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12 Days Alpine Interlude Tour Package
Duration: 12 Days / 11 Nights
Priced From: $5690 pp dbl. occ.
Dates: May - Sep
Including the Passion Play! This 12-day Alpine Interlude - Including The Passion Play showcases authentic, engaging experiences in the Austrian, Italian, Swiss and Bavarian Alps - and features a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the alpine village of Oberammergau - the 2010 Oberammergau Passion Play, which you'll watch from our premier seating, in the best category available! Journey along the Yellow Roads, like the Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse, through some of the most inspiring scenery on earth; climb to the highest railway station in Europe aboard a cogwheel train; and take in a sweeping panorama of alpine splendor from a cable car. Explore the exciting cities of Zurich, Berne, Vaduz, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna. Savor a real taste of the Alps in a Swiss Gasthof, a famous Viennese café, an authentic Bavarian restaurant, and a 900-year-old monastery winery. Let the land of The Sound of Music, the music of Mozart, and a world-famous performance event that occurs once every ten years - the Oberammergau Passion Play (or Passionsspiele) - inspire you. Your spirits will soar as high as the mountains as you discover the Alps and the Passionsspiele with us!
Tour Itinerary
Day 1 - Welcome to the Swiss Alps
This Swiss Alps tour begins at 6:00 PM at the Hotel Schweizerhof Zurich. A transfer is included from Zurich Airport to the Hotel Schweizerhof Zurich. With its splendid views of the Swiss Alps, Zurich is the perfect place to begin your 12-day Alpine Interlude - Including The Passion Play. Please join us this evening for our welcome reception and dinner, where you'll meet your Director and your fellow travelers.
Meals:Dinner
LodgingHotel Schweizerhof Zurich, Switzerland
Day 2 - Toward the Swiss Alps
Journey to Berne, Switzerland's charming capital city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this morning. Discover the highlights of Berne with your Director before enjoying lunch at a 17-century Gasthof with great views of such peaks as the Mönch, Eiger and Jungfrau. Your Alps and Passion Play tour continues to Interlaken for a two-night stay at the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, one of Europe's most famous "grand" hotels offering stunning vistas of the Swiss Alps.
Meals:Breakfast, lunch
LodgingVictoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, Interlaken, Switzerland
Day 3 - A day of high adventure in the Swiss Alps
After a scenic drive to Grindelwald this morning, board a cogwheel train and climb to Klein Scheidegg; take a minute to admire the incredible views as you change trains, and continue your upward journey to the highest railway station in Europe at the Jungfraujoch, reaching an altitude of 10,500 feet. Here at "the top of Europe," the spectacular views of the surrounding Swiss Alps will take your breath away. Then descend through beautiful alpine meadows to the village of Lauterbrunnen; return to Interlaken to spend the rest of the day and evening as you please.
Meals:Breakfast, dinner
LodgingVictoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, Interlaken, Switzerland
Day 4 - Lovely little Liechtenstein to Bavaria
Spectacular scenery abounds as you travel from the Swiss Alps through the heart of Switzerland from Interlaken to Liechtenstein. Set amidst the Alps, the tiny Principality of Liechtenstein has much to offer. You'll have some free time in the capital city, Vaduz, to make your own discoveries. Continue on through the Austrian Alps and into southern Germany. Arrive in the Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a two-night stay at a hotel that's been family-owned for nearly 500 years - and get set for tomorrow's performance of Oberammergau's legendary Passion Play!
