Best of Germany - Classic Group, 2021

WHAT TO EXPECT

• Our highly-skilled Travel Director will ensure your journey is seamless, serving as your expert guide, consummate organiser, and friend overseas
• Enjoy the comfort of Insight's luxury, air-conditioned, 40-seat coach with double the standard legroom and onboard washroom
• Personal radio headsets give you the freedom to wander during visits to famous highlights, without missing any of your Local Expert's fascinating commentary
• We carry your bags for you and promptly deliver them to your hotel door
• Hotel and restaurant tips are included - you'll never have to worry about how much to give, nor search for foreign currency
• We also include all taxes and porterage charges at hotels
• Stay connected with friends and family with our complimentary coach and hotel Wi-Fi (where available)
• From time to time, your Travel Director will enchant you with an Insight Flourish, which is a local specialty representing the destination
• If your arrival and/or departure flights are as per the itinerary start and end dates, then transfers are available at scheduled times
• If your flights are outside these times, or you have booked additional nights accommodation with Insight Vacations, you may purchase transfers or make your own way from/to the airport

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

1

UNIQUE INSIGHT EXPERIENCE

13

TOP RATED HIGHLIGHTS

4

AUTHENTIC DINING EXPERIENCES

6

HAND PICKED HOTELS

6

OPTIONAL EXPERIENCES

Insight Experiences

BLACK FOREST:

• Discover the art of cuckoo clock making at a charming workshop in the Black Forest. Watch a demonstration by the lively artisan, while you enjoy a glass of cherry wine.

Day 1 / Welcome to Berlin

On arrival at Berlin's Branderburg Airport, transfers depart at 10.30, 13:00 & 16:00. In the afternoon, perhaps visit the KaDeWe department store - the shopping centre of West Berlin which during 40 years of division, became the shop window of the West. At 18:30, join your Travel Director and travel companions for a Welcome Dinner with wine, at a local restaurant.(Dinner with Wine)

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 reunification, and down long 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?(Breakfast)

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 enormous cathedral, Semper Opera House and Baroque Zwinger Palace. Although the town was heavily bombed in World War II, it still remains a treasure trove of early German history and medieval architecture.(Breakfast)

Day 4 / Nuremberg and the Bavarian Capital of Munich

In the morning, depart Dresden and travel south to Nuremberg for a stop to take in the former rally grounds. Continue on to the vibrant city of Munich. Enjoy a city orientation that will show you the university, Victory Arch and the Marienplatz, where crowds gather at the Town Hall to watch the antics of the Glockenspiel.(Breakfast)

Day 5 / The Jewels of the Bavarian Alps

In the morning, travel to Neuschwanstein: Ludwig II’s fairytale castle spectacularly perched on an Alpine mountainside. A local historian will guide you through the extravagantly decorated apartments, including the Throne Room and Lohengrin Grotto. Continue along part of the Alpine Road amid beautiful scenery to the Wieskirche, a masterpiece of Bavarian Rococo. Journey onto Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps, home of the Passion Play since 1634. See the immense theatre and colourfully-painted chalets. Return to Munich and savour a Farm-to-Table Highlight Dinner, sourced from fresh local ingredients.(Breakfast / Dinner with Wine)

Day 6 / Into the Black Forest

Explore Munich with Insight Choice. Choose between joining a Local Expert for a foodie walking tour in the city centre visiting the famous Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz or alternatively, go on a guided bike tour in the beautiful English Garden and see the famous Munich surfers. Take a delightful drive into the Black Forest as you make your way to Freiburg.(Breakfast)

Day 7 / Medieval Rothenburg ob der Tauber

The Black Forest is 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 over 300 years. 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. Spend the rest of the day at your leisure for further exploration on your own. For your Dine-Around Evening, choose from a hand-picked selection of restaurants within the walls of the Old Town.(Breakfast / Dinner with Wine)

Day 8 / The University City of Heidelberg and Mainz

Head through the valleys, where villages and isolated farms nestle beside fast-flowing streams, before travelling north to Heidelberg. Visit Heidelberg Palace, or Heidelberger Schloss in German, one of the world's most impressive palace ruins, synonymous with 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. Spend time in the vast and insightful Apothecary Museum, before marvelling at the panoramic vistas of the city and Neckar Valley from the castle fortress. Your hotel is in the nearby town of Mainz, a bustling and important town since the time of the Romans. Enjoy an orientation with your Travel Director and see half-timbered houses and medieval market squares that the city is known for.(Breakfast)

Day 9 / Castles of the Rhine Experience

Begin the day with a relaxing cruise past steep-sided vineyards, half-timbered taverns, hilltop castles and the infamous Lorelei Rock. Arrive at Boppard and continue to Koblenz where a gigantic equestrian statue of Wilhelm I guards the junction of the Rhine and Moselle. Have your camera ready as you return along the eastern bank. Enjoy the scenic views from the mighty Niederwald Monument. In the evening, round off your German experience with a farewell Celebration Dinner overlooking the River Rhine, complete with local wine. Prost!(Breakfast / Dinner with Wine)

Day 10 / Auf Wiedersehen Frankfurt

Your journey comes to an end after breakfast, with departure transfers arriving at Frankfurt airport at 08:00 and 10:00.(Breakfast)

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