Itinerary
Monday May 4
You will meet in St. John's to get acquainted with Pia Banzhaf and your travel-mates for the next 11 days. Your flight from St. John’s to Frankfurt, Germany will be via Air Canada in the early afternoon.
Tuesday May 5: Frankfurt/Cologne
After arriving in the morning you will be welcomed by your English language guide and will transfer to your hotel in Cologne. On our way from the airport we will take a short detour to stop by the magnificent Schloss Augustusburg in Brühl, a Roccoco castle designed by Schlaun and Cuvilliés and a UNESCO World heritage site.
You will have some time to rest before we head out together for our first stroll through Cologne. Immerse yourself in the regional gastronomic culture with a guided tour of the Cologne Brewery followed by a dinner of local food specialities on the premises.
Accommodation: Mercure Severinshof Cologne City
Wednesday May 6: Cologne
After breakfast you will enjoy a half-day excursion through the ancient cathedral city, which was founded in 38 B.C by the Romans. You will visit the town’s landmark, Cologne Cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site dating from 1248. In the afternoon you will have time to explore the city and other museums on your own, such as the Museum Ludwig (Museum of Modern Art) or the Chocolate Museum, situated right on the banks of the Rhine.
Accommodation: Mercure Severinshof Cologne City
Thursday May 7: Cologne/Bonn/Cologne
In the morning you will transfer by bus to Linz on the Rhine. From here we will take a panoramic boat trip on which you can enjoy the Rhine scenery.
After arriving in Bonn we will have a guided tour of the city following the footsteps of Schumann and Beethoven. We will also visit the “Haus der Geschichte der BRD”, a museum dedicated to the history of the divided and reunified Germany. The bus will take us back to Cologne in the late afternoon. You may have time to visit the brand new Cologne science centre, Odysseum, or the Wallraff-Richartz Museum, one of the foremost picture galleries in Germany or the Museum of the City of Cologne.
Accommodation: Mercure Severinshof Cologne City
Friday May 8: Cologne/Aachen
Today we will make a trip to Aachen, the town in which
Charlemagne was crowned in 786 and which became the political
center of his empire. On our guided tour we will not only visit
historical sights like the cathedral -- a UNESCO World Heritage
Site dating from 792, making it the oldest cathedral in northern
Europe -- the town hall and the thermal baths, but we will also
stop by a typical “Aachener Printen” (sweet bread)
bakery. You will learn about the beginnings of Aachen’s
industrial age, one of the oldest and most important centres of
pre-industrial enterprises in Europe. Already in the year 1830, 61
steam engines -- a quarter of Prussia’s total stock -- were
employed in Aachen. We will have lunch in Aachen before our bus
takes us through the breathtaking scenery of the Eifel region to
the picturesque town of Monschau. We will have
a short guided walk through the old city of Monschau before heading
to the former Nazi castle Vogelsang by bus.
We will learn about the military and educational use of this
compound before and during WW II.
Return to hotel in Cologne in the early evening.
Accommodation: Mercure Severinshof Cologne City
Saturday May 9: Cologne/Xanten
Depart Cologne, and leave for Xanten by coach in order to explore some more of Germany’s Roman heritage. You will visit the archaeological park with many relics from the times of the Romans, as well as St. Viktor Dom, a cathedral completed in the year 1263 that took 281 years to build. According to the Wagner’s “Song of the Nibelungs,” Xanten is Siegried’s birth place. Free afternoon to explore Xanten at your own pace.
Accommodation: Hotel Hövelmann
Sunday May 10: Castrop-Rauxel/Düsseldorf
Today’s trip will begin in Düsseldorf following the
path of romantic poet Heinrich Heine.
On our city tour we will visit the Heinrich-Heine-Institut, which
houses a museum as well as a memorial and research institute.