Meals:Breakfast, dinner
LodgingHotel Obermuehle, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Day 5 - Oberammergau's Passion Play - in premier seats
Today, alpine odyssey takes you to the Bavarian village of Oberammergau to attend one of Europe's most beloved and venerable traditions - a performance of the 2010 Oberammergau Passion Play, or Passionsspiele, depicting the Passion of Christ. In the 1630s, the people of Oberammergau vowed to perform a play about the life of Jesus every ten years if they were spared from the devastating plague then sweeping across Europe... and they kept their promise. First produced in 1634, the Passion Play now involves the talents of over 2,000 actors, musicians and technicians - all of them Oberammergau residents - and includes dramatic scenes of the Passion (in German), as well as musical performances and tableaux vivants of Old Testament scenes. Enjoy premier seating - in the best category available - for the Passion Play performance, which begins in the afternoon, and continues into the evening after a break for dinner. An English libretto is provided to enhance your enjoyment of this once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Meals:Breakfast, lunch, dinner
LodgingHotel Obermuehle, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Day 6 - Inspiring Innsbruck
Your Alps and Passion Play travel experience continues to Innsbruck today, twice the host city for the Winter Olympics. Discover the Gothic Old Town, one of the most beautiful medieval city centers in Austria, and impressive imperial architecture that dates back to Innsbruck's days as the capital of late 15th-century Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I. Arrive in Strassen late afternoon for a two-night stay.
Meals:Breakfast, dinner
LodgingHotel Strasserwirt, Strassen, Austria
Day 7 - Trans-border adventures
Part of the Alps, the Dolomites span Austria and Italy, and your travels today take you back and forth across the border many times. Inspiring mountain vistas and peaceful pastoral scenes await around every bend. Board a cable car to take in absolutely awe-inspiring alpine vistas.
Meals:Breakfast, lunch, dinner
LodgingHotel Strasserwirt, Strassen, Austria
Day 8 - One of the world's most scenic roads
This is what you've come to the Austrian, Italian and Swiss Alps to experience - a seemingly endless panorama of towering alpine peaks and mighty glaciers. Opened in 1935, Austria's Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse (High Alpine Road) paved the way to one of the most impressive and incomparable natural experiences on earth. The road takes you up and up and up into the most spectacular alpine scenery you could possibly imagine. From the highest point, you'll be able to see 37 mountains higher than 9,000 feet and 19 amazing glaciers. Have lunch in Zell am See and continue on to Salzburg for a two-night stay.
Meals:Breakfast, lunch, dinner
LodgingHotel Goldener Hirsch, Salzburg, Austria
Day 9 - Splendid Salzburg
The Old Town of Salzburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the best-preserved city centers in the German-speaking world. A walking tour this morning reveals its Baroque charms; perhaps you'll recognize some of the locations used in filming The Sound of Music. A visit to the birthplace of musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is an inspiring experience for Mozart fans. This evening, attend a classical music concert at Mirabell Palace and let your spirit soar as extraordinary music fills the air.
Meals:Breakfast
LodgingHotel Goldener Hirsch, Salzburg, Austria
Day 10 - Take a first-class rail journey to visit Vienna
Feel free to hum a few of your favorite waltzes during a scenic first-class train trip from Salzburg to Vienna. Upon arrival, pause to enjoy coffee and cake at one of Sigmund Freud's favorite cafés before exploring a bit of this glittering city on foot during a guided walking tour en route to the Hotel Imperial, your home for the next two nights. The rest of the afternoon is free to discover Vienna as you please.
Meals:Breakfast, lunch
LodgingHotel Imperial, Vienna, Austria
Day 11 - Vibrant Vienna
A city tour this morning showcases the treasures of this former center of the old Habsburg Empire - today the capital of Austria - including its marvelous Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture and the famous Ringstrasse. Later, visit the extraordinary Stift Klosterneuburg, a monastery founded in 1114 by Leopold III, who eventually became the patron saint of Austria. Your tour will take you through the monastery church, with its numerous frescoes, and the medieval cloisters which house the Verdun Altar, a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Finally, taste some of the wines for which the monastery has been famous for 900 years. Return to Vienna and enjoy some time at leisure before joining us for a farewell reception and dinner, where your alpine and Passion Play experience concludes.
Meals:Breakfast, dinner
LodgingHotel Imperial, Vienna, Austria
Day 12 - Homeward bound
Tour ends: Vienna, Austria. Fly home anytime; your Alpine Interlude - Including The Passion Play in the Austrian, Italian, Bavarian and Swiss Alps ends with an included transfer from the Hotel Imperial to Vienna International Airport. Please allow a minimum of 2 1/2 hours for airport check-in formalities.
Meals:Breakfast
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