Christmas Markets of Germany & Austria Tour

  

2011 Christmas Market Tour
Turner, Trichel & Associates presents its

Christmas Markets of Germany & Austria Tour

November 29 – December 12, 2011
Turner, Trichel & Associates, Inc
8810-A Pear Tree Village Court
Alexandria, VA 22309
(703) 360-1999
Email: ellie@tt-a.com

2011 Itinerary (Click for PDF Version)

29 Nov Fly from Washington Dulles airport or your departure city to arrive in Dresden, Germany, the next morning via Frankfurt. Call TT&A for instructions on how to join-up with the main group tomorrow.

30 Nov Arrive in the magnificent Saxon city of Dresden, where its world-famous architecture, history, and culture await you. Meet our bus driver for the next 13 days who will transfer us to the five-star Romantik Hotel Pattis, your hotel for the next 2 nights. Relax in the hotel’s award winning wellness and beauty spa or enjoy a leisurely stroll into the city center to preview the holiday sights. After a typical Saxon dinner at the hotel’s private restaurant, we will attend a special Christmas concert at the famous Frauenkirche Cathedral (destroyed during WWII but now rebuilt). DBB

01 Dec After breakfast, we will take a guided walking tour of Dresden’s inner city to see the Semper Opera, get a more detailed tour of the Cathedral, and visit the Green Vault…resting place of the magnificent gold and jeweled treasures from history. We conclude our tour in Dresden’s Christkindlmarkt” (Christmas Market). You can munch your way through
lunch at the many varied food “stands” while shopping. This evening we will be treated to a 4-course dinner in the hotel’s gourmet restaurant started by Mario Pattis, one of the first Michelin “star chefs” in the former East Germany. Weather permitting we will tour old-town in our bus by night including a spectacular panorama view of the city from the high cliffs of the river Elbe. DBB

02 Dec An extensive buffet breakfast starts the day again before we board our bus for a scenic drive southwest through the Erz Mountains along the Silver Road where silver was king from the 12th century until it ran out. Rather than leaving their beloved mountains, the people of the “Erzgeberge” took up crafts such as lace making, carving, and woodturning. Today it is the source of most of the lovely wooden Christmas ornaments, toys, and decorations that grace homes all over the world. We will visit Seiffen, the most famous of these towns, explore the quaint shops and woodcarvers and have lunch in the unique Holtzwurm restaurant. We will visit the museum to see wood-carved art from huge chandeliers to armies of tiny soldiers. We continue on to Hartenstein, a tiny town in the midst of 20,000 square meters of beech forest. Our home for two nights will be at the 4-star Romantik Hotel Jagdhaus Waldidyll. During our stay here, we have complimentary use of the hotel’s magnificent wellness spa with its sauna, steam bath, exercise room, …all entered through a “Hansel & Gretel” type cottage. Tonight we will enjoy a special 3-course dinner prepared by their award-winning chef. DBB

03 Dec After another wonderful buffet breakfast, we board our bus for a short drive south to visit the quaint towns of Schneeberg and Schwarzenberg to see the contrast of small vs. large town Christmas Markets. We will lunch at the markets where you may notice different foods due to our proximity to the Czech Republic only a few miles away. Following another gourmet evening dinner at the hotel, we will go out for a wonderful torchlight walk in the forest, followed by a Glüwein party around a roaring fire behind the hotel. DBB

04 Dec Today we wend our way east and south for a stop in Regensburg in Bavaria to visit the Market in the large medieval center of the city which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After this “rest stop”, we head east into Austria to the quaint town of Kremsmünster, home of a famous Benedictine monastery, known for its wine making and art collection. Our hosts for the evening are Maria and Erik Kux at the cozy Hotel Schlair. During our stay we will be treated to a tour of the Monastery followed by a wine tasting of the monastery’s wines. The highlight for tonight will be Chef Kux’s dinner with all the trimmings. DBB

05 Dec Today after breakfast we take the back roads to Steyr for a visit to the famous Christkindl Church (Church of the Christ child) where you can buy postcards stamped and cancelled with their famous logo. There’s a nice restaurant there as well for lunch. We will visit the world’s largest mechanical diorama of Bethlehem at the time of the Christmas story. We return for another special dinner cooked by Erik at the hotel and just lounge around in their bar, living room, or take a walk in town. DBB

