Arrive in Vienna and transfer from the airport to your hotel. The Austrian capital sets the opening in broad boulevards, formal façades and the architectural confidence of a city shaped for centuries by the Habsburg court. Here, the theme begins with composition in its widest sense: music, architecture and ceremony arranged on a grand scale.

Use the remaining hours around the historic centre, perhaps along the Ringstrasse or through the lanes around Stephansplatz. Vienna has time to reveal its monuments tomorrow; the first evening is better spent absorbing the elegance that makes the city such a natural beginning.

Explore Vienna through its principal city landmarks before continuing to Schönbrunn Palace, where ceremonial rooms and formal grounds bring the world of the imperial court into focus. The capital's scale feels deliberate everywhere, from monumental avenues to the palace that once served as a summer residence for the Habsburg rulers.

Later, let Vienna become less formal around the old centre or one of its traditional coffeehouses. The city has established the cultural register of the journey, but tomorrow the route turns west towards Salzburg, where music remains important, and the mountains begin moving into the frame.

Travel by train from Vienna to Salzburg, exchanging the imperial capital for a smaller city framed by hills and Baroque architecture. Mozart belongs naturally to Salzburg's identity, but so do the fortress above the rooftops, church domes, narrow lanes and the river running through the centre.

Walk through the Old Town after settling in, cross the Salzach, or spend time around Mirabell Gardens as the afternoon unfolds. Vienna's grandeur has contracted into something more intimate here, while the surrounding landscape hints at how quickly Austria is about to change.

Leave Salzburg for Hallstatt, where houses gather between steep mountains and the edge of the lake. The setting alters the balance of the itinerary almost immediately. Architecture still matters, but it now sits inside a landscape large enough to determine the character of the entire place.

Return to Salzburg later with the mountains no longer feeling distant. Spend the evening around the Old Town or along the river, knowing that the next move takes you deeper into western Austria, where the city itself begins to live beneath the Alps.

Travel by train from Salzburg to Innsbruck, where the historic centre sits almost directly beneath the Tyrolean Alps. Spend the afternoon around the Golden Roof, step inside the Imperial Palace, then climb the City Tower for a view across the rooftops towards the surrounding peaks. From there, continue into the Nordkette, rising from the heart of the city towards Hafelekar and the Top of Innsbruck, more than 2,000 metres above the streets below.

Return to the centre as evening settles and let Innsbruck become smaller again at street level. Maria-Theresien-Strasse, the old town and the riverfront all work naturally after a day that has moved from imperial rooms to mountain air. Austria’s cultural world is still very much present, but the Alps now dominate the horizon.

Begin with Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens, where chambers of art, light and crystal offer a completely different visual experience from the mountains outside. Return to Innsbruck afterwards and continue with Ambras Castle or Bergisel Ski Jump, both of which fit well into the second day and add either Renaissance history or sweeping views back across the city and surrounding peaks.

Your included Innsbruck access also opens up several other possibilities over these two days, including the Alpine Zoo, Court Church, Museum of Tyrolean Folk Art, Tirol Panorama, Grassmayr Bell Foundry and selected mountain lifts and public transport. 

Leave Innsbruck by train for Zurich, then begin the Swiss portion of the route with your Swiss Travel Pass, covering your onward transport within Switzerland. Continue to Lucerne, where Chapel Bridge, the Lion Monument and a Lake Lucerne cruise introduce a city arranged around water with mountains rising beyond it.

By evening, the transition is complete. Walk beside the lake or through Lucerne's old streets as painted façades and covered bridges take over from Innsbruck's Tyrolean character. The imperial world that opened the journey has receded; Switzerland begins with lake water and a horizon full of peaks.

Use your Swiss Travel Pass for the journey towards Mount Titlis, climbing from the gentler landscape around Lucerne into high mountain terrain. At the top, the Ice Flyer carries you across the glacier landscape, with snowfields and ridgelines replacing the lakeside scenery of the previous day.

Return to Lucerne later and allow the lakefront to bring the altitude back down gradually. The contrast is part of the pleasure here: within the same day, Switzerland moves from glacier country to quiet streets beside the water.

Travel from Lucerne to Interlaken aboard the Luzern-Interlaken Panoramic Express, with the Swiss Travel Pass covering the rail journey and your reserved seat securing the scenic passage. Lakes, valleys and mountain scenery accompany the route before Interlaken appears between its two great bodies of water.

After arrival, explore the town and continue onto either Lake Brienz or Lake Thun for a cruise. By now, transport has stopped feeling like the space between attractions. In Switzerland, the route itself repeatedly becomes part of what you came to see.

Set out for Jungfraujoch, Top of Europe, using your Swiss Travel Pass for the applicable portions of the journey. Railways carry you steadily upwards from the Interlaken region towards a world of glaciers, snow and high Alpine peaks, bringing the landscape that has been gathering through the itinerary to its most dramatic point.

Return to Interlaken for the final evening among the mountains. Höhematte and the streets around the centre feel almost unusually calm after the altitude of the day, with the peaks still visible beyond the town. Tomorrow begins the descent towards Zurich and a completely different Swiss finale.

Travel from Interlaken to Zurich using your Swiss Travel Pass, then continue through the Swiss transport network to Rhine Falls, where the river gathers remarkable force before dropping across the broad falls. Later, visit the Lindt Home of Chocolate, shifting the day from raw natural power to one of Switzerland's most familiar pleasures.

Return to Zurich for the final night and let the pace settle around the old town, the Limmat or the lakefront. After palaces, mountain railways, glaciers and waterfalls, the last evening asks for very little. Switzerland can finish quietly.