2010 France & Germany featuring the Passion Play

Day 1 Thursday Depart USA
Board your overnight flight to Paris.

Day 2 Friday Arrive Paris, France
Welcome to the city of light and the capital of France, Paris. Remainder of the day is free to relax before the evening reception and dinner.

Day 3 Saturday Paris Sightseeing/Louvre
Explore Paris with a local guide. Drive along the Champs Elysees promenade from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, where Marie Antoinette met her untimely end. See Sainte Chapelle and the dominating, yet graceful, Eiffel Tower. Notre Dame Cathedral, the essence of Gothic architecture with its fanciful stonework and elegant flying buttresses, sits on an island in the Seine River, and Sacre Coeur Basilica is atop Montmartre hill. Visit the Louvre, a former palace and now a truly great art museum. The museum holds crown jewels and Master Paintings by Rubens, da Vinci, Raphael and Renoir. The Mona Lisa is here, as is the incomparable Nike of Samothrace. Lunch is out on the town in Paris.

Day 4 Sunday TGV Train/Strasbourg
Depart on the high speed TGV train for Strasbourg, known for its cathedral and beautiful winding canals. This afternoon see the rose red Cathedral of Notre Dame, considered one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings in Europe, the UNESCO World Heritage historic city center (called Grande Ile), and relax on a bateau mouche boat ride on the city canals.

Day 5 Monday Black Forest/Bavaria
Cross the Rhine River as you enter Germany. Drive south through the evergreen dominated Black Forest and stop in Freiburg, for an opportunity to get an authentic cuckoo clock. Continue along the shore of Bodensee to Bavaria and the foothills of the magnificent Alps. Stay two nights in Murnau, your location for the Oberammergau Passion Play, which is performed every tenth year.

Day 6 Tuesday Oberammergau Passion Play
Enjoy a free morning in Oberammergau, famous for the murals painted on homes and the fine woodcarver shops. You can also visit the town museum, featuring Gothic woodcarvings and crib sets. The actual Passion Play begins this afternoon. The townspeople have been performing the Play for 375 years, still honoring the vow made centuries ago. Following the afternoon program, there is a break for dinner, and the Play concludes in the evening.

Day 7 Wednesday Munich
Morning drive to Munich, where the good vibes of gemutlichkeit await. Afternoon sightseeing includes the twin spired Frauenkirche, the Marienplatz and see the old Rathaus with its glockenspiel. Visit the Alte Pinakothek filled with Master Paintings.

Day 8 Thursday Munich
The full day is free in Munich. The English Garden is beautiful, the Maximillianstrasse has elegant shopping, the Deutsches Museum is huge or you can return to the Old Town Square. It is fun to take a break at a beer hall, such as the famous Hofbrauhaus, for traditional sausage and kraut. Reminisce this evening at the farewell dinner.

Day 9 Friday Return home
Your tour ends this morning after breakfast. Auf Wiedersehen!

• Sightsee Paris with an expert local guide and visit the Louvre
• In Strasbourg see the Cathedral of Notre Dame and cruise the canals
• Ride the high speed TGV train Paris to Strasbourg
• Visit the German Black Forest and Freiburg
• Finale stay in Munich
• Attend the Oberammergau Passion Play, performed every ten years

Wineries, villages and castles--these embody the rural countryside of France and Bavaria. While world class museums and monuments fill one with wonder in lively Paris and Munich. Add the unique Oberammergau Passion Play and you have a feature program of history, variety, and enrichment. This is an opportunity that comes but once a decade.

• All accommodations while on tour
• 7 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners

Paris: Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg
Strasbourg: Sofitel Strasbourg Grande Ile
Oberammergau: Alpenhof Hotel in Murnau
Munich: Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten

For terms and conditions of this Oberammergau Tour, please click here.

* The prices shown are U.S. dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. Prices quoted for land arrangements are subject to increase without notice. Once we have received your deposit, land prices are guaranteed. Whenever air-inclusive tour prices are displayed, these prices do not include government taxes and fees, which are additional. Air prices are subject to increase and are guaranteed only from the time that full payment is received. Air-inclusive prices include air from a major U.S. gateway; air from other U.S. airports is available at an additional cost. Sorry, we are unable to offer air from countries other than the U.S. However, for those international customers who are able to arrange their own transportation to the tour origination city, we are able to offer the land portion of the package or tour, at the price quoted.