Europe Tours

Europe's density of history, art, architecture, and culinary tradition makes it one of the world's richest destinations for culturally engaged group travel. AIMS Travel's European programs were designed for travelers who had moved beyond the standard highlights tour and wanted to engage more deeply with the continent's layered past and vibrant present. From the ancient Acropolis of Athens to the gilded halls of St. Petersburg's Hermitage, from the sun-bleached ruins of Sicily to the fjord-carved coastline of Norway, these itineraries offered a thorough and deeply satisfying encounter with Europe's greatest civilizations.

Greece Including the Aegean

11 days — Athens, Acropolis, Santorini, Mykonos, island cruise

Greece rewards travelers with an extraordinary layering of ancient, Byzantine, and modern culture — and nowhere is this more vivid than on an itinerary that combines the intellectual heritage of Athens with the sensory pleasures of the Aegean islands. The program opens in Athens, where travelers spend three days exploring the city's remarkable archaeological legacy: the Acropolis and its Parthenon, the Ancient Agora, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the outstanding National Archaeological Museum, whose collections span five thousand years of Greek civilization. The Plaka neighborhood offers an atmospheric evening setting for dining and wandering among neo-classical townhouses.

From Athens the group embarks on an Aegean island cruise, stopping at Delos (the mythological birthplace of Apollo, now an open-air archaeological site), Mykonos (whitewashed windmills, labyrinthine alleyways, waterfront tavernas), and the incomparable volcanic island of Santorini, where the caldera-edge villages of Oia and Fira offer arguably the most spectacular sunset views in Europe. The program includes guided visits to key archaeological sites throughout, with particular attention to explaining how the ancient Greek world shaped Western political thought, architecture, philosophy, and drama.

Central Europe: Budapest, Vienna & Prague

11 days — Three imperial capitals, Danube cruise

The three great capitals of Central Europe — Budapest, Vienna, and Prague — share a common Austro-Hungarian imperial heritage that manifests in grand boulevards, palatial opera houses, elegant coffee house culture, and a depth of musical and intellectual tradition unmatched anywhere in the world. AIMS Travel's eleven-day program devoted substantial time to each city, resisting the temptation to rush through highlights in favor of a slower, more immersive pace. In Budapest, travelers explore both Buda (the medieval hilltop castle district, Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion) and Pest (the Great Market Hall, the vast Parliament building, Heroes' Square), with an optional evening at the thermal baths. A scenic Danube cruise connects Budapest to Vienna, offering views of riverside villages and the dramatic Wachau Valley. In Vienna, the program takes in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Schönbrunn and Belvedere palaces, the Vienna State Opera, and the Ringstrasse's remarkable architectural parade. Prague, arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Europe, fills the final days: the Old Town Square and its astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter (Josefov), Prague Castle, and the Charles Bridge at dawn before the crowds arrive.

Splendors of Russia

9 days — Moscow, St. Petersburg

Russia's two great cities offer a concentrated encounter with one of history's most powerful and culturally complex civilizations. In Moscow, travelers explore Red Square — the symbolic heart of the country, flanked by the colorful onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral and the severe red walls of the Kremlin — as well as the extraordinary interiors of the Kremlin's Armoury and its collection of Fabergé eggs, royal regalia, and carriages. The Moscow Metro, with its elaborately decorated stations, is itself a museum of Soviet-era art and propaganda, and a ride through it is among the city's most memorable experiences.

St. Petersburg, Peter the Great's "window on the West," is one of Europe's grandest cities: a planned baroque capital built on the marshes of the Neva delta in the early eighteenth century. The Hermitage Museum, housed in the Winter Palace, holds one of the world's greatest art collections — Rembrandt, Rubens, Matisse, Picasso, and thousands more across three million objects. The program also includes the Peterhof Palace and gardens (the "Russian Versailles"), the gilded interiors of Catherine's Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, and a boat trip through St. Petersburg's river and canal network.

Scandinavia

12 days — Norway fjords, Sweden, Denmark, Helsinki

Scandinavia offers a kind of travel experience found nowhere else in the world: dramatic natural landscapes of extraordinary scale set against deeply sophisticated, design-conscious urban cultures. AIMS Travel's twelve-day program covered the region's highlights with a thoughtful itinerary that balanced Norway's legendary fjords — including the Geirangerfjord and Sognefjord, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites — with the cultural richness of Bergen, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Helsinki. In Norway, travelers experience traditional fjordside villages, the Bergen fish market, Edvard Grieg's home at Troldhaugen, and the stirring Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Stockholm reveals its extraordinary old town (Gamla Stan), the Vasa Museum (a perfectly preserved seventeenth-century warship), and the design culture that has made Sweden globally influential. Copenhagen adds the Little Mermaid, Tivoli Gardens, and the extraordinary Noma-era food culture that has transformed the city's dining scene. Helsinki provides a concluding Finnish counterpoint: Alvar Aalto architecture, the Temppeliaukio rock church, and the celebrated Helsinki Market Square.

Sicily & Southern Italy

10 days — Palermo, Taormina, Agrigento, Amalfi Coast

Southern Italy and Sicily represent the Mediterranean at its most historically layered and culinarily exuberant. This ten-day program explores the extraordinary depth of a region that has been successively shaped by Greek colonists, Roman rulers, Arab emirs, Norman kings, and Spanish viceroys — each leaving behind monuments and traditions that still define the landscape and table today. In Sicily, travelers visit Palermo's Norman cathedral and the extraordinary Byzantine mosaics of Monreale, the dramatic clifftop theater of Taormina (with views of Mount Etna), and the Valle dei Templi at Agrigento — a valley of Greek temples in a state of preservation that rivals anything on the Greek mainland. The program crosses to the Italian mainland for the Amalfi Coast, one of Europe's most beautiful stretches of shoreline: vertiginous cliffside villages (Positano, Ravello, Amalfi), a boat excursion to the island of Capri, and a visit to the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Croatia & the Dalmatian Coast

11 days — Dubrovnik, Split, Diocletian's Palace, island hopping

Croatia's Dalmatian Coast is one of Europe's most strikingly beautiful destinations, and one of its best-kept secrets for travelers who discovered it before the broader tourism boom. AIMS Travel's eleven-day program centered on the two great cities of the Adriatic coast — Dubrovnik and Split — while adding island excursions and smaller coastal towns that revealed the region's quieter pleasures. Dubrovnik, the "Pearl of the Adriatic," is a medieval walled city of extraordinary architectural unity: marble-paved pedestrian streets, Gothic and Baroque churches, and sea walls that can be walked in their entirety. Split, Croatia's second city, is built literally inside and around the fourth-century Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian — apartments, restaurants, and churches occupy spaces that were once imperial vestibules and mausoleums. Island excursions to Hvar, Korcula, and the Elaphiti Islands provide contrasting encounters with vineyards, lavender fields, and the crystalline waters of the Adriatic.