The Mensch Family Tour

Arrive at Berlin Tegel Airport. Your personal tour guide Volker and his wife Raphaela, who is the travel ways driver on your tour, will greet you at the airport and take you to downtown Berlin.

You might like to relax a little and later Volker takes you on his favourite tour of Berlin – See Berlin from the deck of a boat. Lean back and relax. As there are more than 200 miles of canals and rivers in Berlin, you can see most important sites from the upper deck of a boat.

An exciting day in Berlin – see the bombed out Church & Memorial “Kaiser Wilhelm”, which was left in ruins after WW II as a memorial to peace. Stop at the Bendler Block, where Count Stauffenberg was shot after the failed assassination on Hitler. Next pay a visit to the Holocaust Memorial. Then see the last part of “The Wall” still standing and take photos at famous Check Point Charlie.

For lunch we take you to a typical Berlin restaurant “Nantes Eck” of the 1920s to enjoy homemade local food. After a lunch time to explore Berlin on your own. Rest of the day at leisure. Our Hotel is in walking distance around the corner. Optional activities available.

Overnight at the **** Maritime Pro Arte Hotel Berlin.

Leave Berlin early and stop at Leipzig, the industrial capital of former East Germany and also the place where the East German Liberation Movement started, which ended in the collapse of “THE WALL.” Visit of St. Thomas Church, where the composer J.S. Bach worked and see the pulpit from which Martin Luther preached in 1539 to introduce the reformation in Leipzig. Continue to Nürnberg. Lunch stop en route.

In Nürnburg Volker takes you to the famous St. Sebaldus Cathedral dating back to the 11th century which was bombed out in WW II and completely restored in the 1950s. Also see “Lebkuchen Schmidt” the oldest company in Nuremberg to make Gingerbread. Go and try some – it is delicious.
Overnight in Nürnberg at the ****Maritim Hotel across from the historic fortification in walking distance to the medieval centre of Nürnberg.
Evening at leisure.

This morning see Soldiers Field (Reichsparteitagsgelände), the Nazi Party Rally Grounds of Nürnberg , where Hitler held his most famous speeches. Volker will explain how Hitler was able to fascinate tens of thousands of visitors that came to listen and watch the parading soldiers. Then leave Nürnberg and head for LANGENBURG. We take a walk in the narrow medieval cobblestone streets and slowly walk up to castle of the family Hohenloe. We will stop at townhall and take a look into the registration books to learn more about those “Mensches” that lived in Langenburg, Germany way back. From the café in the castle we have a beautiful view over the valley with the little River Jagst and miles and miles of woods and pastures. After this wonderful countryside experience let’s go for some city atmosphere – MUNICH.

Arrive in Munich in lateafternoon, explore the famous food market (Viktualienmarkt) and the famous beerhall “Hofbraeuhaus” for a beer & and a fun night out with “Umtata” music, Polka, singing and dancing.

Munich all day for shopping, explore the BMW World and BMW Museum.

After breakfast we leave Munich and have a drive of 2 hours to a breathtaking place – NEUSCHWANSTEIN – the Fairy Tale castle of King Ludwig II. towering high above the little village of Schwangau.

We take you up in a special mountain jeep for an inside tour and a breathtaking view at the Bavarian Alpine Mountains. This unique building shows seven different architectural styles in one building. The décor and furniture are overwhelming.

In the afternoon we go across the border to AUSTRIA and travel across the FERNPASS ROAD to Innsbruck, where we arrive in late afternoon – early enough for a visit at Svarovskis Chrystal World.

Overnight at Innsbruck.

This morning we are heading for Salzburg, city of baroque architecture, city of Mozart and city of the Trapp Family – Sound of Music.

We will not only show you some of the sights from “Sound of Music” as the Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novice. Baron von Trapp and Maria were married here in 1927. The scenes for the movie made here include the opening with the nuns going to mass and Maria coming too late. We also climb the stairs where they sang “Do-re-mi-“ Time permitting we also see Castle Leopoldskron. The front side of the castle was used as the Trapp family home, the children were boating on the Leopoldskron Lake.

But we will not only see all these places we will stay overnight at the von Trapps home in Salzburg, which was a monastery after WW II and today is a small privately owned and managed bed and breakfast place. It has 10 rooms only and the atmosphere is more private than you would feel being at a hotel. Everybody can choose a specific room -either Marias Room, Hans Room, etc etc.

Time permitting we could take you up on mysterious “Eagles Nest” , Hitlers unique guesthouse in the Alps. On the way to Vienna we stop at Mondsee to visit the romantic baroque church in which the wedding scenes of “Sound of Music” were filmed.

On we go to Vienna, where we will arrive in early evening.
Overnight in Vienna

All day to explore the baroque capital city of Austria. In the morning we take you on a tour to the most important sights like Historic Opera, St. Stephan & Lippizaner Horses. Tonight we take you to a former Royal Palace to enjoy a Waltz and Operetta Concert in historic ambiance and atmosphere at the Auerspach Palace in the centre of Vienna.

Today we take you to the airport and bid you farewell. Your homebound flight arrives in the U.S. the very same day.

*** Auf Wiedersehen***