DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Frankfurt.

DAY    2            ARRIVE FRANKFURT - BAD HOMBURG - KASSELL
                         (2 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our tour manager/guide and transfer into the Hesse region of Germany. Our first stop will be in Bad Homburg, where we will visit the Schloss, a Baroque palace built in the late 17th century, which was a favorite summer residence for the royals. Highlights of our visit will include the magnificent Ballroom, a Hall of Mirrors, and the White Tower, the only section that remains from the original medieval castle. After time to stroll through the beautifully landscaped Kurpark, we will view the Kaiser-Wilhelm Bad, the main bath complex, before continuing to Kassell for the evening.

DAY    3            KASSELL & FRITZLAR
This morning we will explore Kassell, the cultural, scientific and commercial center of northern Hesse. We begin with a Walking Tour of the city center, where we will view some of Kassell's most impressive buildings, including the Hessisches Landesmuseum, the Neue Galerie, The Brothers Grimm Museum, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, the Ottoneum and Karlsaue. We continue with a visit to Wilhelmshohe, a magnificent palace and park built at the top of Wilhelmshoher Allee that overlooks the city. Our visit will include the Palace, which houses an impressive art gallery, with works by Rubens, Rembrandt, titian, Durer and Poussin; the large and attractive Park filled with pavilions and sculpture; and the Octogon, crowned with a statue of Hercules, the symbol of Kassell. This afternoon we travel to nearby Fritzlar, a beautiful town that has preserved its original, nearly complete ring of medieval walls, including watchtower, bastions and over 450 half-timbered houses. We will take a Walking Tour, highlighted by the Parish Church of the Franciscan Order; the picturesque Rathaus; the exquisite Wedding House; the Alte Brucke, spanning the Eder River; and the Dom, which we will visit. The basilica is famous for its triple nave crypt and an interior rich in historic treasures. We return to Kassell for the evening.

DAY    4            KASSELL - EISENACH - ERFURT (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we leave the Hesse region and travel into Thuringia, where we will stop to explore Eisenach, a town dominated by Wartburg Castle, a mighty fortress and legendary castle, which towers above the town. We will explore the castle, which has strong associations with Martin Luther and Richard Wagner, including the Vogtei brought to the complex from Nurnburg; Lutherstube, the room where Luther lived and worked; the Neue Kemenate, which today houses an impressive art collection; Begfried, a vast square tower crowned with a cross; St. Elizabeth's Rooms with stunning mosaics; the Landgraves Chambers, the oldest section of the castle; and the Singing Hall, allegedly the scene of the famous minstrels' contest in Wagner's opera Tannhauser. We will also have time to explore the town at the foot of the castle hill, which played an important role throughout German history. The town features interesting remains of 12th century fortifications, a museum dedicated to Martin Luther and the Bachaus, a museum dedicated to the great composer who was born in Eisenach. We continue to Erfurt, capital of the Thuringia region.

DAY    5            BUCHENWALD & ERFURT
Our morning begins with a tour of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, established in 1937 for the internment of Germans that opposed the Nazi ethos, but quickly accommodated to take the Jews and Gypsies persecuted by the National Socialists. As Germany's invasion of Europe escalated, over 300,000 victims from occupied nations were marched to Buchenwald. For 65,000 of the victims, it was a one-way trip. Despite conditions of unbelievable hardship and a merciless system of surveillance, the camp was liberated on April 11, 1945 by many of the inmates themselves. Our visit will include the Memorial Center and the Memorial located on the site of mass graves. We return to Erfurt, a city that continues to exude the spirit of a medieval market town. We will take a Walking Tour of the town, featuring well-preserved patrician mansions built in the Gothic, and Renaissance styles, narrow streets with half-timbered houses, and the unique Kramerbrucke, which has spanned the Gera River since the 14th century. We will also visit the Dom, a magnificent Gothic cathedral featuring beautiful stained glass windows, a Baroque interior, a Romanesque altar of the Virgin and a candelabra known as 'the Wolfman."

DAY    6            ERFURT - WEIMAR - DRESDEN (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we travel to Weimar, a city that once was home to Goethe, Schiller, Listz, Strauss and Nietzsche, as well as artists associated with the Bauhaus School. We will take a Walking Tour of the old quarter located on the left bank of the Ilm River. During our walk we will view the Neues Museum, the Stadtmuseum, the Deutsches Nationaltheater, the Bauhaus Museum, Wittumspalais, Schillerhaus, St. Peter and St Paul Church, the Herzogin-Anna-Amalia Bibliotek, Schloss Belvedere, Listz-Haus, and the Goethe Museum. During our walk, we will also visit the Schloss, a vast Ducal castle built in the Neo-Classical style for Duke Carl Augustus. The fine paintings by the Cranachs and Peter Paul Rubens highlight the castle. Our day in Weimar concludes at the Goethes Gartenhaus, Goethe's first home in Weimar and later his summer villa. The home stands in a pleasant park alongside the River Ilm. Our day continues as we leave Thuringia for Dresden in Saxony.

