We leave Belfast on the early morning HSS and continue by coach to Hull, where we catch the overnight sailing to Zeebrugge.

Our route today takes us through Belgium and into Eastern France, where we check into our hotel on the outskirts of Nancy.

We leave Nancy after breakfast and continue south, breaking our journey in Colmar and arriving, to a musical welcome, in Flueli-Ranft. We have a guided tour of our unique Alpine hotel before dinner.

We travel a little further today - south along the edge of the Sarnen See and over the Brünig Pass to Brienz. Later we follow the edge of the Brienzer See to Interlaken (between lakes), Brienz and Thun, below the north side of the mighty Jungfrau Massif at the heart of the Bernese Oberland.

Lucerne lies on the edge of Vierwaldstatter See (Lake Lucerne), and features a well-preserved medieval centre, some excellent shops and perhaps the most photographed site in the area, the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge).

It is here, just a half-hour drive from the hotel, that we spend the morning. We return to the hotel just after lunch-time, leaving our afternoon free to enjoy a short walk in the hills before dinner.

After leaving Flueli-Ranft this morning we travel through Eastern Switzerland. We drive along the southern edge of Lake Lucerne, and follow part of the Glacier Express route, passing Chun, before entering the tiny principality of Liechtenstein. From here we cross the border into Austria and our hotel for the next three nights in Ellmau.

A free day in Ellmau.

The spectacular views from the hotel are dominated by the Wilder Kaiser (Wild Emperor) Mountains and we travel up into them today. A new road enables us to venture higher, before turning back to spend the afternoon in the charming town of St Johann - just a few miles from our hotel.

We say goodbye to Ellmau and Austria this morning, and begin our return journey north to our overnight hotel in Germany.

The final leg of our journey on the Continent takes us through the Netherlands to Europoort, near Rotterdam, where we catch the evening sailing back to Hull.

P&O Cruseferry (cabins with facilities - all meals included)

From Hull we travel back to Stranraer, to board the evening HSS to Belfast, arriving at the Europa Buscentre around 10.00pm.