14 Day Austria, Germany and Passion Play
Oberammergau, Germany 2022
DAY 01: USA / ENROUTE. Depart USA for Europe. Breakfast and dinner will be served aloft
DAY 02: VIENNA. Upon arrival at Vienna Airport we are met by our tour escort and European motor coach and transferred to our hotel. The balance of the day is at leisure for independent activities, dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 03: VIENNA. Our morning sightseeing tour will include monuments to the great musicians of this Imperial City. We will also see intricately carved St. Stephen's Spire, the Imperial Hofburgh Palace, Opera House and the National Museums; a highlight will be a visit to impressive enormous Schoenbrunn Palace and it's treasures. The afternoon is at leisure for independent activities, dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 04: VIENNA / SALZBURG. We drive today along the Danubian Plain past imposing Melk Abbey on our way to the "Sound of Music" city of Salzburg. Our afternoon sightseeing tour will include the Cathedral, Getreidegasse pedestrian shopping street, Hohensalzburg Fortress and the Mirabell Palace. A visit will also be made to the birthplace of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 05: SALZBURG / OBERAMMERGAU. Breathtaking scenery awaits us today as we drive across Austria and through charming resort villages. Then it's into the Bavarian Alps via the winter sports resorts of Seefeld and Garmisch Partenkirchen, and on to our destination of the charming small village of Oberammergau.
DAY 06: PASSION PLAY. The entire day is spent attending a performance of the world famous Passion Play, performed once every ten years in this beautiful village. Dinner and overnight.
DAY 07: OBERAMMERGAU / NEUSCHWANSTEIN / INNSBRUCK. A short journey today through the mountains brings us to Neuschwanstein where we will visit the castle which is the masterpiece of Mad King Ludwig. It is also reputed to be the model used by Walt Disney for his fairytale castle. We then drive to Innsbruck, the rococo capital of the Austrian Tyrol, where we will see the Emperor Maximillian's "Golden Roof," famed Maria Theresiastrasse and other points of interest. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 08: INNSBRUCK / ST. MORITZ. Drive this morning through the Inn Valley to the small resort town of Landeck and then and into the Swiss Engadine, a mountain area considered by many to be the most beautiful in the world - deep blue lakes, airy larch forests that turn golden in the fall, mountain peaks exceeding 12,000 feet, quaint villages with ornate stone houses in the characteristic Grisons style. St. Moritz is one of the most popular villages in this area, and is our destination for dinner and overnight.
DAY 09: ST. MORITZ / ZERMATT. Yet another day driving through incredible mountain scenery as we make our way to Locarno at the head of Lake Maggiore. Drive along its shores for a short distance and then climb the Simplon Pass to Brig and Visp. At Tasch we leave our coach and take the train to the beautiful traffic-free mountain village of Zermatt for dinner and overnight.
DAY 10: ZERMATT: A full day at leisure in this wonderful village; or you may care to take an option excursion by narrow gauge railway to the Gornergrat, from whose summit of 10,132 feet wall be the most glorious views of glaciers and snowcapped mountains. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 11: ZERMATT / INTERLAKEN /LAKE LUCERNE. We take the train this morning down to Tasch where we rejoin our motor coach and drive to the spectacular Furka Pass. continue to Interlaken, delightfully situated between the lakes of Thun and Brienz and dominated by views of the mighty Jungfrau mountain. Cross the Brunig Pass with majestic mountain summits and ice-blue glaciers to Lucerne, set in a indescribably beautiful mountain and lake setting, and on to our hotel in one of the lakeside resorts for dinner and overnight.
DAY 12: LAKE LUCERNE / LUCERNE / LAKE LUCERNE. Our morning sightseeing in Lucerne will show us the beautiful Lion Monument, the Kapell Bridge and the Spreuer Bridge as well as the beautiful flower-decked lakeside promenades. The balance of the day is at leisure in this wonderful town - you may care to shop, sit in the sunshine sipping a refreshing drink, or perhaps take one of the many lake or mountain excursions available. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 13: LAKE LUCERNE / RHINE FALLS / HEIDELBERG AREA. Evergreen silence and breathtaking views comprise our morning in the Black Forest. Our route goes through the heart of the mysterious fairytale country as we journey among Hansel and Gretel villages, stopping at Schaffhausen for a visit to the roaring Rhine Falls - truly a photographer's paradise. We then continue to picture book Heidelberg, the romantic, medieval city on the banks of the river Neckar, where our sightseeing will include a visit to theCastle ruins, home of the Student Prince, as well as seeing the famous Stone Bridge and the University, one of the oldest in the world. Continue to our hotel in the Heidelberg area for dinner and overnight.
DAY 14: HEIDELBERG / FRANKFURT / USA. Transfer this morning to Frankfurt Airport for our return flight to the United States at the end of our memorable tour.