Cocktail With a Dash of Vienna



Day 1 Arrive Vienna.
Note: Some of you may, due to time zones (ie living in Europe of East coast U.S. etc), need to plan to arrive on this day. Long haul international flights tend to arrive early morning and the balance of the day has been designed to be 'low impact' and restful.

Following a 'freshen up' in your hotel those that wish can join Judy on a walking tour to the city centre, along the Kärnterstraße to the Stephansdom. It is possible to climb the church tower for a view of the city or a stroll through the cathedral to discover the little alcoves and alters with their burning candles. After lunch in a typical Austrian coffee house- Café Central we wander to the palace- the Burg. The afternoon is then free till dinner in an Austrian restaurant. Evening is free or a concert can be arranged.

Day 2 Vienna
Following breakfast at the hotel a morning Stadtrundfahrt. (City tour) is arranged. Lunch in Café Landtmann after tour.

The afternoons focus is on art and architecture - Otto Wagner and art deco OR art of twentieth century in Museum Ludwig, OR the great masters in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, OR a leisurely wander through the city exploring the little lanes and shops.
In the evening it is planned to enjoy a performance at the Opera or the Volksoper.

Day 3  Vienna to Hamburg to Lübeck to Schwerin
We fly from Vienna to Hamburg and drive on to Lübeck by bus. Lübeck is a typical North German hanseatic town built mostly in red bricks. The house of Heinrich and Thomas Mann is a focal point being named after Thomas Mann’s famous novel Buddenbrooks. The novel was loosely based on his own family so we visit the Patrizierhaus with reminders of the Manns and Buddenbrooks. Thus we get an impression of the merchant world in North Germany and its brick architecture. We can also sample the Niederegger marzipan from Lübeck.

Departing Lubeck we drive on to Schwerin, situated on a lake (with incumbent stunning Schloss!) and thus called the Venice of the north. Schwerin is the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the state of lakes and wide open spaces. Overnight in Schwerin and enjoy its culinary specialities.

Day 4 Schwerin to Potsdam
After breakfast in the hotel in Schwerin we do a guided walking tour and then drive on to Potsdam, the capital of another state Brandenburg. Potsdam is famous for its palace Schloss Sans Souci, built by Frederick the Great. Lunch will be en route to Potsdam. After checking into the hotel we can walk into the town for dinner.

Day 5 Potsdam to Grimma
After breakfast at the hotel we go to the Park and Palace of Sans Souci. There we can stroll through the gardens, see the Neues Palais, the Charlottenhof, the Chinesisches Teehaus and the Friedenskirche. A tour of the Palace of Sans Souci, a little jewel from the 18th century, is also included. After lunch we go to the Cäcilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference was held after World War II. Departing Potsdam we drive south to Grimma, just outside Leipzig, where we enjoy the evening on the banks of the Mulde River. We can walk to the town centre of Grimma only ten minutes away via the river walkway. Dinner in hotel. This is a special hotel!

Day 6 Leipzig (Our hotel is in Grimma)
Leipzig has been a university city since 1409. After Prague, Leipzig’s university was the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the German-speaking territories of the time. It was in Leipzig in 1650 that book merchant and printer Timotheus Ritzsch (1614-1678) produced the first regular daily newspaper, Einkommende Zeitungen, which was published on at least four weekdays.

After breakfast we go on a walking tour that includes the Thomaskirche and see Bach’s statue. Then we visit the church where the Monday vigils that led to the reunification of Germany in 1990 were held. We can also go to the Stasi (Secret Police in the German Democratic Republic) Museum. Lunch is planned for the Auerbachskeller where Goethe spent many hours during his student days in Leipzig. Auerbach’s Keller is the setting for a scene in Goethe’s Faust.

It may be possible to drive or ride in a GDR era car, the Trabant, for those interested.
Afternoon bus tour around Leipzig looking at the Trade Fair halls and the monument to the Battle of Leipzig. In the evening we go to a concert in Leipzig. Overnight in Grimma.

Day 7 Leipzig to Weimar
After breakfast we start our drive to Weimar.
En route we stop off at Colditz Castle for a guided tour. This is the famous WW2 POW camp for repeat escapers, prominent officers and hostages of the Nazi regime. Made famous through movies, a T.V. series and over 70 books.

The bus parks in the central square of the town of Colditz and we walk up to the castle. Departing Colditz time may allow a visit Rochlitz, its striking castle and perhaps a small village called “Amerika” - so named throughout WW2 and the GDR period!

