BEST OF GERMANY - 12 days , 12 cities

Day 1 | Welcome to Berlin

Your travels of Germany begin in the capital, Berlin. With the afternoon free, perhaps walk along the bustling Ku' Damm, shopping centre of West Berlin, which during 40 years of division, became the shop window of the West. Tonight, join your Travel Director and travel companions at a local restaurant for your Welcome Dinner.

Meals : Dinner with Wine

Hotel : Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre.

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Day 2 | The Spirit of Berlin

Join a Local Expert to see some of Berlin's many highlights. Travel along the Ku'Damm past the Memorial Church. Drive through the Tiergarten to see Norman Foster’s glass dome that crowns the reconstructed Reichstag building. Continue with a visit to the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of the reunication, and down along the Unter den Linden, past the Humboldt University and State Opera. Stop on Museum Island before enjoying a day at leisure in this once divided city. Perhaps take the opportunity to visit the glorious palace of the Prussian Kings at Potsdam?

Meals : Breakfast

Hotel : Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• Highlights of Former East Berlin  - Explore the shadows of the past with our Local Expert and visit the staggering Holocaust Memorial. Stop for a photo at ‘Checkpoint Charlie', location of the tense stand-os between U.S. & Soviet forces during the Cold War. Then a real highlight as we visit the Berlin Wall Memorial. The memorial contains the last section of the Berlin Wall with a guard tower and preserved grounds and is thus able to convey an impression of how the border fortications developed until the end of the 1980s. Learn about this focal point of 20th-century history and of the fate of those who attempted to cross it.
  Adult: 35.00 EUR
  * If your hotel is located near Checkpoint Charlie you will visit East Side Gallery instead.
• Bridge of Spies, Sanssouci & Dinner  - Our evening takes us to Potsdam, the summer home and royal residence to the Kings of Prussia. Here we'll see the ‘Sanssouci’ palace of the most celebrated Prussian king, Frederick the Great. We'll enjoy time for photos in the gardens and then continue to the Glienicke Bridge, the famous 'Bridge of Spies'. The bridge was used for spy exchanges between East & West during the Cold War. We'll cross the bridge on foot before continuing to historic Wirsthaus Moorlake, nestled on the banks of the Havel river, for an evening of traditional German fare. n.b. This optional experience may be oered without dinner for €48.
  Adult: 74.00 EUR

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Day 3 | Dresden, a Baroque Phoenix on the Elbe

In Dresden, join your Local Expert to see the splendours of the city. From the Frauenkirche, which has risen again from the destruction of World War II, walk past ‘The Procession of the Princes', a mosaic of colossal proportions on the Royal Palace facade. See the huge cathedral, Semper Opera House and Baroque Zwinger Palace. Although the town was heavily bombed during World War II, it remains a treasure trove of early German history and baroque architecture.

Meals : Breakfast

Hotel : Hilton Dresden

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• Meissen Excursion  - It was in Dresden that the rst porcelain in Europe was made. We will visit the Meissen factory where we are shown how this world-famous porcelain is made before we visit the museum. Later there is time to visit the factory shop for some bargains and enjoy a coee. Before we head back to the hotel we will enjoy the scenic ride along the river Elbe and we will stop to take in the beauty of Moritzburg castle.
  Adult: 44.00 EUR

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Day 4 | Medieval Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Join a Local Expert in Weimar to explore the city of literary luminaries Goethe and Schiller. Venture to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the best-preserved town on the Romantic Road. Plunge back into the 16th century during your orientation with your Travel Director as you walk through narrow cobbled streets lined with high-gabled houses to the market square, dominated by its Renaissance town hall. For your Dine-Around Evening, choose from a hand-picked selection of restaurants within the walls of the Old Town.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Hotel : Hotel Altes Brauhaus, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

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Day 5 | Rothenburg at Leisure

Enjoy an inspiring stroll through the narrow-cobbled streets with a Local Expert before taking in panoramic views on the historic city walls walk. Spend the rest of the day at your leisure for further exploration on your own, or perhaps a guided visit to the medieval town of Nuremberg.

