Jungfrau Express All Inclusive at Christmas

Your festive getaway starts at London St Pancras, where you meet the Tour Manager and group before boarding the Eurostar service to Paris. On arrival in the French capital, we continue by high-speed train (TGV) to the medieval French city of Strasbourg in the Alsace region, for an overnight stay.

Strasbourg is a perfect place to break our journey, and is especially charming in December when it sparkles with festive lights and a vibrant Christmas market. With a blend of German and French influences, the atmospheric historic quarter known as 'Petite France' is an enchanting area to wander through, with its half-timbered houses decorated for the season, overlooking the narrow canals. Another lovely feature of the city is the Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and the beautiful central square, Place Kléber.

Soak up the seasonal ambience as we walk a short distance from our central hotel to enjoy a three-course dinner at a traditional Alsace restaurant.

• Dinner

A free morning in Strasbourg provides another chance to explore this beautiful city and maybe browse the stalls of its traditional Christmas market, one of the oldest in Europe. The city's attractive historic quarter is divided by the River Ill and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.

Around midday, we continue our journey by rail to Switzerland, travelling via the city of Basel and the resort town of Interlaken. The scenes from our windows transform into an alpine wonderland as we enter the snow-capped Swiss Alps. As we approach Spiez, look out for its fairytale lakeside castle beside dazzling Lake Thun.

Our picturesque route leads to our base for the festive season, the quaint village of Wilderswil, set in a snow-clad alpine valley, surrounded by the impressive Mönch, Eiger and Jungfrau mountains. Here, we check in to a picture-book Swiss chalet-style hotel, receiving a warm welcome from the family who has run it for over 60 years. Tonight and each evening of our stay in Wilderswil, we enjoy a three-course dinner, with beer, wine and soft drinks served during our meal.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Today is sure to be a high point of our holiday, a trip through an alpine wonderland to Europe's highest railway station, Jungfraujoch, also known as the 'Top of Europe'. This wonderful rail adventure starts with a short ride on the Bernese Oberland Railway to Kleine Scheidegg, where we join the celebrated Jungfrau Express. Climbing steeply through a tunnel deep inside the Eiger and the Mönch mountains, our train emerges just below the breathtaking summit of the Jungfrau. At over 11,000 feet, Jungfraujoch is the highest railway station on the continent.

There's free time here to bask in spellbinding views from the Sphinx observatory where you can look out at vistas of snowy mountain peaks and the gleaming Aletsch Glacier, the largest and longest glacier in the Alps. You may be tempted to head to 'Lindt Swiss Chocolate Heaven' shop for an insight into the history and making of Swiss chocolate, after all it is Christmas! The Alpine Sensation exhibition is also well worth a visit, a multi-sensory experience which describes the history of tourism in the Alps and pays tribute to the miners who built the Jungfrau Railway over 100 years ago. We retrace our journey back to the hotel, with time to relax before dinner with drinks.

• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, we take a short trip by rail to Interlaken, capital of the Bernese Oberland and one of the most popular towns in the Swiss Alps, where you are free to spend the day. Besides flaunting all the classic hallmarks of Switzerland - snow-capped peaks, glistening glacial lakes and waterfront castles - Interlaken is the centre of a year-round playground for climbers, walkers, and skiers. The town is situated between the glacier-fed lakes Brienz and Thun and surrounded by three iconic peaks: the Jungfrau, Eiger and Mönch.

Interlaken is a great starting point to visit local viewing spots, and your included Swiss Travel Card provides 50% discount on rail, bus and boat fares. You could take a magical winter cruise across Lake Thun and experience fairytale vistas of castles, hills and the soaring Bernese Alps. Alternatively, visit one of Interlaken's chocolate shops to indulge in some of this high-quality Swiss produce. Or relax in a cosy café, maybe with a hot chocolate, a glass of mulled wine or a slice of cherry cake. However you spend the day, a festive three-course dinner is served at the hotel this evening.

• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

It's Christmas morning and, after breakfast, we travel by train to the characterful village of Grindelwald, tucked away between dramatic mountains. Like a scene from a folktale, this famous village has incredible views of the north face of the Eiger. Grindelwald is one of Europe's oldest mountain resorts, rising to prominence during the 1920s when skiing started to become a popular leisure activity.

You could take a yuletide stroll through the idyllic village, where quaint town squares and attractive wooden chalets are surrounded by open skiing fields. To mark the occasion, it may be possible to take a gondola trip to Grindelwald First Mountain, or a cable car to Pfingstegg, a viewpoint 1300 metres above the Grindelwald Valley. Or indulge in some Swiss specialties at a café or restaurant before returning to Wilderswil by rail in your own time. Back at the hotel, enjoy celebratory drinks and a festive dinner this evening.

• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today is a free day to enjoy the Bernese Oberland at your own pace. If you'd like to take it easy, take a Boxing Day walk around the quintessentially Swiss village of Wilderswil and admire the striking backdrop.

Further afield, you could use your Swiss Travel Card to uncover the villages of the beautiful Lauterbrunnen Valley. The mountain resort of Wengen sits beneath the Jungfrau with fantastic views of the valley. Alternatively, head to the village of Mürren and take a cable car trip to the top of the Schilthorn mountain, one of the highest peaks in the Jungfrau region. From here, you could visit the famous Piz Gloria revolving restaurant, featured in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Another option is to take the train to Lucerne and discover this pretty lakeside city known as the 'City of Lights'. This evening is the final dinner of our festive holiday at our hotel.

• Breakfast, Dinner

This idyllic Christmas break has taken us from the medieval city of Strasbourg to a picture-book Swiss village in the heart of the glorious Jungfrau region. From our scenic base we have journeyed to the 'Top of Europe' on the remarkable Jungfrau Express and experienced panoramas of Swiss peaks and the stunning Aletsch Glacier. We've visited quaint villages, seen iconic mountain peaks, and had time to explore the region at our own pace.

Our festive holiday draws to a close this morning as we board a train via Bern to Lausanne. After dashing through the French countryside by TGV to Paris, we connect with the Eurostar that returns us to London St Pancras.

• Breakfast