The Cold War

Basic Inclusions

Detailed Itinerary

Days 1-2: Arrival Berlin

A dream comes true as your wide-bodied jet thunders off the airstrip, Europe-bound. Time for a meal, a movie and a nap. Then it gets light again, first off the left-hand side of the airplane, then everywhere. It's morning and your destination is Berlin, Germany! You're about to discover a city that has risen from the scars of World War II and the Cold War to reclaim its former splendor as the capital of a reunited Germany. Potsdam Square, long a desolate sector of East Berlin, is once again its most vibrant district.

Day 3: Berlin City Sightseeing, Checkpoint Charlie Museum, DDR Museum

Half-day city sightseeing
"Ich bin ein Berliner!" On a guided tour of the city, you'll understand why John F. Kennedy made this claim on behalf of all world citizens. See Rathaus Schöneberg, where 1,500,000 West Berliners flocked to hear this speech in 1963, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the imposing Soviet War Memorial, Kurfürstendamm, the historic Unter den Linden, now checkered once again (under its trees) with Western-style sidewalk cafés, and what's left of the Berlin Wall. A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Berlin, will accompany your group.

Visit to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum
Delve into the city's gripping history at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. As the best-known crossing point between East and West Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the East/West split of both Berlin and Germany, and, for East Germans who wanted to escape, a gate to the West.

Visit to the DDR Museum
Travel back in time as the DDR Museum's interactive exhibits take you back to the German Democratic Republic era, from the 1940s to the 1980s, when the division of Germany kept East Germans from contact with the West. Exhibits illustrates the political climate at that time and the crimes perpetrated by the infamous State Security Police (STASI). You will also get plunged into the daily life of ordinary citizens behind the Iron Curtain.

Day 4: Excursion to Potsdam

Excursion to Potsdam
An excursion takes you to neighboring Potsdam.
Visit to Sanssouci Palace
Discover the summer residence of Frederick the Great, built among the hills and meadows of Potsdam. This 18th-century lover of artistic endeavors designed for his court an outrageously lavish palace and named it Sans Souci (French for "without a care").
Walk through the palace's luscious park, which is adorned with a monumental staircase, fountains and pavilions, in particular the graceful Chinese Tea-House.
Cecilienhof Castle
Visit Schloss Cecilienhof, an English-style manor with 176 rooms that was built in 1917 for the heir to the Prussian throne. Your visit includes the meeting room of the Potsdam Conference, held between July 17 and August 2, 1945. It set the terms of the occupation and partition of post-war Germany, in a document signed by U.S. President Harry Truman, U.K. Prime Minister Clement Attlee (successor of Winston Churchill), and Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union.
Sightseeing stop at the Bridge of Spies (Glienicke Bridge)
Have a good look at the Glienicker Brücke, which was, during the Cold War, a restricted border crossing between Potsdam, then in East Germany, and Allied-occupied West Berlin across the river. Since both powers used it as a trading post, notably for the exchange of undercover agents from one side of the Iron Curtain to the other, it became the "Bridge of Spies" and, under that name, the subject of a 2015 film.

Day 5: Travel to Dresden, Dresden Guided Walking Tour

Travel to Dresden
Travel on the Autobahn through the former kingdom of Saxony on your way to its ancient capital city. Once known as "The Florence of the Elbe," Dresden has been lovingly rebuilt in its old Rococo style following near-total destruction by the Allied bombing of February 14, 1945. (You may remember Slaughterhouse Five, the novel written by bombing survivor Kurt Vonnegut.)
Professionally-guided walking tour in Dresden
A guide will introduce landmarks such as the imposing Cathedral (Hofkirche), the Baroque splendor of the Zwinger complex, the Semperoper opera house, the former royal palace known as the Residenzschloss, and the Frauenkirche, left in ruins by the 1945 Allied fire bombings, but now restored. Once the largest Protestant church in Europe, the Frauenkirche was once crowned by a 310-foot-high dome comparable to the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Day 6: Travel to Prague via Bautzen

Travel to Prague via Bautzen
Your coach takes you across the Czech border and through the "Garden of Bohemia," planted thick with cherry orchards and vineyards, on your way to Praha, nicknamed City of a Hundred Spires.
Sightseeing Stop in Bautzen
A former jail, the Gedenkstätte Bautzen held political prisoners during the Cold War.

Day 7: Prague Guided Walking Tour

Guided walking tour in Prague
Discover the major landmarks of "Golden Prague”: Charles Bridge (one of the first stone bridges in Europe), the Old Town Square with the Town Hall and its Astronomical Clock, Tyn Church, Wallenstein Palace, Wenceslas Square, the Archbishop's Palace (where the 1984 movie Amadeus was filmed), Charles University, and the Bethlehem Chapel, where the Reformer Jan Hus preached.
A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Prague, will accompany your group.
Visit to the Courtyards of Prague Castle
Head up Hradcany Hill to have a look at the courtyards of Prague Castle and their monumental gates. Enter St. Vitus Cathedral through its main door, and pause in its vestibule to admire the soaring Gothic arches of its nave.

Day 8: Train to Budapest, House of Terror Museum

Train to Budapest
Board an EC Train bound for Budapest, which lies on either side of the Danube. Buda is the old part (with Celtic origins dating back to Year One); Pest is the new part. This is the place to taste real, pungent paprika. Even McDonald's, whose Budapest restaurant is doubtless the chain's most elegant, offers a special paprika-spiced hamburger!

House of Terror Museum
Enter Terror Háza, a chilling museum housed in the former headquarters of the State Protection Authority - the dreaded Hungarian Communist secret police which ruled between 1945 and 1956. The building was first used by the Nazis in 1944. The House of Terror Museum now memorializes the victims of Fascism and Communism, in particular those who were tortured and murdered on the premises.

Day 9: Budapest City Sightseeing, Czarda Dinner and Show

Half-day city sightseeing
A sightseeing introduction to Budapest provides an unforgettable panorama of Hungary's thousand-year history. Drive up Gellért Hill for a spectacular view embracing the beautiful parks on Margaret Island, the proud Danube bridges, and the 110-foot-high Liberation Memorial. Continue across the Danube and tour the new town of Pest. Among its most breathtaking monuments are the Parliament buildings, facing the river, and the monumental Square of the Heroes. A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Budapest, will accompany your group.
Visits to the Palace Courtyards and Matthias Church
Visit Castle Hill, where you'll stroll through the Palace Courtyards to visit Matthias Church and see the celebrated neo-Gothic fantasy of the Fisherman's Bastion.
Memento Park
Head to Memento Park in the countryside just out of Újbuda, which has a collection of socialist-era statues removed from Budapest and all over the country after the democracy was restored. You can try fitting inside a Trabant, the quintessential socialist car produced in East Germany.

Czarda dinner and show
Tonight, enjoy dinner with some local color at a Czarda gypsy folklore show!

Day 10: Departure

Depart Budapest
On your drive to the airport, and as your plane flies over Budapest, take in the harmonious cityscape: there are no skyscrapers to block the view, thanks to a city code that regulates building height. Then, fly westward. You'll be home tonight.

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