2010 Grand Germany featuring the Passion Play

Day 1: Depart USA
Board your overnight flight to Germany and Berlin.

Day 2: Arrive Berlin
Welcome to the home of lederhosen and beer steins, of pretzels and sausages. Arrive Berlin with the afternoon is free to stroll the famous Kurfurstendamm. Join fellow tour members at dinner this evening.

Day 3: Berlin/Pergamon Museum
Heavily bombed in World War II, Berlin has been remarkably and beautifully rebuilt. See Brandenburg Gate, the state Opera House and St. Hedwig Cathedral. Visit the Pergamon Museum, with its fabulous treasure from ancient Babylon, and the House at Checkpoint Charlie, located where the Wall separated West Berlin from the East. Enjoy lunch out on the town and some free time in Berlin.

Day 4: Wittenberg/Dresden
See the Gothic Church in Wittenberg, where Martin Luther launched the Protestant reformation during the 16th century, and have views of Wittenberg Castle. This afternoon arrive Dresden, known as the Florence on the River Elbe, the city is a treasury of Rococo and Baroque elegance.

Day 5: Meissen/Dresden
Admire the glorious art collection amassed in the Green Vault. See the Semper Opera House and Zwinger Palace, considered the most exquisite example of Baroque architecture in Germany. In nearby Meissen, visit the oldest European porcelain factory, famous for its Dresden china.

Day 6: Castle Road/Rothenburg
Join up with the Castle Road, the scenic byway featuring centuries old fortress towns like Coburg, Bamberg and Nurnberg. Arrive Rothenburg, one of the best preserved medieval towns in Germany, with half timbered houses, fortress walls and cobbled streets dating from the 16th century.

Day 7: Rothenburg/Free time
Enjoy a guided walking tour of Rothenburg, seemingly in a slumber since the days of the Thirty Years War, remarkably preserved. See the Rathaus, the glockenspiel and the famous altar carving by Tilman Riemenschneider in the St. Jakobskirche. Your afternoon is free to absorb the atmosphere and wander the town.

Day 8: Romantic Road/Oberammergau
Take the picturesque Romantic Road through a chain of storybook, medieval towns such as Feuchtwangen, Dinkelsbuhl, Nordlingen and Ausburg. Continue to Bavarian Murnau, your location for the Oberammergau Passion Play program. The Play is performed every ten years, true to the town people vow in the 17th century when it was spared from the plague. Enjoy top category accommodations in Murnau at the ALPENHOF HOTEL.

Day 9: Oberammergau Passion Play
It is a short transfer to Oberammergau, famous for the homes adorned with mural paintings and its woodcarver and local craft shops. You may wish to visit Oberammergau Museum, with a large collection of crib sets. This afternoon take your seat for the first portion of the Play. The townspeople have been performing the Play for 375 years. The performance begins in the afternoon, there is a break for dinner and the Play concludes in the evening. You will not forget this moving experience.

Day 10: Munich/Oktoberfest
Morning drive to Munich, where German gemutlichkeit is the prevailing good feeling. This afternoon visit the Oktoberfest, the renowned Munich festival begun as the wedding celebration when Prince Ludwig married Theresa of Saxon. It is the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest in 2010.

Day 11: Munich/Sightseeing and free time
Explore vibrant Munich this morning. See the lovely Karolinenplatz and the Neue Pinakothek, the foremost German art gallery featuring 19th century classicism and Art Nouveau. Walk to the Marienplatz and see the Rathaus with its glockenspiel. The afternoon is free to enjoy the city on your own. Reminisce with fellow travelers this evening at the farewell dinner.

Day 12: Return home
Flights depart from Munich for your return home. Auf Wiedersehen!

• Attend the Oberammergau Passion Play, performed every tenth year
• Sightseeing with local guides in Berlin, Dresden, Rothenburg and Munich
• Visit Pergamon Museum and House at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin
• See the Green Vault treasures in Dresden
• Tour the porcelain factory in Meissen
• Drive the Romantic Road and through the Bavarian Alps
• Attend the celebrated Oktoberfest in Munich

Enjoy Germany in depth from Berlin south to the foothills of the mighty Alps. Travel the scenic byways, the Castle Road and Romantic Road. See the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Zwinger Palace in Dresden, porcelain of Meissen, famous medieval surroundings in Rothenburg, and attend the Oktoberfest in Munich. Roam the Bavarian woodcarver town of Oberammergau before attending the renowned Passion Play. Do not just see Germany, experience it!

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

Berlin: Regent Berlin
Dresden: Kempinski Taschenbergpalais Hotel
Rothenburg: Eisenhut Hotel
Oberammergau area: Alpenhof Hotel in Murnau
Munich: Le Meridien

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.