DAY    7            DRESDEN
Today we will explore Dresden, a city decimated by the Allied bombings of World War II, which has been restored to much of it former glory. We begin with a City Center Walking Tour, highlighting many of Dresden's most important landmarks and monuments, including the Sachsische Staatsoper, the Hofkirche, the Residenzschloss, Furstenzug, and the Frauenkirche. We continue with a visit to the Zwinger, a massive, beautiful Baroque building, with a stunning inner courtyard surrounded by galleries. Our visit will include the Old Master's Gallery, one of Europe's most impressive and important collections of Western European painting, including Raphael's Sistine Madonna, and the Rustkammer, which exhibits armory and arms from the 16th century. There will be time to explore the brilliant architecture and gardens within the Zwinger, before concluding the afternoon with a visit to the Albertinum, where we will focus on the collections of the Gemaldegalerie Neue Meister. The collection features works from the 19th and 20th centuries, including magnificent landscapes by Caspar David Friedrich, canvases by the Nazarine Group and works by European masters such as Degas, Manet, Monet, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

DAY    8            DRESDEN - POTSDAM - BERLIN (4 NIGHTS)
This morning we begin our journey to Berlin. We will stop en route for a visit to Potsdam, home to the famous World War II conference. We will explore Sanssouci Park, occupying an area of 287-hectacres, including a visit to Schloss Sanssouci, highlighted by the Bedchamber and Study of Frederick the Great and the Hall of Marble. We will also visit the Neues Palais ordered by Frederick the Great, including the Palace, the Grotto, and the Theater. We continue into the historic and modern capital city of Berlin. This afternoon we take a Walking Tour of Breitscheidplatz and Ku' Damm, the center of the former West Berlin. The Ku' Damm is Berlin's showcase boulevard, renowned for its great cafes visited by famous writers, directors and painters. During our walk, we will see the Kantdreieck, a building containing only right angles, the Judisches Gemeindehaus, Fasanenstrasse, the Theater des Westens, the Ludwig-Erhard Haus, and the spectacular Europa Center. At the conclusion of our walk, we will visit the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche (Memorial Church), where you will see the destructive power of war. The church was damaged heavily during WWII and has been left in its damaged state as a reminder of war and its consequences.

DAY    9            BERLIN (EAST BERLIN: A NEW FREEDOM)
Our morning commences with a visit to the Reichstag, a building destroyed by the Allies in WWII, which today is again the home of the country's parliament. The building still evokes the neo-Renaissance style it had when it opened in 1894, though a new glass dome designed by Sir Norman Foster crowns the modern version. We will go through the west gate for an Elevator Ride up to the dome, where a sweeping vista of Berlin opens before us on the Observation Platform. We continue to Brandenburg Gate, a triumphal arch, which stood in no man's land between East and West Berlin during the Cold War and became a symbol of a divided Germany. We will enter the Room of Silence, built into one of the guardhouses, where visitors gather to meditate and reflect on Germany's past, before continuing with a Walking Tour down the famous Unter den Linden, one of Berlin's most fashionable and important boulevards. Along the walk we will view the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, the Equestrian Statue of Frederick the Great, Humboldt-Universitat and the Deutsche Staatsoper, before stopping for a visit to the Neue Wache, a monument to victims of Militarism and Fascism. The building houses the mortal remains of the Unknown Soldier from the battlefields and of an unknown prisoner from a concentration camp. This afternoon we visit the Pergamon Museum, where we will focus on the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, housed in the north and east wings of the museum. We will enter the central hall to view the Pergamon Altar (180-160 b.c.), which is so large that it has a huge room all to itself, and some 27 steps lead from the museum floor up to the colonnade. We will conclude the day with a visit to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), a modern cathedral destroyed during WWII, but fully restored to its original beauty.

DAY    10          BERLIN (THE TREASURES OF BERLIN)
This morning we visit Schloss Charlottenburg, one of the finest examples of baroque architecture in Germany. Built by Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Friedrich I, the residence was begun as a summer palace, but eventually grew into the massive structure we will view today. Our visit will include the Historical Apartments, including the apartments of Friedrich and his "philosopher queen," the Reception Chamber, decorated with frieze panels, vaulted ceilings, and mirror-paneled niches, and the Porcelain Chamber, containing a fine collection of Chinese porcelain. We will also visit the new wing, known as the Knobelsdorff-Flügel, which contains the apartments of Friedrich the Great. We will have a bit of free time to wander and explore the extensive Royal Park, including the French style Baroque garden, before continuing to the Tiergarten, the largest green space in central Berlin, with more than 14 miles of meandering walkways, canals, ponds, and flowerbeds. Among the park's monuments we will view is the Victory Column, a golden goddess of victory perched atop a soaring red-granite pedestal. Those that choose can climb the 290-step spiral staircase to the 157-ft. Observation Platform. We conclude the day with a visit to the Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery), one of Germany's finest art museums. Several rooms are devoted to early German masters, including the Dürer collection, as well as many of the great European masters including Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Correggio, van Eyck, Bosch, Brueghel, and Rembrandt.

DAY    11          BERLIN (MEMORIES OF WAR & DIVISION)
We will begin our morning with a visit to Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, where we will view parts of the Berlin Wall, as well as an illustrated history of the Berlin Wall, and the division it caused in the city and in Germany. We continue with a visit to the Topographie des Terrors, a shocking exhibition detailing Nazi crimes, housed within the former Gestapo and SS headquarters. Our afternoon will conclude with a visit to the Judisches Museum, housed in an imaginative display of modern architecture, which itself conveys something of the tragic history of the millions of Jews who lost their lives in the Holocaust. The collection focuses on Jewish history and art, as well as everyday life of Berlin's Jewish population. This evening we will explore and dine in the historic Nikolaiviertel, restored in time for the city's 750th anniversary, located on the banks of the Spree River. This is where Berlin was born, and many of the medieval and baroque buildings in the neighborhood were completely and authentically reconstructed after World War II.

DAY    12          DEPARTURE FROM BERLIN
Our enjoyable and rewarding trip will come to an end as our guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.