Germany Sample Itinerary
Day 1:
Arrive Berlin
Driver will be waiting outside of customs to transfer you to your hotel. This afternoon meet your guide in the lobby for a walking tour. Soak in history, architecture and the top sites of Berlin tour, including Check-Point Charlie and the Berlin Wall. On this tour you will learn:
* how a swampy fishing village became an Imperial
Capital
* why the Reichstag fire in 1933 set the stage for Hitler’s rise to power
* stand above Hitler's bunker, find out why there’s nothing left to see
of this or any other Nazi leader’s shelter; visit the sites of the SS and
Gestapo Headquarters
* what it feels like to walk through the extraordinary new Memorial to the Murdered
Jews
of
Europe,
designed by Peter Eisenman
* why the Nazis burnt books on Bebelplatz in May 1933
* how Hollywood star, Marlene Dietrich, was "discovered" in her home
city
* where Albert Einstein taught, before Nazism forced him to leave Berlin
* how and why Berlin was divided after the war
* why the Royal Palace was blown up after the war and the controversy over its
rebuilding today
* who built the Wall in 1961 and the momentous events of its fall in 1989
* about a "Ghost Station", where East German border guards once
patrolled deserted platforms.
* where successful escapes were made over the Wall; see remains of the Wall and
follow its path, the "Deathstrip" to Checkpoint Charlie – find
out the role this crossing point played in the Cold War
* how Potsdamer Platz went from wasteland to commercial hub of 21st century Berlin!
Day 2: Berlin
Meet your guide in the lobby and go to the Pergamon Museum for a private
tour. The Pergamon Museum houses several departments, including the
incomparable Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities.
Enter the central
hall to see the Pergamon Altar (180-160 B.C.), which is so large that
it has a huge room all to itself. Some 27 steps lead from the museum
floor up to the colonnade. Most fascinating is the frieze around the
base. It shows the struggle of the Olympian gods against the Titans
and is strikingly alive, with figures that project as much as a foot
from the background. If you explore further, you'll find a Roman market
gate discovered in Miletus as well as sculptures from many Greek and
Roman cities, including a statue of a goddess holding a pomegranate
(575 B.C.), found in southern Attica, where it had been buried for
2,000 years. It was so well preserved that flecks of the original paint
are still visible on her garments.
The Near East Museum, in the south wing, contains one of the largest
collections anywhere of antiquities from ancient Babylonia, Persia,
and Assyria. Among the exhibits is the Processional Way of Babylon
with the Ishtar Gate, dating from 575 B.C. You can also visit the throne
room of Nebuchadnezzar. Cuneiform clay tablets document a civilization
that created ceramics, glass, and metal objects while Europe was still
overrun with primitive tribes. The museum's upper level is devoted
to the Museum of Islamic Art. Of special interest are the miniatures,
carpets, and woodcarvings.
Day 3: Berlin
Day on your own to explore. We recommend walking throught the old
Jewish quarter, which despite the devastation of the Nazi era, is now
home
to a revitalised
Jewish community.
Marvel at the domes of the New Synagogue, built in the 1860's which
are today a symbol of the community's regeneration; and see the Old
Cemetery site on Grosse Hamburger Strasse, final resting place of Moses
Mendelssohn,
known as the "German Socrates" and father of modern Reform
Judaism.
This is an area where heroic opposition to Nazi persecution took place.
Here Otto Weidt, Berlin's own 'Schindler' ran his workshop,
helping
to save many lives. You can also see the memorial on Rosenstrasse
where the successful Women's Protest of 1943 took place.
Day
4: Drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Today pick up your rental car and drive to Rothenburg. Stop along the way in Leipzig or Nurnberg. More than any other city in former East Germany (except Berlin, of course), Leipzig brings you into the Germany of today. This once-dreary city is taking on a new life and vitality; a visit here can be absolutely invigorating. Glassy skyscrapers and glitzy nightlife add a cosmopolitan flavor you don't encounter in much of the rest of the region. The approximately 20,000 students who study in the area (as Nietzsche, Goethe, and Leibniz once did) help add a spark. One resident put it this way: "Our grunge and metal bands are just as good as those of Berlin, and our cafes just as super-cool."
