Days
Arrival in Frankfurt and meeting with our English-speaking assistant for a brief introduction to the city, during transfer to the hotel. Hotel check-in, dinner at your leisure and overnight.
Breakfast in hotel and then leave for Hamburg with stop for your lunch at leisure. Afternoon arrival in Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, situated on the river Elbe, with a big port, which is the second largest in Europe and tenth largest worldwide. Hamburg’s official name, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, reflects Hamburg’s history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League and a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. Panoramic city tour and then transfer to the hotel. Check-in, dinner at your leisure and overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. In the morning, guided city tour of Hamburg with the possibility to go on an optional cruise in the harbor. Lunch on your own and in the afternoon leave for Lubeck, the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. Situated on the river Trave, it was for several centuries the “capital” of the Hanseatic League (“Queen of the Hanse”) and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Evening arrival and hotel check-in. On arrival, meet the English-speaking guide and start your panoramic tour of the city. Hotel check-in, dinner at your leisure and overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. Full day excursion to Pomerania, a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, Pomerania stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdansk in the East. We will stop in Rostock, home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Rostock founded in 1419. The rise of the city began with its membership of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century, it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the biggest city of Mecklenburg. Panoramic tour of the city, lunch at leisure and continue to Wismar, representative of Hanseatic League city brick construction as well as the German brick churches. The city has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2002. Panoramic tour and then time at leisure to walk around the beautiful city center. Evening return to Lubeck. Dinner at your leisure and overnight.
Hotel breakfast and departure towards Schwerin, called “the city of the seven lakes”, as it is surrounded by many picturesque lakes. The largest of these lakes, the Schweriner See, has an area of 60 km². In the midst of these lakes, there was a settlement of the Slavic Obotrite (dated back to the 11th century). The area was called Zuarin (Zwierzyn), and the name Schwerin is derived from that designation. In 1160, Henry the Lion defeated the Obotrites and captured Schwerin. The town was subsequently expanded into a powerful regional center. At that time the castle was built and today it is supposedly haunted by a ghost, called Petermännchen. Guided tour of the castle. Lunch at your leisure and drive to Berlin. Hotel check-in, dinner at your leisure and overnight.
Hotel breakfast. Full day guided city tour. Berlin is best known for its historical associations as the German capital, its lively nightlife, its many cafés, clubs, and bars, street art, and numerous museums, palaces, and other sites of historic interest. Berlin’s architecture is quite varied. Although badly damaged in the final years of World War II and broken apart during the Cold War, Berlin has reconstructed itself greatly, especially with the reunification push after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today Berlin is a unified center of politics, science, media and culture. We will see the Brandenburg Gate, KaDeWe department store, Checkpoint Charlie and TV Tower, the Berlin Wall Memorial, Unter den Linden with its many historic buildings, The Opera, Alexanderplatz and Gerndarmenmarkt Platz, and finally Potsdamer Platz with its world known architectural masterpieces by Renzo Piano. Lunch and dinner at your leisure. Optional night tour of the city. Overnight in hotel.
Hotel breakfast and leave for Potsdam, the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg. Potsdam was the residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, until 1918. Around the city, there are a series of interconnected lakes and unique cultural landmarks, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. Guided tour. In the afternoon time for shopping in Berlin city center. Dinner at your leisure and overnight.
Hotel breakfast and transfer to the airport in time for your flight. End of services.
