ESTIMATED TOUR PRICE:
Estimated Tour Price: $4,750, based on double occupancy
Single Room Supplement: $495
The tour price is based on estimated rates and fares for 2010
and is subject to change.
TOUR PRICE INCLUDES:
- Round-trip airfare from Washington/Dulles International Airport
- Airline taxes and fuel surcharges (currently $399; subject to
change)
- Accommodations in four-star hotels listed in itinerary, or similar
- Meals as indicated by B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner.
Dinners on the second night in a city are not included in the
tour price, giving travelers an opportunity to explore the city on
their own and choose their favorite cuisine.
- Oberammergau Passion Play ticket package, including English
Playbook
- Driver and transportation in deluxe, air-conditioned motor
coaches
- Sightseeing and entrance fees as indicated in itinerary
- English-speaking guides throughout
- Hotel service charges, local taxes and porterage
- Tips to guides, drivers and hotel staff ($80)
- Optional music event in Vienna, TBA
ITINERARY:
Thursday, July 8
Departure
Depart from Washington/Dulles Airport on an overnight flight
to Warsaw, Poland.
Friday, July 9
Warsaw, Poland
Upon arrival at Warsaw airport this morning, you will be met
by your guide and driver and given an orientation tour of Warsaw,
Poland’s largest city and capital. Straddling the Vistula River, this
beautiful city has been rebuilt after being razed to the ground by
bombing raids during World War II. The remainder of the day is free
for relaxation in your hotel, the Mercure Chopin. (D)
Saturday, July 10
Warsaw
A panoramic tour of
Warsaw this morning will
include the Jewish Ghetto
from World War II, where
not one house survived,
with only a small section
of the 11-miles of wall remaining.
See the Memorial
of the Heroes of the Warsaw
Ghetto Uprising, built
by Natan Rappaport, using bronze and granite ordered by Hitler to
be used to build a monument honoring Germany’s victory. Tour the
Old Town, including the Barbican, fortifications and market square,
filled with cafe tables, various traders and street artists. See the
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, with its 230-foot high bell tower, the
Sigmund Column and Palace Square. In the afternoon stroll through
Lazienki Park to visit the Chopin Memorial, Royal Gardens and
Palace on the Water. Dinner and the evening are yours to explore
Warsaw on your own. (B)
Sunday, July 11
Warsaw – Czestochowa – Auschwitz – Krakow
Drive to Czestochowa, one of the most important sites in the
Christian world and often called the Religious Capital of Poland. A
guided tour by one of the local Pauline brothers of the Jasna Góra
Monastery will include the Treasury, Knights Hall, the Sacristy and
the Chapel of the Black Madonna. Historians date the famous
painting to the 14th century, but a legend says it was made by Saint
Luke the Evangelist on a piece of wood from the table used by the
Virgin Mary in Nazareth.
Drive to Auschwitz-Birkenau
concentration and death
camp, opened by Nazi Germany
on June 14, 1940. Poles,
Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies,
and prisoners of other
nationalities were incarcerated
at Auschwitz and then sent to
their deaths in the Birkenau gas
chambers. At the end of the war, in an effort to remove the traces
of the crimes they had committed, the SS began dismantling and
razing the gas chambers, crematoria, and other buildings, as well as
burning documents. Survivors were liberated by Red Army soldiers
on January 27, 1945. Continue to Krakow for overnight at the Hotel
Best Western Premier. (B,D)
Monday, July 12
Krakow
Begin the morning at Wawel Castle, home to three dynasties
of Poland’s monarchs. Continue to Krakow’s central Grand Square
to visit the Mariacki Church (Basilica of Mary). There will be time
for you to explore the Renaissance Cloth Hall, arguably the world’s
oldest shopping mall, in business for 700 years. At one time the
center of the textile trade, the Cloth Hall is now a wonderful place
to purchase the works of local artists, jewelry and souvenirs, as well
as numerous cafes offering lunch.
This afternoon, visit the Wieliczka Salt Mines, a UNESCO historic
monument dating back to the 11th century. The unusual cave
galleries include several spectacular chapels. Return to Krakow,
with an opportunity for you to explore this beautiful city on your own
and choose from many restaurants for dinner. (B)
Tuesday, July 13
Krakow – Budapest, Hungary
Enjoy a gentle drive today into Slovakia and through the
breathtaking peaks of the Tatra Mountains to Budapest, capital of
Hungary. Upon arrival, check into the Mercure Buda Hotel for dinner
and overnight. (B,D)
Wednesday, July 14
Budapest
Enjoy a city tour of Budapest,
including Gellert
Hill, the Citadel, St. Mathias
Church, and Fisherman’s
Bastion. Cross the Danube
to
visit St. Stephen Church,
and drive by the Parliament
House, Heroes Square and
the
Great Synagogue of
Dohany Street. The remainder of the day is free to explore this
beautiful and fascinating city, divided by the Danube River. Don’t
miss the Great Market Hall, the largest indoor market in Budapest,
with a roof that has been restored to the distinctive Zsolnay tiling.