Meals : Breakfast

Hotel : Hotel Altes Brauhaus, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• Nuremberg Rally Grounds and the Historical Centre  - Today we will make our way to the rally grounds and unnished Congress Hall of the former Nazi Party. Here we will meet our local Expert who will show us around the vast area and detail the Party's fascination with rallies and also the causes and consequences of National Socialism. We also see Zeppelin eld with the Tribune and the Luitpoldhain (the former Luitpold arena). Later we visit the Main Square of Nuremberg where you can turn the Golden ring on one of the oldest fountains of Germany and make your wish.
  Adult: 41.00 EUR 

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Day 6 | Frankfurt and Mainz

Continue your travels through to Frankfurt and take in the city's famed landmarks with a Local Expert. See the gable-roofed Römer, European Central Bank, Frankfurt Cathedral's Coronation Site, and the eminent Paulskirche. Complete your visit with a tasting of local Apfelwein. Your hotel is in the nearby town of Mainz, a bustling and important town since the time of the Romans. Enjoy a guided visit of the Gutenberg Museum, dedicated to one of history's most important inventors.

Meals : Breakfast

Hotel : Hilton Mainz

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• Rüdesheim Dinner And Entertainment  - Drive to the small river port of Rudesheim, known for its Riesling wines and narrow ‘Street of Thrushes', which buzzes with lively restaurants, old taverns and festive music long into the night. Throw back a schnapps, feel the pulse of live entertainment, and enjoy a fun-lled evening of song, merriment and regional German food. Prost!
  Adult: 78.00 EUR

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Day 7 | Castles of the Rhine Experience

Begin the day with a relaxing cruise past steep-sided vineyards, half-timbered taverns and hilltop castles. Stop in Bacharach on the banks of the Rhine, for a scenic stroll in the vineyards with a Local Expert. Sit down for a delicious Farm-to-Table Lunch prepared with locally sourced ingredients, and wine tasting.

Meals : Breakfast, Lunch with Wine

Hotel : Hilton Mainz.

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Day 8 | Heidelberg and Freiburg, Cuckoo Clocks of Black Forest

This morning, continue your travels to Heidelberg. Visit Heidelberg Palace, one of the world's most impressive palace ruins and an icon of the Romantic Movement. Venture inside to see the Heidelberg Tun, a gigantic wine vat built into the building's cellar in 1591 and able to hold 130,000 litres. Hear its associated tales of the dwarf court jester, Perkeo. Marvel at the panoramic vistas of the city and Neckar Valley from the castle fortress. Continue on to your hotel in the Black Forest, the land of cherry cake and cuckoo clocks, where traditional farmhouses dip their thatched roofs almost to the ground. Stop to meet the locals who still make cuckoo clocks by hand, a tradition passed down for over 300 years.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Hotel : Hotel Stadt Freiburg

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Day 9 | The Black Forest 

The best way to enjoy this enchanting region is on a lake cruise. Relax and soak up the atmosphere of the Black Forest on a guided wildlife walk, a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience.

Meals : Breakfast

Hotel : Hotel Stadt Freiburg.

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• Colmar Excursion  - Nestled in the heart of the Alsatian vineyards lies the impossibly quaint little town of Colmar. Our local expert will help you discover its half timbered byways and Venetian-style canals.
  Adult: 40.00 EUR

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Day 10 | Jewels of the Bavarian Alps

Embark on an exciting visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, bristling with turrets and pinnacles and built as a retreat for the wildly eccentric King Ludwig II. See the extravagantly decorated apartments, including the Throne Room and Lohengrin Courtyard. On your return to Munich, the rest of the day is free for you to explore Bavaria's capital city. Perhaps visit one of its many art galleries and museums, or relax and enjoy a coee in the delightful Marienplatz?

Meals : Breakfast

Hotel : Munich Marriott Hotel 

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• Bavarian Dinner  - Tonight we'll soak up the lively atmosphere of a popular traditional restaurant. We'll enjoy traditional Bavarian hospitality and sample delicious regional specialties and local beer.
  Adult: 74.00 EUR
  

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Day 11 | The Bavarian Capital of Munich

Explore Munich with Insight Choice. Choose to join a Local Expert for a foodie walking tour in the city centre. Alternatively, visit the famous Residenz, and see its museum and Treasury. In the evening, round o your German experience with a farewell Celebration Dinner, complete with local wine. Prost!

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Hotel : Munich Marriott Hotel. 

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES:

• The Dachau Memorial  - After Hitler's rise to power in 1933, the rst concentration camp for political prisoners was opened outside the town of Dachau and it became a blueprint for others to follow. Now maintained as a memorial, spend some reective moments with our Local Expert amid the remains of the camp prisons, reconstructed barracks, kitchens, workshops and baths which serves as the museum. A chilling and emotional reminder of the horrors of war.
  Adult: 38.00 EUR
  

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Day 12 | Auf Wiedersehen Munich!

Say Auf Wiedersehen to your new friends as you trip comes to an end.

Meals : Breakfast