14 days Germany

Frankfurt

Arrival airport transfer

Time at leisure to settle down after your flight to Germany.

Embark on a journey to Frankfurt’s origins: from the city’s first market to its rise as the financial capital of Europe with the headquarters of today’s European Central Bank!

Discover how Frankfurt’s bourgeoisie not only amassed economic power, but the city also became the center of German democracy. Learn about the city’s most famous sons and daughters, how they became what they are, and how they influenced Germany’s history.

Your tour guide will take you through fascinating stories of times gone by. Immerse yourself in the narrow streets of historic Frankfurt, discover the world of the grocers and learn how history has shaped the city to this day. Frankfurt’s Altstadt (Old Town) is the smallest district in the city, covering less than half a square kilometer. Most of its original structures – like the Imperial Cathedral, Römer town hall, Römerberg square and others – date back to the Middle Ages and are now complemented by the buildings erected in the post-war era.

You will visit the Kleinmarkthalle to taste the famous apple wine or regional specialties as the famous Frankfurt “Green Sauce”. Apple wine has been Frankfurt’s most popular beverage for over 250 years. The market hall is a culinary paradise with more than 156 market stalls.

You should not miss the Eiserner Steg: This famous iron and concrete footbridge, crossed by over 10,000 pedestrians every day, connects the city center and Römerberg with Sachsenhausen on the southern banks of the Main River.

Inclusions:

• Private arrival transfer
• Hotel in Frankfurt
• Tour with private guide incl. food/wine tasting

FRANKFURT – HEIDELBERG – BADEN-BADEN

Today you will leave Frankfurt in order to head more north side – to Heidelberg.

 Heidelberg is located on the Neckar River and is Baden-Württemberg’s fifth largest city.

Winding alleys and dreamy squares, interesting museums, and galleries: Heidelberg’s Old Town has many facets. On a guided tour of the old town, the past comes alive.

 The route takes you past Germany’s oldest university, through the many hidden alleys of the old town, whose culinary and historical secrets you will discover. Join the trail of fire salamanders and other medieval symbols and learn about the effects of a volcanic eruption in Iceland several thousand kilometers away.

 But today’s Heidelberg is not neglected either. Discover the variety of cuisines and stories in this international city that delights with many festivals and other cultural highlights.

The most popular castle ruins of Germany, the Castle (or Schloss) sits on a hill overlooking the river. It is a showpiece of German Romanticism, a complex of partially destroyed buildings in Gothic and Renaissance styles surrounded by beautiful gardens and containing the world’s largest wine barrel.

After your tour you will have some time at leisure for lunch before you leave Heidelberg and drive on to Baden-Baden.

Inclusions:

• Private transfer from Frankfurt – Heidelberg – Baden-Baden
• Walking tour Heidelberg incl. Entrance fees (2 h) 
• Hotel in Baden-Baden

BAIERSBRONN – BURG HOHENZOLLERN – LINDAU

After breakfast it is time to leave the Black Forest region. Your driver will pick you up and you will head towards the Lake Constance.

On your way you will stop at the Hohenzollern Castle – the ancestral seat of the Prussian King and Princes of Hohenzollern – stands proudly almost 900 meters above the Swabian Jura, fortified with towers and battlements.

On an impressive journey behind the scenes of history, you will walk in the footsteps of the Princes of Hohenzollern. This exciting walk through 1000 years of culture and history, gives a detailed insight into the family history, the building development, and important events. During the tour, many paintings, furniture, and style epochs are intensively discussed. The tour takes you through nearly 20 salons, rooms, and galleries.

We will reserve a table at the castles’ restaurant for lunch before you head on to Lindau.

Check in and rest of day at leisure.

Maybe you would like to visit the lovely town Lindau? Lindau is a major Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance. The landmark of the city is the famous harbor with the lighthouse and Bavarian lions at the entrance.

Inclusions:

• Private driver on disposal from Baiersbronn – Lindau incl. stop at castle Hohenzollern
• Private tour castle Hohenzollern
• Hotel in Lindau  

DAY AT LEISURE AT LAKE CONSTANCE – OPTIONS GIVEN BELOW

Option 1 – Visit Island Mainau

Take the boat from Lindau to the Flower Island Mainau which offers year-round beauty with 45 hectares of impressive gardens.

Walk around the island with your guide and experience the classics of the Mainau tours. We will show you everything you absolutely must see: Mainau Castle with St. Mary’s Castle Church – masterpieces of Baroque architecture as well as botanical treasures. You will also learn about the multifaceted history of Mainau Island and the count’s family. Also during the cold season, the island presents itself as an attractive destination: glittering lakeside, the Alps in the horizon and extravagant winter flowers.

Mainau hosts the second largest butterfly house in Germany that invites you to explore a tropical world with colorful butterflies and blossoms. Furthermore, you can explore a Rhododendron Slope, Italian Rose Garden, Dahlia Garden and Hydrangea Path, Herbaceous Garden.

Option 2 – Zeppelin flight

The sightseeing flights always start at the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen.

Gently, the airship rises into the air and floats elegantly through the sea of air. The Zeppelin NT lays the world at its passengers‘ feet – breathtaking and unforgettable. Shortly after takeoff, the flight altitude of approx. 300 meters is reached. A height that leaves room to see many details on the ground. Clear the stage for varied landscapes from a unique perspective: from the green Allgäu to castles and palaces on Lake Constance or the typical architecture in the Vorarlberg region to colorful islands and outstanding views along the foothills of the Alps. 12 routes of different lengths around Lake Constance, 12 opportunities to fly in the most beautiful way with the Zeppelin NT.