Before we leave Düsseldorf we will explore the Düsseldorf
Harbour district, which boasts three signature buildings by
Canadian architect Frank Gehry. By coach, we will continue to the
famous Neanderthal Valley,
where the remains of the first Homo neanderthaliensis were
discovered in 1856 in a limestone quarry at the Feldhofer grotto
close by and now are on display in an excellent museum about the
history of human evolution.
We continue our trip to Wuppertal where we will ride the world’s oldest monorail. Built in 1901 and still in use today, it spans a distance of 13 kilometres. Enjoy the view of the city from above.
Accommodation: Eurostar Hotel
Monday May 11: Xanten/Ruhr Area/Castrop-RauxelDepart Xanten continue via coach to the Ruhr area. The theme of today’s day trip is the structural change in this former coal mining area. We will visit one of the last working steel mills in the area situated in the middle of conservation land, complete with lunch at the canteen, as well as the UNESCO world heritage site Zeche Zollverein in Essen, which has been named the world’s most beautiful coal mine, and today is the venue for concerts and art exhibits. We will stop by the Gasometer Oberhausen, Europe’s highest plate gas container, dating from 1929, and rededicated as a unique exhibition hall in the 1990s. A trip to the Ruhr area would not be complete without a visit to the Villa Hügel in Essen, Friedrich Alfred Krupp’s residence. The former industrial tycoon’s company, the Friedrich Krupp AG, was a symbol of the heavy industry, which dominated this region for more than a century. The residence dates from 1869 and is situated in a park overlooking the river Ruhr. To conclude our day we will stroll through the site of a decommissioned metalworks, the Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg.
Transfer by coach to Castrop-Rauxel.
Accommodation: Eurostar Hotel
Tuesday May 12: Castrop-Rauxel/Osnabrücker Land/Münster
In the morning we will head towards Osnabrück in the state of Lower Saxony. We will visit the Archaeological Park Kalkriese where the legendary battle of the Teutoburg Forest is supposed to have taken place. This is where the Roman legions were defeated by Germanic tribes in the year 9 A.D which led the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus to give up plans for the conquest of Germania east of the Rhine.
We continue to the historical town of Münster, founded in 793 and the site of signing of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which sealed the end of the Thirty Years War and marked the beginning of nation states in Europe. During our city tour you will see the historical town hall, the cathedral, and the botanical garden of the Baroque palace. In the afternoon you will have time to explore the town on your own.
Accommodation: Tryp Hotel
Wednesday May 13: Münster/Paderborn
In the morning we will visit the Renaissance castle, the Wewelsburg, the only surviving triangular castle in Germany. Under the Nazi regime the castle was supposed to become the central SS-cult site and later even the “centre of the world.” Today the castle houses a youth hostel and a museum. After a guided tour through the castle we will stop in the town of Paderborn, founded as a bishopric by Charlemagne in 795. We will tour the town, and visit the cathedral and imperial palace. We will return to Münster in the late afternoon.
Accommodation: Tryp Hotel
Thursday May 14:
Today we will discover the region surrounding Münster. Following on the path of Biedermeier poet Anette von Droste-Hülshoff you will be visiting Haus Rüschhaus and Burg Hülshoff. Afterwards we will visit the Castle of Nordkirchen, the so-called “Westphalian Versailles“. This castle is one of the biggest castles surrounded by a moat in all of North Rhine-Westphalia. It used to be the seat of the prince bishop. Before returning to Münster we will stop at the 1500-year-old Femeiche, the Vehme oak, in Raesfeld. Traditional court sessions were held under trees like this one from the times of the Germanic tribes through to the Middle Ages.
Return to Münster by coach. In the afternoon you can take a bicycle trip into the region surrounding Münster. Bike rentals can be arranged. Or you could visit the outdoor museum village Mühlenhof, with regional and farm exhibits spanning four centuries. Or you could simply enjoy wandering the old streets of Münster.
Accommodation: Tryp Hotel
Friday May 15: Münster /Frankfurt /St. John‘s
It is time to bid Germany good-bye. Transfer by coach to Frankfurt airport. Depart Air Canada Flight from Frankfurt to St. John’s.