Germany

Duration: 10 Days

ITINERAY

Day 1: Welcome to Berlin

On arrival at Berlin’s Tegel Airport, airport transfers leave for the hotel. Why not visit the KaDeWe department store. Later, join your Tour Director for a Welcome Reception with the opportunity to mingle over a pleasant evening of dinner and wine.

Day 2: The Spirit of Berlin

In the morning, a guided sightseeing tour takes you along the Ku’Damm to the Memorial Church. Drive through the Tiergarten to see Norman Foster’s glass-dome which crowns the reconstructed Reichstag building. On past the Brandenburg Gate, symbol of the reunification and down the Unter den Linden past the Humboldt University and Opera. Stop a while on Museum Island before enjoying an afternoon at leisure in this once divided city. Perhaps take the opportunity to visit the glorious palace of the Prussian Emperors at Potsdam.

Day 3: Dresden, a Baroque Phoenix on the Elbe

This morning as you travel south to Dresden. Join a local expert to see the splendours of the city. From the Frauenkirche, walk past ‘The Procession of the Dukes’, a mosaic of colossal proportions on the Royal Palace façade. You also see the enormous cathedral, Semper Opera House and baroque Zwinger Palace.

Day 4: Bayreuth & Medieval Rothenburg

Travel past the pine-clad Fichtelgebirge massif to Bayreuth. See the Wagner Festival Theatre before continuing through wooded Swiss Franconia and ‘Hansel and Gretl’ style villages. Your destination is Rothenburg-ob-der Tauber, the most well-preserved town on the Romantic Road. Walk through narrow cobbled streets lined with high-gabled houses to the market square dominated by its Renaissance town hall. Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Day 5: Nuremberg & the Bavarian Capital of Munich
It’s only a short drive to Nuremberg, still entirely enclosed by its fortifications. Witness the charming blend of stone and timbered dwellings in the Old Town as well as the massive ramparts. Perhaps shop for delicious Lebkuchen (ginger bread) before crossing the Danube to reach Munich. An orientation tour shows you the Olympic Stadium, university, Victory Arch and ends in the Marienplatz, where crowds gather at the Town Hall to watch the antics of the Glockenspiel.

Day 6: Munich & the Jewels of the Bavarian Alps

In the morning, travel to Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps. See the immense theatre and colourfully-painted chalets, then continue along part of the Alpine Road amidst beautiful scenery to the Wieskirche, a masterpiece of Bavarian rococo. Now to Neuschwanstein, the fairy tale castle spectacularly perched on a Alpine mountainside. Visit the exuberantly decorated apartments, including the Throne Room and Lohengrin Grotto. Return to Munich where you are at leisure.

Day 7: Lovely Lake Constance, Lindau & the Black Forest

Travel through lush, rolling dairy country to Lindau, an island in Lake Constance connected to the mainland by a causeway. Stroll through the narrow streets past old inns and half-timbered houses, to admire the fantastic backdrop of the Swiss and Austrian Alps across the lake. Now a delightful drive along the shores of Lake Constance, lined with orchards and vineyards, to the Black Forest.

Day 8: Heidelber, Mainz and the Castles of the Rhine

The Black Forest! Land of cherry cake and cuckoo clocks, where traditional farmhouses dip their thatched roofs almost to the ground. The economy has always been linked to the forest. Stop awhile in one of the centers of the wood-carving industry to meet skilled masters of the trade who still make cuckoo clocks by hand, a tradition passed down over 300 years. Then through the valleys, where villages and isolated farms nestle beside fast flowing streams, before joining the motorway north to Heidelberg. Enjoy the view from the heights of the castle fortress before a guided visit. See the Great Wine Vat, with its associated tales of the dwarf court jester, Perkeo!

Day 9: Castles of the Rhine Excursion

Begin the day with a relaxing cruise past steep sided vineyards, half-timbered taverns, the hilltop castles and the notorious Lorelei Rock. Alight at Boppard a and continue to Koblenz where a gigantic equestrian statue of Wilhelm I guards the junction of the Rhine and Moselle. Cameras at the ready as you return along the eastern bank. Enjoy the scenic views from the mighty Niederwald Monument.

Day 10: Auf Wiedersehen Frankfurt

Departure transfers arrive at Frankfurt Airport

Photos of the tour