06 Dec We take our leave of Kremsmünster as our bus takes us west to explore the picturesque Lake District before arriving, for two glorious days, in Salzburg. Its historic “old town” (Altstadt) has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best preserved city centers north of the Alps who’s snowcapped peaks can be seen from here. We will stay in the Altstadt to be close to its Christmas market, the fortress overlooking the city, and its fine restaurants. Lunch is on your own, then we will meet our city guide for a 2 1/2 hour walking tour of the city, including a visit to Mozart’s birth place and museum. Dinner is on your own tonight but reservations this evening have been made at St Peter’s Stiftskeller, a world-famous restaurant. Optional concerts and other venues this evening can be ordered prior to our US departure. Our hotel for the next two nights is the 5-star Radisson Altstadt Hotel BB

07 Dec This morning after breakfast, free time has been set aside for you to select from available optional tours such as the “Sound of Music” tour visiting venues made famous by the movie. Others may enjoy the shopping experience, take the funicular up to the fortress, stop in the chocolate shop that invented the Mozart Kuglen (special little balls of chocolate), etc. There are many other things to see and experience as Christmas comes alive in this fairyland of craftspeople and history. Dinner tonight will be at Zum Eulenspeigel, one of the oldest restaurants (1713) in Salzburg. After dinner, we cross the pedestrian bridge to the “new town” and attend the Christmas concert in the famous Marble Hall of the Mirabella Palace. DBB

08 Dec This morning after breakfast, we say goodbye to the romantic city of Salzburg and head west into Germany, past Lake Chiemsee, and then south back into Austria stopping at Wattens, the home of the Swarovski Kristallwelten, and its spectacular exhibitions inspired by the crystals in displays beyond belief. Time permitting we will stop in Innsbruck, capital of Tyrol, before arriving in the town of Igls, a southern suburb of Innsbruck, and the 4-star Hotel Batzenhäusl, a Tyrolean treasure, which is home for tonight. Dinner will be at their superb restaurant, where you are even welcome to observe the chefs in their kitchen at work. DBB

09 Dec This morning we will leave the Inns river valley and head up over the lower Alps and back to Germany seeing the colorful, popular town of Garmisch as we drive up for lunch at the Seerestaurant Riessersee. The view of the Zugspitz (highest mountain in Germany) with its reflection framed in the lake is a photo op not to be missed. Then it’s on to our final city, München, where we will check into in the 4-star superior Platzl Hotel in the heart of the city. It is located next to the famous Hofbrauhaus and only 2 blocks from the Marienplatz (site of their Christkindlmarkt). Enjoy walking through the inner city including the famous Munich “Christkindlmarkt” which traces its history back to 1310. Since 1972, when the center of Munich was converted into a series of pedestrian malls, the Christkindlmarkt has been in and around the new town hall on Marienplatz. Afternoon is for shopping. Revisit the Christkindlmarkt after dark for a totally different look and feeling. Dinner is on your own in one of the many outstanding restaurants in Munich. Walking tours are available as are visits to Munich’s museums and churches. Your tour guides will assist you. LBB

10 Dec Tomorrow is Sunday so this is the last shopping day for you on the trip (except the airport duty free shop), the day is free for you to catch all the places you’ve missed so far. This evening is a special treat not available on the usual tours. We will take the UBahn (subway) out to the edge of München to a typical Bavarian home in a quiet suburb, where you will enjoy Bavarian beer and famous bretzen, wine, and a meal of leberkäse and potato salad with some local neighbors stopping by. DBB

11 Dec You will want to do 98% of your re-packing after breakfast because we leave very early tomorrow for the airport. Around 11:00 am our bus will take us south on a final fun frolic to such towns as Ettal, Oberammergau (site of the famous “Passion Play” every 10 years), plus a visit to the Wieskirche (Church in the Field), a rococo masterpiece that was named an UNESCO Heritage Site. On our swing back to Munich, we will visit Andechs Monastery (brother Monastery to Kremsmünster’s) near Lake Starnberg for a monastery tour, unique beer tasting and light supper. Optional dinner available for the very hungry. DBB

12 Dec After early breakfast, our bus will transfer us to Munich airport for our return flights to the US.

Aufwiedersehn to Germany and Austria!
We’ll be back…again!

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[Airfare not included. Call TT&A TRAVEL to arrange best fare and routing for you.]