Catholic Germany & Alps
plus Oberammergau - 2010

Day 1
(Sat.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Day 2 Arrival in Munich
(Sun.) Transfer to your hotel. Balance of the day is at leisure. At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director, then enjoy this evening's welcome dinner with your traveling companions. (D)

Day 3 Munich-Neuschwanstein-Oberammergau
(Mon.) Orientation features MARIENPLATZ with the Old and New Town Hall. Visit the FRAUENKIRCHE. Then, enter the Bavarian Alps and drive to Neuschwanstein to visit KING LUDWIG'S CASTLE. Stop for pictures of the baroque CHURCH OF WIES before you enter picturesque Oberammergau. (B,D)

Day 4 Oberammergau
(Tue.) Today the highlight of your vacation: the original PASSION PLAY, held every 10 years and performed by the community of Oberammergau. (B,L,D)

Day 5 Oberammergau-Innsbruck, Austria-Liechtenstein-Einsiedeln, Switzerland-Lucerne
(Wed.) Into the Tyrolean Alps and to Innsbruck to take pictures of the GOLDEN ROOF. Then, continue to Vaduz in the Principality of Liechtenstein for a lunch break before you enter Switzerland. Stop in Einsiedeln, the most famous pilgrimage destination in Switzerland, where the Great Festival of the Miraculous Dedications is held. Visit the impressive baroque ABBEY CHURCH. On to picture-book Lucerne, the center of Catholic resistance during the time of the Reformation. (B,D)

Day 6 Lucerne
(Thu.) Your walking tour this morning features the LION MONUMENT and the famous CHAPEL BRIDGE. Also visit the CATHEDRAL OF ST. LEGER and the baroque JESUIT CHURCH. Afternoon is at leisure to relax, shop for Swiss watches, cruise on the lake, or join an optional excursion to one of the nearby mountains. In the evening, why not experience a Swiss folklore party with yodeling and alphorn blowing? (B)

Day 7 Lucerne-Karlsruhe, Germany
(Fri.) On the way back to Germany, visit the thundering RHINE FALLS at Schaffhausen, a 70-foot cataract of the River Rhine. From here, head north into the pine-clad hills of the BLACK FOREST, famous for its cuckoo clocks. (B,D)

Day 8 Karlsruhe-Trier-Aachen-Cologne
(Sat.) First stop today is in Trier, Germany's oldest town and second in importance to Rome in the Western Roman Empire. Orientation features the PORTA NIGRA and visits to the romanesque CATHEDRAL and the DREIKÖNIGENHAUS. Continue to Aachen and visit the CATHEDRAL where 30 Holy Roman emperors were crowned between the 10th and 16th centuries (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site). In the evening you are in "Holy Cologne." (B,D)

Day 9 Cologne-Rüdesheim-Frankfurt
(Sun.) This morning, enjoy a guided visit of the gothic CATHEDRAL. Next, a scenic RHINE CRUISE to Rüdesheim, capital of Riesling wine. Here, enjoy WINE TASTING and a farewell dinner. Afterwards, continue to Frankfurt for your overnight stay. (B,D)

Day 10
(Mon.) Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (B)