Lunch on route. In the afternoon we walk through the town of Weimar and learn about Goethe by visiting the Goethe Haus on the Frauenplan and then on to a modern museum that depicts Goethe’s life through models and film. Wandering on through the town to the main square and Town Hall allows one into shops with Goethe memorabilia and special wooden decorations indicative to the area. Time for a concert in the evening.

Day 8 Weimar
After breakfast we encounter Friedrich Schiller who was Goethe’s great friend and visit the house where he lived. from here we move on to admire the statue of the two great German writers in front of the Nationaltheater and learn about its role in the Weimarer Republik after World War I.

Opposite is the Bauhaus Museum. While we see the exhibits we can appreciate this movement in design that started in Weimar. We can also visit the Academy of Architecture and Construction which was the main building of the State Bauhaus Weimar 1919 – 1925. Lunch is in the town, perhaps trying the Zwiebelkuchen and a glass of new wine. After lunch we go to the cemetery to find the graves of Schiller and Goethe and the people associated with them. On our return journey we visit Liszt Haus and marvel at his portrait as a young man. Dinner in a Keller

Day 9 Weimar
After breakfast we meet Lucas Cranach the painter. Firstly we see his paintings in the Schloss gallery and then go to the Jakobskirche where he is buried. On the way we can admire the blue pottery that is a specialty of the region. Lunch near the market. After lunch we go to Buchenwald to see the memorial set up in the concentration camp. (or we can go on a side trip to Eisenach, the Wartburg where Martin Luther translated the bible into German). A concert in the evening or a quiet beer in a Kneipe.

Day 10 Weimar to Dresden via Zwickau
After breakfast we travel to Zwickau the home of Robert Schumann. His house is on the central square. The cathedral is a fine piece and has a famous organ, worth hearing. Lunch in Zwickau. We then drive on to Dresden and do a bus tour taking in the suburbs and the ‘New Town’. In the evening we go to a performance in the Semper-Oper

Day 11 Dresden
After breakfast we go on a guided walking tour of the historical centre including the rebuilt Frauenkirche and the Brühlsche Terrasse. Then we take a steam powered paddle boat from the centre of Dresden and enjoy the city and its 'villa' suburbs from the water. In the afternoon we visit the Royal Saxon Art Collection with paintings by Dürer, Holbein, Cranach, Rembrandt, Rubens, Franz Hals and in the Albertinum paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, Sitsweg, Liebermann, Nolde, Schmidt-Rottluff, Käthe Kollwitz and Otto Dix. There are also some French Impressionists here as well.

Day 12 Dresden to Berlin via Meißen and the
Pückler-Muskau Palace (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site)
After breakfast we drive via Meißen and the porcelain factory to Bad Muskau where Prince Pückler built his castle now spanning Germany and Poland. After visiting it we have lunch and travel on to Berlin. Dinner in a Berlin restaurant: perhaps Friedrichs.

Day 13 Berlin
After breakfast we do a city tour visiting the main sites, to gain an overview. Lunch will be on the Kurfürstendamm in the KaDeWe on the seventh floor where we choose our own specialities. After lunch we can wander around the store and then go to the Gedächtniskirche and on to the Käthe Kollwitz gallery in the Fasanenstraße. A concert or opera is planned for tonight

Day 14 Berlin
Following we explore the area around the Brandenburger Tor, including a visit to the Reichstag and the memorial to the Holocaust. Continuing on we are soon walking along the street, 'Unter den Linden', arriving at the Gendarmenmarkt and its surrounds. After lunch we go to Plötzensee where the opponents to Hitler were imprisoned and view Spandau where Rudolf Hess was held until he died.

Day 15 Berlin
Breakfast. Today we look at the GDR period of East Germanys past. We go to the Mauergedenkstätte and then follow traces of the Wall. Following lunch on route we then visit the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie. A concert or opera performance is planned for tonight.

Day 16 Berlin
This morning we go on a tour through the Stasi (Secret Police) Prison Herrenschönhausen or we go to the Mauer Museum. Wandering through the suburb of Mitte we can explore various buildings, courtyards and other intriguing corners. We see the house where Brecht lived and visit the adjoining cemetery. Our farewell dinner will be in the Nikolai Viertel.
03 Oct Day 18 Flight from Berlin to Vienna for connections to you onward destinations.

Costs:

Cost Includes:

• all transport between cities and towns visited by rail,
  or transfer cars as required.
• guided tours as described
• all sightseeing excursions as designated in the itinerary
• Local GST (VAT) taxes for included services
• accommodation on a twin share basis inclusive daily breakfast
  

Meals:
Breakfast is included from the morning of Day 3 until the morning of Day 18 - Note Day 18 assuming your outbound flight is not so early that the hotel cannot cater.

 

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