Dinner tonight is on your own, choosing from a wide selection of
restaurants, offering both Hungarian and international cuisine.
Overnight in Budapest. (B)
Thursday, July 15
Budapest – Szentendre – Vienna, Austria
Depart Budapest this morning, driving through the beautiful
Hungarian countryside, with a stop at Szentendre, the city of
churches and artist galleries. A tour of the town will reveal several
of its nine churches, merchant houses and architectural masterpieces.
Continue to Vienna, which was once the center of the mighty
Hapsburg Empire. Often called The Musical Capital of the World,
musicians such as Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms
and Johann Strauss lived and worked in Vienna. Check into the
Strudlhof Hotel for dinner and overnight in Vienna. (B,D)
Friday, July 16
Vienna
Vienna is a beautiful
city. This morning drive along
the famous Ring, where you
will see the superb Opera
House, the impressive Parliament,
the Winter Palace,
and the great baroque St.
Charles Church. Continue
with a walking tour between
the university and opera house, passing by Donner Fountain, the
Spanish Riding School, Hofburg Palace Gardens and St. Stephen’s
Cathedral. In the afternoon, visit the Schönbrunn Palace, the
summer residence of the Hapsburgs. Schönbrunn was not only
an imperial residence and the setting for countless festivities, but
also a place where famous artists and craftsmen created interiors
of great beauty. All the rooms in the palace have their own stories
to tell, stories on the margins of great historical events which are
indicative of the lifestyle, atmosphere and world view of the imperial
era. The evening is free in Vienna. When concert schedules become
available, an optional concert will be offered to tour members this
evening. (B)
Saturday, July 17
Vienna—Salzburg – Oberammergau, Germany
Travel across scenic
Austria, winding through
the beautiful Danube Valley
to Salzburg, the City
of Music. Enjoy a guided
tour of Salzburg, walking
along Getreidegasse, the
city’s pedestrian street
lined with authentic 17th
and 18th century buildings, including the
house where Mozart was
born. View Monchsberg, with the fortress “Hohensalzburg” which
overlooks the city. See Residenzplatz, the centre square of Salzburg,
dominated by the dynamic sculpture of the Residenz-brunnen, the
largest baroque fountain north of the Alps. The Residenz building,
built in 1596, was once the palace of the Bishops. End the tour with
a visit to St. Peter's Abbey, located next to the cemetery where the
escape was filmed in Sound of Music. Cross the Salzach River to
Mirabel Gardens before departing Salzburg for Oberammergau.
Upon arrival, take time to enjoy a walk around this fascinating town,
seeing woodcarvers at work in their shops and noting the unusual
half-timbered, decorated houses. Dinner and overnight will be in
Oberammergau at the Hotel Landhaus Feldmeier and the Parkhotel
Sonnenhof. (B, D)
Sunday, July 18
Oberammergau
The history of the Passion
Play at Oberammergau
goes back to the year 1634,
when the quaint alpine village
of Oberammergau was
threatened by the deadly
and contagious disease
known as the Black Plague
that scourged Europe, killing
two-thirds of the population of Germany. The people of Oberammergau
vowed that if the village could be spared, a re-enactment of
the life and suffering of Christ would be performed. The village was
miraculously saved from the ravages of the Black Death. Since that
date, the play has been performed every ten years.
Spend a leisure morning in Oberammergau. After lunch take
seats in the theater to attend the performance of the world-famous
Passion Play. This Play is performed by local villagers—often roles
are handed down from generation to generation within families.
Dinner is included during a three-hour break in the late afternoon,
and the performance lasts until 10:30 p.m. Return to your hotel for
the night. (B, L, D)
Monday, July 19
Oberammergau—Munich
Depart Oberammergau and travel through the Bavarian countryside.
There will be a special photo opportunity of Neuschwanstein
fairytale castle, well-known to Americans as Sleeping Beauty’s
Castle at Disneyland. Visit nearby Linderhof Castle. Both castles
were built by King Ludwig II. Completed in 1878, Linderhof was the
only one of Ludwig’s three castles that was completely fi nished.
Continue to Munich, with some free time to walk through the
downtown area, including the Town Hall Building in the Marienplatz,
Maximilianstrasse, and the well-known Frauenkirche. Dinner and
overnight in Munich at the Ramada Mitte Hotel. (B, D)
Tuesday, July 20
Depart
After breakfast transfer to the Munich Airport for the flight home
to Washington/Dulles Airport. Auf wiedersehen!
Click Here for a Printable Tour Reservation Form
Click Here for an Online Reservation Form
For further information, contact:
Steve Wingfield Evangelistic Association
2389 Grace Chapel Road
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Tel: (800) 729-2239 or (540) 236-5989
Fax: (540) 433-5042
Travel Arrangements by:
124 East Main Street, 4th Floor
Ephrata, PA 17522
Tel: (800) 418-2929, ext. 81307
Fax: (717) 733-1009
E-mail:lindyw@mtstravel.com
Tour Features and Conditions
Responsibility
OBW070810LCLW
CST 2013363-40
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