Itinerary
 Day 1: Depart USA
Enjoy your overnight flight to Berlin with dinner en route.
Day 2: Arrive Berlin -Leipzig
Arrival in Berlin. Clear customs and meet your Tour Escort for a brief tour of Berlin. View the remains of the Wall, drive by Brandenburg Gate and other sights before continuing on to your hotel in Leipzig. Welcome dinner at hotel. (D)
Day 3: Leipzig - Wittenberg - Leipzig
We begin today, the Reformation Trail to Wittenberg where Martin Luther lived and taught for 36 years. You will see the CASTLE CHURCH DOOR where Luther posted his 95 Theses, giving birth to the Reformation. This church is also the burial site of Luther. We see the UNIVERSITY where Luther taught and the LUTHER HOUSE which is the greatest museum of Reformation History in the world. This afternoon return to Leipzig, Bach's city, and a visit to ST. THOMAS CHURCH where Bach was choir master and organist. Dinner at hotel. (B,D)
Day 4: Leipzig - Eiselben - Erfurt
Today, depart Leipzig and travel to Eisenben which is noted among the most significant in Luther's history; he was born here in 1483 and died here in 1546 and old manuscripts indicate that he felt a special affinity to Eisenben. We will see the house of his birth and death, ST. ANDREWS CHURCH where he preached his last sermon, the LUTHER MONUMENT, and ST. ANNE'S CHURCH with the famous Biblical scenes hewn in stone and many other sites. Continue to nearby Erfurt, where Luther attended the university. A highlight of the tour will be the AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY where he spent his early years as a monk. Dinner and overnight in Erfurt.(B,D)
Day 5: Erfurt - Eisenach - Coburg - Goetz - Wurzburg
Travel this morning to Eisenach, birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. Eisenach is best known as the site of WARTBURG CASTLE, most famous for sheltering Martin Luther while he translated the New Testament into German. Continue to scenic Thuringer Wald to view the fortress of Coburg know as Veste, the place of Luther's imprisonment in 1530. Travel on to Wurzburg for evening dinner and overnight. (B,D)
Day 6: Wurzburg - Heidelburg - Worms - Wurzburg
This morning we travel to picture book Heidelberg, the romantic medieval city on the banks of the River Neckar. Our sightseeing will include a visit to the CASTLE RUINS, home of the Student Prince; we will also see the famous Stone Bridge and the University, one of the oldest in the world. It was a stronghold of German Reformed Protestants beginning in 1560. One of the great confessional statements of the Reformation, the Heidelberg Catechism was produced here in 1563. This afternoon visit Worms. It was here, during the Imperial Diet in 1521, that Martin Luther challenged the entire Roman Catholic establishment by his refusal to recant the great doctrines of Protestantism. It was also here that William Tyndale completed the printing of his English version of the New Testament in 1525 which he had begun in Cologne. After seeing ST. PETER'S CHURCH and the symbolic LUTHER MEMORIAL near the town square, we will return to our lhotel in Wurzburg for dinner and overnight. (B,D)
Day 7: Wurzburg - Rothenburg on the Tauber - Augsburg
This morning, one of the highlights of your trip will be a visit to the best preserved medieval town in all of Europe, Rothenburg. Visit the quaint RATHAUS (town hall) with its tower, the Kriminal-museum, housing all manner of Medieval instruments of torture and especially for the ladies, one of the most fascinating Christmas stores you will ever see - Kathe's. Some free time for lunch. This afternoon travel south to the ancient city of Augsburg. It was here in 1518 at ST. ANNE'S CHURCH that Luther met the papal legate, Cardinal Cajetan, who demanded that Luther submit to the pope. Augsburg was also the site of another Imperial Diet at which Protestants presented their confession, the foremost doctrinal statement of the Lutheran church. In the town hall the Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555 ending for a time the religious wars in Germany between the Catholics and the Protestants. Dinner and overnight in Augsburg. (B,D)
Day 8: Augsburg -Bavaria - Oberammergau
Today, travel south to Bavaria for a visit to Ludwig II's most luxurious former residence, the NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE. This afternoon' visit the little hamlet of Eibsee. Take a modern cable car to the summit of the tallest mountain in Germany, the ZUGSPITZE. Here it snows year round with absolutely spectacular views. Continue to the charming town of Oberammergau, for dinner and overnight. (B,D)
Day 9: Passion Play
The history of the Passion Play at Oberammergau goes back to 1634, when the village of Oberammergau was miraculously saved from the ravages of the Black Death. Since that date, the play has been performed every ten years on the decade. The day is set aside for the event. This unique occasion is literally a "once-in-a-lifetime" event. Lunch and Dinner at hotel. (B,L,D)
Day 10: Depart Munich for USA.
We travel to the airport for our flight home arriving back in our home town today.(B) |
