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Christmas Market Tour “Classic”
Day 1 – Departure from the USA and overnight flight to Europe.
Day 2 – Arrival at Berlin’s Tegel airport in the morning. Your tour guide Uli and your bus driver Max are waiting to welcome you to Europe. Board your private deluxe motor coach that will be with you for the entire trip. Depending on your time of arrival and the time we can check into our hotel, we may seize the opportunity and take you to some Berlin sights that are a bit off the beaten track, e.g. Potsdam. Around lunchtime check into your hotel for the first two overnights.
In the afternoon we’ll walk over to the unique Asia Minor Museum (www.smb.spk-berlin.de): See the Pergamon Altar and the incredible Ishtar gate of ancient Babylon (yes, the original!). On the way back, our little stroll will then take us to your first taste of a German Christmas Market – Glühwein, Bratwurst, Lebkuchen – plus many local artists offering their merchandise. As you make your way back to the hotel a hearty buffet dinner is waiting for you in their restaurant before you may sink into your feather beds to sleep off your jet lag…
Day 3 – After breakfast, which, as always during this tour, will be at your hotel, a local guide will take you on a 3 hour tour of Berlin: Major sights will be featured such as the Reichstag parliament building, the Gedächtnis church and the Brandenburg Gate. But we will also try and find traces of the city’s recent history, take a fresh look at Checkpoint Charlie, and pay a visit to Berlin’s „Lower East Side“ - Kreuzberg. The afternoon is free for individual activities: More Christmas markets are waiting for you, and ample other shopping opportunities, among them the famous KADEWE department store with its breathtaking deli department. No organized dinner tonight.
Day 4 – This morning you are on your way south into the Erzgebirge hills. There may be additional sightseeing on the way. We expect to arrive in the village of Seiffen some time in the early afternoon. This is Germany’s “toy village”, and home of the world-famous wooden nutcrackers, “smoker” figurines and Christmas pyramids. You’ll be able to wander around the many beautiful stores with their tempting goodies. Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Seiffen:
Day 5 – This morning, the one event takes place that is probably the most important one in all the year: The official opening of the Christmas Market in Seiffen. The parade will start at approx.. 9:30am., and will arrive in the village at about 9:50am. They’ll be parading down Main Street, but not necessarily all the way to our hotel – so make sure you walk towards the center of the village and get yourself a good place. After the parade, Uli will take those of you interested, to the workshop and store of one of the two local „hoop-makers“, so essential to the production of the Erzgebirge toys, and afterwards to the Gläser company, one of the leading manufacturers of toys and Christmas items. You will see the turners, woodcarvers and painters at work. The balance of the afternoon is free for you to leisurely explore the village. Additional activities may be announced. Dinner will once again be at the Seiffner Hof.
Day 6 – We leave Germany this morning to cross into the Czech Republic. Please note that as we cross the border in Zinnwald this is your only chance to recover the sales tax of purchases made so far. We expect to arrive in the city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, around lunchtime. Since the Middle Ages, Prague has been known as one of the most beautiful cities of the world, and has been attributed adjectives such as „golden“, „city of hundred spires“, „the crown of the world“, „a stone dream“. Throughout centuries, prominent personalities paid homage to it: Mozart, Beethoven, Dostoyevsky, Rodin, Tchaikovsky, Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II, only to mention a few. Prague represents a unique collection of historical monuments dominated by Prague Castle which towers high above the city. It merges all artistic and architectonic styles and movements. The historical core of the city is situated on both banks of the Vltava river, and by subway within easy reach of the hotel: We have left this evening free of any planned dinner to give you a chance to enjoy the rich cultural scene of Prague. The “Black Theater” comes to mind, or the “Laterna Magica”, a very clever mix of stage acting and film. The following website will help you to plan your evening beforehand: www.visitprague.cz.
Day 7 – This morning is fully devoted to Prague, the „golden“ city on the Moldau river. During a guided tour, you will see the Hradschin castle area with government buildings and a beautiful church, you will walk across the ancient and picturesque bridge, and of course you will stand on Wenzelslaus Square, sight of many a political event in more recent history. Our guide, by the way, is Dr. Eva Stehlikova who some of you may remember from a tour just after the iron curtain had fallen. In the afternoon you will have time to check out Prague’s shopping opportunities, not least their Christmas Market around the Huss monument and by the astronomical clock. Dinner tonight will be at a very interesting restaurant, the Koliba U Pastyrky . Please not that you will be joined by „the other group“ from Colorado which is led by Rocque Hicks and Hubert „Hubi“ Menze“– so this is the time to say hi and enjoy the gipsy music and the great food together, which was inspired by the shepherds and their rustic life in the Puszta:
Day 8 – We leave Prague this morning and travel on the highway in direction to Brno for a good while before we head south and cross the border into Austria. Some sightseeing may be done en route as possibilities arise.Vienna is our final destination, and we hope to arrive there in the early afternoon. Time to check out Vienna and their Christmas Market this afternoon before we’ll sit down for dinner at a very special place: an art museum by the name of Wiener Kunsthaus. You will be staying in a hotel in Vienna.
Day 9 - Today is the day of our Tour of Vienna: See the Stephansdom Cathedral, hear about the grand opera house of the city, decide for yourself whether Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the famous painter and architect of the building named after him, has pushed the door open for a new style of urban living in the 21st century. In contrast, walk through 22 rooms of the imperial palace of Schönbrunn (www.schoenbrunn.at), one more ornate than the one before, during a tape-guided tour. And see the big ferris wheel of “The Third Man” movie fame. The balance of the day is at your disposal. Once again we have no planned dinner lined up so you may avail yourself of the endless entertainment and cultural opportunities the city has to offer.
Day 10 - Full day free in Vienna. Your guide is available to help you with special projects you may have. No dinner planned.
Day 11 - One last border needs to be crossed this morning as we venture into Hungary. Budapest, the capital, is our destination, and we hope to be there by lunchtime to check into our hotel: We’d like to use this afternoon to give you a first impression of what many call the most beautiful city on the Danube (Don’t mention this in Vienna, though!). See the impressive Parliament building overlooking the river, find out about Budapest’s tradition as a spa, and walk around the old castle area – all with the help of our local guide. Dinner will be at the hotel restaurant.
Day 12 - While today is basically free we have asked our local guide to be available once again and help us discover the city some more: What about the gorgeous coffee houses, for example? Or a walk around the inside of the Parliamentary Building? And will anybody be courageous enough to join us for a visit to an original Turkish bath? We’ll see how this day unfolds… Tonight our grand farewell dinner will take place in a local restaurant.
Day 13 - Very early transfer to Budapest Airport – it is now time to say goodbye, or rather "Auf Wiedersehen", to your tour guide and your driver. Departure to the USA.
We count a total of 12 tour days in Europe. List of overnight places:
As all our tours are specifically designed to our customer's requirements, the prices per tour will of course vary. As a benchmark, however, expect the price per overnight in Europe to be from about 96 EURO per person in a double room, based on a group size of 40 paying passengers. The same tour with 30 paying passengers would cost approx. 113 EURO per person, and 125 EUR per overnight and person if 25 passengers take part. This is due to the fact that a large portion of the costs (bus transportation, guide costs etc.) have to be pro-rated. As a rule of thumb you could say, “The more persons come, the better for everybody.” The maximum number of persons should not go much beyond 40 so that ideally some 10 seats on the bus stay empty, to give everybody air to breathe. A limited amount of single rooms is available at a surcharge. Your flight is not included in the price mentioned, and will depend on your departure city. If you live in the US, and you require help with your flight booking, you can contact... Mrs Jean Fish tel/fax 262-567-0194
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