12D11N Highlights of Germany (6040)

Check into your hotel. The rest of the day is free. Tonight, meet your Tour Director and fellow travellers. 

Today's highlight is an included Rhine cruise to enjoy scenic views of the Rhineland, including the famous Lorelei rock. The next highlight is Cologne with free time to visit the city centre.

Journey into Niedersachsen to visit Hamelin. Admire its town centre with the colourful historical buildings and magically fancy gables echoing the "Pied Piper" legend. Continue to Hamburg.

Start the day with an orientation drive in Hamburg, one of Germany's greatest maritime cities. Later, depart for Lubeck, formerly a free Hanseatic city and independent state. Lubeck, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered the cultural capital of northern Germany. Thomas Mann, Gunther Grass, and Willy Brandt-all Nobel laureates-were among the famous residents of this city. Later, arrive in Berlin and enjoy your first evening in the capital of Germany.

No longer divided but every bit as fascinating, Berlin was once the city of contrasts with the wall separating two different worlds. Now, the city has developed into a harmonious blend of new and old, preserving its historical buildings and impressive boulevards as well as creating brand new buildings in contemporary architectural styles. See all of this on the included city sightseeing with a Local Guide. Consider an optional excursion this afternoon.

Travel southwest to Dresden, the old capital of Saxony and at one time rightly called the "Florence on the Elbe." See the Zwinger Carillon Pavilion where the 40 bells of the Glockenspiel sound four times per hour, and much more on your included sightseeing. Then it's on to Leipzig, where composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn lived the last years of their lives. It was Mendelssohn who founded the Leipziger Conservatory in 1843.

Leave Leipzig to visit Weimar, home to many intellectuals of the past but mainly known for the name given to the historical period of the "Weimar Republic." This city is also famed as the home of the Bauhaus architectural movement in the 1920s. Next stop is Coburg. Visit the dominating and mighty Veste Coburg Castle, built in 1225. Today, the castle houses the former art collections of the dukes of Coburg. Continue to Nuremberg for a visit to its town centre, dominated by the imperial castle.

As you leave Nuremberg, stop for a photo at the famous Zeppelinfield. On the way to Munich, visit the quaint Medieval village of Rothenburg on the Romantic Road. Marvel at its towered gates and battlements, squares of half-timbered houses and decorated fountains.

With a Local Guide, take advantage of the included sightseeing tour of the city known as Germany's "Secret Capital." Time to admire the beautiful main square, Marienplatz, do some shopping, and sample Munich's famous beer!

Leave Munich and drive into the heart of the Bavarian Alps to visit the most famous 19th-century, neo-romantic castle of the world, King Ludwig II's fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle. Overnight in a lovely village outside Stuttgart.

The day starts with a scenic drive for a taste of the Black Forest landscapes and villages, followed by a visit to Heidelberg-location of Germany's oldest university and inspiration for the German Romantic movement. From here, continue to Frankfurt.

Your holiday ends with breakfast this morning.