Inclusions:

• Hotel in Lindau 

MUNICH

Memorial Site DACHAU

On March 22, 1933, a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Reich Chancellor, a concentration camp for political prisoners was set up in Dachau. This camp served as a model for all later concentration camps and as a “school of violence” for the SS men under whose command it stood. In the twelve years of its existence over 200.000 persons from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in the numerous subsidary camps. 41.500 were murdered. On April 29 1945, American troops liberated the survivors.

The Memorial Site on the grounds of the former concentration camp was established in 1965 on the initiative of and in accordance with the plans of the surviving prisoners. Since then the Memorial Sites has served as an international places of learning and remembrance for future generations.

Meet your private guide for a tour through the Memorial Site including the permanent exhibition and get a deeper insight of a cruel instrument to supress opponents of the Nazi regime.

Optional visit in the afternoon:

Nymphenburg Palace owes its foundation as a summer residence to the birth of the long-awaited heir to the throne, Max Emanuel, who was born in 1662 to the Bavarian Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, after some ten years of marriage. A site on the edge of the court lands, to the west of the city and the Residenz, was chosen for the new building – a location which, at that time, was still some way out of Munich surrounded by open countryside. In 1664 construction began to the plans of the north Italian architect Agostino Barelli, who also designed Munich’s Theatine Church.

Initially, the Italianate „Nymphenburg summer residence“ was a mighty cubic pavilion, flanked by the court church, several outbuildings and a small, walled, geometrical garden.

Inclusions:

• Private guide and driver for your visit of Dachau ( 4h)
• Hotel in Munich

MUNICH – NUREMBERG

Today you are going to leave Munich and head to Nuremberg. You will get picked up after breakfast and the transfer will last for about 2 hours.

After checking into your centrally located hotel and some time at leisure you will meet your guide for an afternoon walking tour.

Discover the heritage and history of one of Bavaria’s most charming cities. Stroll around the medieval city walls, snap photos of the colorful half-timbered buildings and see the Hauptmarkt, where Nuremberg’s famous Christkindlesmarkt is held. Do you know that Nuremberg is the place where they sell the best ginger bread? Try them out! Learn about Nuremberg’s importance in the Holy Roman Empire, the connection to Prague and why Adolf Hitler loved this city so much. Immerse yourself in the medieval times when you cross very old bridges and  visit landmarks like the Albrecht Dürer House, St. Lawrence Church and Nuremberg Castle. 

If there is time left it is surely worth to visit the World War II Art Bunker, a shelter as much as 24 meters underground, used as a art depot , where the city’s most important art treasures survived the heavy air raids during WWII.

Follow your guide through the huge tunnel complex under Nuremberg Castle in the Historic Art Bunker. Admire the works of art that this bunker protected and learn more about the bombing of the city during World War II.

Optional visit:

Nevertheless, unfortunately there is also a dark chapter in the history of Nuremberg as here the so-called “Reichsparteitage” (Nuremberg Rally) took place during the reign of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The Documentation Center is being remodeled, and the former Permanent Exhibition is now closed. Instead, a specially conceived, compact Interim Exhibition in the Large Exhibition Hall presents the history of the Nazi Party Rallies and the Rally Grounds.

The new interim exhibition „Nuremberg – Site of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Staging, Experience and Violence“ informs visitors about the causes, the context and the repercussions of the National Socialist reign of terror. It recounts German history of the period from a local perspective, supported by multiple biographies and contemporary witness reports that give visitors personal insights into the subject. The one-hour tour provides visitors with detailed information on the former Nazi Party Rallies and the history of the site from 1918 up to the present day. The main parts deal with the propaganda in the thirties and forced labourers and prisoners of war from 1939 to 45.

 Memorium Nuremberg Trials

The post-war history of Germany is strongly connected with the holding of the Nuremberg Trials, which took place in Room 600 in the Palace of Justice. Visit a well-developed exhibition, the Memorium Nuremberg Trials, on this subject.

The Palace of Justice of Nuremberg is located in the Bärenschanze district and is the largest judicial building in Bavaria.

In the wood-paneled Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Justice Building, world history was once written in matters of international law. When the first trial against the main war criminals of the National Socialist regime of terror took place in 1945/1946, the hall looked somewhat different. For the mammoth proceedings, the victorious powers had torn down walls, built grandstands and moved windows.

In 1961, the alterations were reversed. Since then, the room has once again functioned as a „normal“ courtroom and can thus only be visited on days when there are no trials. The war crimes trials, which in retrospect are considered the birth of modern international law, took place in Nuremberg for practical reasons. The city had a sufficiently large and largely undestroyed courthouse, including an adjacent prison. Expensive prisoner transports were unnecessary; the defendants were led to the trial directly from the „Criminal Wing“ through a specially built corridor.

Since 2010, a permanent exhibition in the attic of the Justice Building has provided information about the history of the site. The path from Nuremberg to today’s International Criminal Court in The Hague is also thematized.

Inclusions:

• Private guide for Nuremberg walking tour (4 h) incl. Nazi Party Rallies
• Hotel in Nuremberg

WURZBURG – FRANKFURT 

Inclusions:

• Morning at leisure in Wurzburg
• Transfer to Frankfurt city or airport hotel
• Hotel in Frankfurt

DEPARTURE FROM FRANKFURT