BEST OF GERMANY (CLASSIC GROUP)

• 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.

Arrival Transfer: Depart the airport at 10:30, 13:00, 16:00

Welcome Dinner Meet your Travel Director at 18:30

• 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 reunification, 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?

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 coffee in the delightful Marienplatz?

• 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 off your German experience with a farewell Celebration Dinner, complete with local wine. Prost!

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

Departure Transfer: Arrive at the airport at 07:00, 09:00