Day 5: Rothenburg
You'll need the entire day to explore this medieval city, beginning with its ancient ramparts. First, call on the Rathaus, where from its Gothic tower you'll have a panoramic view of the town. There are other attractions, including the Reichsstadtmuseum and St. Jakobskirche, but the chief attraction of Rothenburg is the city itself. You can wander its ancient cobblestone streets for hours and still discover something new. For lunch we suggest you rent a bike and cycle along the Tauber River until you find a suitable place for a picnic. Overnight in Rothenburg and spend an hour or two wandering its streets, as they appear even more mysteriously medieval when lit after dark.
Day 6: Bacharach
Drive to Bacharach, explore along the way. Afternoon on your own to explore Bacharach, take the hotel bikes and go for a ride along the river. Just one visit to the town square is enough to make you fall in love with this jewel of a town. You'll be transported into Medieval Germany as you walk the cobbled streets and admire the quaint half-timbered facades. Life seems to have slowed down here, and you can too among the small shops and Weinstubes (wine bars).
Day 7: Bacharach
Today take a cruise along the Rhine! The very best portion of the Rhine River (the most castles and the famous Loreley) can be seen on a 1.5 hour cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar. Take some time to explore St. Goar. The main street in town, Heer Strasse is lined with shops, restaurants and a hotel or two. It's an excellent place for picking up typical German souvenirs. In the heart of town, this street is for pedestrians only. The exception to this rule is the embarrassingly touristy, but quite functional, train. This ride brings people from the downtown shopping street up the hill to the Rheinfels Castle. If you are not up for a hike, this is your best option. Even if you don't plan to tour the castle, it's a leisurely way to get an overview of the Rhine setting of St. Goar. In the evening return to Bacharach.
Day 8: Drive to Munich 
This morning drive to Munich and drop off your rental car. Take a taxi to your hotel. Have lunch at a charming rustic converted Horse Stable of the Augustiner Brewery. After lunch join your walking tour beginning in the historic town square, Marienplatz, location of the neo-Gothic Rathaus with its world famous Glockenspiel. We’ll take you on a gentle stroll through the old world mystique of Munich’s famous Old Town. You’:ll see the imposing towers of the 15th centruy Frauenkirche cathedral and the splendour of the beautifully restored St. Peters’s church, the bustle and variety of the legendary Viktualienmarkt, the celebrated Hofbräuhaus beer-hall, and the gradeur of the plazas and gardens of royal Munich - and hear the fascinating stories behind them. Your guide will share their knowledge of Munich's traditions, its cuisine, its popular "liquid bread", its famous - and infamous - sons and daughters, and a few of its secrets. And all of this in the absolutely distinctive mixture of medieval charm, baroque glamour and neo-classical elegance that only Munich can offer.
Day 9: Munich: Dachau Excursion
Your guide will meet you at your hotel and travel with you by rail to to Dachau to visit the Memorial Camp. Dachau was a concentration and extermination camp built and used by the Nazis during World War II. In 1965 a memorial to the victims was created, giving visitors the opportunity to learn of the atrocities prisoners were forced to suffer. On this tour you sill see the cells, barracks and gas chamber and explain the meaning behind the pictures and exhibits in the museum. Read thought provoking accounts of prisoners’ own experiences from the setting up of the camp until their liberation by US-forces in 1945.
The experience of visiting Dachau is difficult and moving but it is a must for anyone wanting to remember and reflect on this painful period of history.
Day
10: Munich
Head out in the morning for a full day of visiting the famous Fairy
Tale Castle. Two hours from Munich, the enchanting old-world town of
Füssen
lies in the foot hills of the Alps, framed by one of the most breathtaking
natural settings in the world. Towering far above the village, seemingly
sculpted out of the very mountains that rise magnificently to the heavens,
is a sight made from the stuff of dreams: the fabulous and ethereal
Neuschwanstein Castle.
This glorious folly was built in the 19th century
by the famed ‘mad’ King Ludwig II, a man obsessed with
myth and who himself became a legend. The shimmering white towers of
the castle among the clouds are instantly recognisable to many who
haven’t ever heard the name Neuschwanstein. Your guide will show
you the castle, its stunning grounds and panoramic views, and give
you
the
complete
story in all its humour, romance and tragedy. Weather depending, we
will walk you through the spetacular waterfall gorge or take you swimming
at the nearly lake. Evening at leisure
to visit the famous Hofbrauhaus. Evening at leisure to visit the famous
Hofbrauhaus. Your guide
will also recommend better and more authentic places to have a beer
and dinner.
Day 11: Departure
Today your transfer will take you to the airport or train station for departure home or to your next destination.