroom, on the flip side that smell made us get out of the room nice and early to find the Thursday market in Salzburg, which was an amazing find and one of the highlights of our trip.
The accommodations were okay. I would give them about two stars at best. Berlin was a little bit better. But for single women traveling, places with a whole lot of graffiti or a strip club across the street were not exactly the safest feeling, and I don’t know if that was actually planned. But it’s how it was, and we did try to travel in groups because of that. There were some very high points and some very “this could be done a little bit better with just a little bit of effort” points as well.
Our CEO, Jelena, was great. However, at times we felt that she could have used some read more office support that she could have contacted. We turned a corner to be at a Christmas market that wasn’t there in Berlin. She did a great job of pivoting, knowing some history to tell us, and found a cathedral for us to go in and tour for a moment. She also explained some other monuments that were in the plaza, which was an old site used for Christmas markets but not in 2025.
The small offers that the tour company provided, such as the currywurst, the glüevine, and lebkuchen, seemed to be more difficult with the budget allowed by the tour company than it really needed to be. For instance, people were given too many options: what was in the budget, or add more money, or pay for the deposit on the mugs and get it back if you want, or keep it if you want. It just seemed very confusing for so many people at once. It would have been nice if it had been arranged that we went to a specific booth for each of those items. Maybe G Adventures is able to look into contracting that in the future. Or making a specific reservation for the cakes and coffee in Vienna. Or working it out ahead of time with the restaurant on the meet-up day for a set meal that’s within the budget, so everybody can get a little bit without having to go over budget, get confused, and feel off-put on our first dinner together.
We loved the Christmas markets. We loved the time that we spent. We loved the bit of history that we learned through our CEO. We know that it was one of the first Christmas market tours of the year, and we definitely felt some hiccups, but we had a good group of people that really tried to make the best of it.
I would recommend this tour for anyone in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. My mom was fine in her 70s, but others younger were not. I don’t want to sound bad, but if you walk with a cane, a walking tour is probably not the tour group that’s best for you. That’s the experience that 17 people had to endure on our tour. They would have to be able to walk multiple miles and deal with their luggage themselves, because one slow person affects 17 other people, and that really isn’t fair for the 17.
We knew we were going to be staying at smaller places, and they were great and had different personalities. Although the one in Salzburg should probably be looked at for the smell in the restroom, on the flip side that smell made us get out of the room nice and early to find the Thursday market in Salzburg, which was an amazing find and one of the highlights of our trip.
The accommodations were okay. I would give them about two stars at best. Berlin was a little bit better. But for single women traveling, places with a whole lot of graffiti or a strip club across the street were not exactly the safest feeling, and I don’t know if that was actually planned. But it’s how it was, and we did try to travel in groups because of that. There were some very high points and some very “this could be done a little bit better with just a little bit of effort” points as well.
From the begining to the end, booking, touring Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland, our tour guide, coach driver, hotels, food, Qatar airlines - it was a wonderful experience with no blips.
Amazing Switzerland
Alpine Lakes & Scenic Trains
Wendy, WA, Australia, Sep 2025
A good tour. Damiano was a good tour director, was very helpful when we got stuck in Milan after our train to Zurich was cancelled due to flooding. Got to Zurich but again missed the first day of the tour. Some hotels were disappointing. The meals together were OK nothing special. Thought we should of had professional guides in some cities instead of read more Damiano being guide. His English is ok but maybe a guide would of been better.
Spectacular Scenery
Alpine Lakes & Scenic Trains
Ros and Gayle, Qld, Australia, Sep 2025
The highlight of this tour was the trip on the Bernina Express. The scenery was 'wow' factor around every corner. The tour was very well organised and ran smoothly. The bus driver, Enzo, was an incredibly careful driver, especially as some of the roads were very high, with difficult bends. The main guide, Dario and local guides were all excellent. read more The hotels were of superior quality. As a suggestion, it would have been preferable to have one less day (3 night stay) in Lake Maggiore and instead stay one night at Lake Como, as we drove straight past and only caught glimpses of the Lake.
The visit to the cheese farm before reaching Lake Maggiore should be reviewed. It was a little disorganised and too long, although in fairness, it was their first time in hosting tours. The conclusion of the tour in Lucerne meant that all passengers had the additional cost of taxis to Zurich, for the flight home, as Lucerne does not have an international airport. Perhaps the tour could have terminated in Zurich, were it commenced.
The visit to the cheese farm before reaching Lake Maggiore should be reviewed. It was a little disorganised and too long, although in fairness, it was their first time in hosting tours. The conclusion of the tour in Lucerne meant that all passengers had the additional cost of taxis to Zurich, for the flight home, as Lucerne does not have an international airport. Perhaps the tour could have terminated in Zurich, were it commenced.
