-Day 1 Start tour
Day 2 Guten tag Munich
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Details: Munich city walk
Fun-loving Munich is the perfect place to explore. Follow your Tour Director through the wide boulevards, scenic squares, and popular parks of this Bavarian capital.
Day 3 Munich landmarks
Details: Munich guided sightseeing tour
Join a professional licensed tour guide for a whirlwind look at Munich. Founded in the 12th century by Henry the Lion, Munich now roars with the hustle and bustle of modern German life. As you pass by Marienplatz (named after the square’s gilded Virgin Mary and Child statue), mechanical knights joust and coopers dance to the folk-music chimes of the Neues Rathaus’s Glockenspiel. The twin onion-bulb towers of the Frauenkirche Cathedral frame this whimsical display, while the scents, sounds and colors of the nearby food market attempt to draw your attention elsewhere. Resist temptation and continue on to Olympiapark, a new suburb built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Pass by several museums, such as the BMW Museum, Alte Pinakothek (home to Munich’s most precious art collections), and the Deutsches Museum of science and technology.
Details: Olympic site of 1972
Visit Olympia Park, site of the 1972 Olympics. Buildings include the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Hall, and the Aquatic Center. Many cultural events are still held at Olympia Park.
Details: Marienplatz
Discover the area of Munich around Marienplatz, which is dedicated to the patron of the city. See the Neues Rathaus and observe the Glockenspiel on its facade. This is the fourth largest chiming clock in Europe, and stages an elaborate performance twice a day.
Details: Dachau Concentration Camp & Memorial visit
A grim glimpse into the past, Dachau was the first of Nazi Germany’s camps and a model for the 3,000 work and concentration camps to come. A chilling memorial to the 206,000 prisoners who were interned in the camp from 1933 to 1945, the museum examines pre-1930 anti-Semitism, the rise of the Nazi party, and the documented lives of prisoners.
Details: Bavarian bratwurst dinner
Enjoy Bavarian- or Berlin-style sausage with traditional sides, made from veal and pork back bacon (Bavarian-style), or fried pork (Berlin style).
Day 4 Munich
Hard Rock Cafe dinner
Details: Nymphenburg Palace visit
Visit the splendid Nymphenburg Palace, once the residence of the Bavarian kings. Of particular interest is the Rococo Banqueting Hall, with its vivid frescoes by Johann Baptist, and the Gallery of Beauties, which displays portraits of the loveliest women of the time of Ludwig I. Visit the Carriage Museum, which houses coaches, carriages and sleighs once belonging to the Bavarian rulers, before enjoying a stroll in the formal Gardens
Details: Olympic Park visit
Take a VIP tour of the massive stadium that was the site of the 1936 summer Olympics and the host of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Try to imagine the cheers and feel the excitement as you get a behind-the-scenes look at where the athletes prepared for some of the most important events of their lives.
Day 5 Salzburg
Details: Salzburg guided excursion
Visit the hills that are still very much alive with music. Surrounded by towering snow-capped Alpine mountains, Salzburg was fashioned in Baroque style architecture by three Bishop Princes back in the late 16th century. Discover all kinds of medieval spires, domes, belfries and turrets atop city buildings and houses of worship. Visit Mozart’s birthplace in Old Town. Relive scenes from The Sound of Music at the yellow castle the infamous von Trapp family called home. You’ll also visit the salt mines. The area near Salzburg is one of the oldest centers of salt production in the world. You’ll journey back to the time when salt was still considered “white gold”.
Details: Mozart’s birthplace visit
Feel the rhythm of Salzburg’s Old Town Square as you enter the unassuming yellow domicile at Getreidegasse 9. This is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. View an impressive collection of the young composer’s first instruments and immerse yourself in the captivating saga of this prodigy’s early life.
Day 6 Outside Munich
Details: Neuschwanstein Castle visit
This elaborate castle was built atop a rock ledge over the Pöllat Gorge in the Bavarian Alps by order of Bavaria's King Ludwig II, referred to as "Mad Ludwig," whose favorite pastime was midnight sleigh rides through the countryside. This stronghold was the crowning jewel of the king’s building spree across Bavaria and was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle in Disney World. Begun in 1869 and left unfinished at Ludwig's death in 1886, this lavish palace is an eccentric reconstruction of a medieval castle, and it boasts major technological and architectural achievements for the time, including running water, flushing toilets, a hot water system for the kitchen, and bathrooms with warm-air heating systems.
Details: Oberammergau excursion
Visit a typical Bavarian dwellings in Oberammergau, a charming Alpine village. When the black plague spread through Europe, wiping out thousands of people, the residents of Oberammergau prayed for their village to be spared. Every 10 years during the summer days, the thankful town puts on the Passion Play, celebrating the blessing they were granted as they were passed over by the Black Death.
Day 7 Start extension to Berlin
Travel to Berlin by train
Berlin City WalkAlexanderplatz, Bebelplatz, Hackesche Höfe, Nikolai Quarter, Museum Island
Day 8 Berlin landmarks
Details: Berlin guided sightseeing tour
Join a professional, licensed tour guide as you discover one of the most historical cities in Germany. Although nothing remains of the mortar and cement-block barrier between East and West Berlin, the Berlin Wall (built in 1961; destroyed in 1989) is still a main “site” in Berlin. View the well-known Brandenburg Gate, once a main gate hidden behind a 10-foot barrier and now known for celebratory dancing on its flat top during the reunification. Travel to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the most famous border crossing point. Checkpoint Charlie, once a wooden guard hut, was the most (in)famous border-crossing point between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. All that remains of the checkpoint itself is a skeletal watchtower and a memorial of attempted escapees. Follow your guide as they lead you through the museum’s accounts of the most ingenious of these escape attempts— even a few by hot air balloon.
Details: Berlin Wall
Follow the route of the Berlin Wall viewing numerous crosses and wreaths to remind us of the
tragedies which occurred after the wall was built in 1961.
Details: Brandenburg Gate
Spend time at the Brandenburg Gate, a triumphal arch, which stood in "no man's land"
between East and West Berlin during the Cold War and became a symbol of a divided
Germany. Enter the Room of Silence, built into one of the guardhouses, where visitors gather
to meditate and reflect on Germany's past.
Details: Checkpoint Charlie Museum visit
Visit the museum that documents the history and significance of the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.
Tour Includes:
- Round-trip airfare
- 5 overnight stays (7 with extension) in hotels with private bathrooms
- Full European breakfast daily
- Dinner daily
- Full-time services of a professional tour director
- Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
- Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
- Tour Diary™
- Local Guide and Local Bus Driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
- Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
- Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.
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