CERN & Mont Blanc: Dark and Frozen Matter

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Fly to Geneva

  Flying direct into Geneva, we will be transferred to the 4* Hotel Royal Manotel in the centre of the city. The afternoon will be free and we will enjoy dinner this evening at a local restaurant.

• Day 2 - Geneva

  This morning we will start with a walking tour of the old town centre of Geneva, including the Cathedral where John Calvin preached in the 16th century, and a visit to the Patek Philippe Museum where we learn more about one of the city’s most famous crafts. This evening Darren Price will join us to give a talk on particle physics and his work at CERN.

• Day 3 - CERN complex

  Today is devoted to the CERN complex, just outside the city centre, where we shall gain an insight into the work which takes place here. Darren will accompany our visit to CERN and we will see the Universe of Particles exhibition inside the Globe of Science and Innovation – a 27-metre-high wooden dome – as well as the Microcosm exhibition, opened in 2016, which displays a range of interactive exhibits including a model section of the Large Hadron Collider, and a simulation of a particle accelerator. We will also visit inside the laboratories at CERN (the exact areas we can see are subject to confirmation closer to the time as this is a working facility).

• Day 4 - Mer de Glace

  Heading out of the city for the day, we will travel into the majestic Alps which provide Geneva’s striking backdrop. We will visit the charming small town of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, and take themountain railway to the Mer de Glace where we will visit an ice cave carved into the glacier itself. In the afternoon we take a cable car up to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi, at over 3,800 metres. Dinner will be taken independently this evening.

• Day 5 - Museum of the History of Science

  Today we will start with a scenic cruise on Lake Geneva. In the afternoon there will be free time to visit the Museum of the History of Science, located by the lake, which opened in 1966 in the neo-classical Villa Bartholoni. The museum houses exhibits relating to astronomy, microscopy, meteorology and electricity, including a collection of old scientific instruments from the 17th to 19th century, such as microscopes, telescopes, thermometers and astrolabes.

• Day 6 - Fly to London

  This morning will be free for independent sightseeing before we are taken to Geneva airport for the flight home.