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Bavarian Shrines and Swiss Alps

DAY 1 MADRID – FRANKFURT – NUREMBERG Meeting at the agreed upon time in the Airport of Barajas and boarding on regular flight to Frankfurt. Arrival in Frankfurt and transfer to Nuremberg. Arrival to the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 2 NUREMBERG – MUNICH Breakfast. Panoramic tour of the city of Nuremberg, which was the ideological capital of the Third Reich. One of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe until the Second World War, it still conserves the charm of yesteryear with its characteristic constructions. Departure for Munich and lunch in a local restaurant. Afternoon tour of the city, beginning with a tour of the Olympic City, Marienplatz, with the New and Old City Hall and its famous Carillon, and the imposing Gothic Cathedral. Having finished the visit, transfer to the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 3 MUNICH – (Exc. ALTÖTTING – DACHAU – REGENSBURG) Breakfast. Departure to visit Altötting, only 11 km from the birthplace of Benedict XVI and where we will be able to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting, whose Black Virgin dates from the 9th century. It has become one of the most important pilgrimage centers in Germany. Lunch in a local restaurant, and in the afternoon departure for Dachau to visit what was the first large-scale concentration camp in Germany, constructed by the Nazis from an old gun powder factory in 1933. Having finished the visit, transfer to Regensburg to wander through streets of a metropolis from the Middle Ages. We will see magnificent buildings from Romanesque art through Classicism, cotemporary and stone vestiges. We will see its Squares, Town Hall, its Gothic Cathedral or its almost 900 year old Stone Bridge, once considered a wonder of the world, etc. Upon finishing the visit, return to Munich, dinner and lodging.

DAY 4 MUNICH – FUSSEN – OTTOBEUREN – LINDAU Breakfast. Morning departure to take an excursion to Fussen, next to The Bavarian Alps, where we will visit the Castle of Neuschwanstein, known as the castle of the “Mad King,” Ludwig II of Bavaria. The castle is of such beauty, and its landscape so spectacular that it seems to have been taken from a fairy tale. Walt Disney even used it as his model for “Sleeping Beauty.” Lunch in the castle and Afternoon departure for the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, founded in 764 by Blessed Toto and dedicated to Saint Alexander, martyr, and famous for its basilica and library, considereds jewels of the Baroque and Rococo. Having finished the visit, transfer to Lindau, next to Lake Constance, which has a port at whose entrance are prominent the lighthouse and a statue of the Lion of Bavaria. This city garden hass a medieval center and a beautiful City Hall, as well as the Church of Saint Peter (with frescoes by Holbein). Having finished the visit, transfer to the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 5 LINDAU – VADUZ – EINSIEDELN – ZURICH Breakfast. Departure for Vaduz, the capital of the Principality ofLiechtenstein, seated on the banks of the Rhine. The Castle of the Prince, prominent building in the city, was constructed in the medieval period, but with the passage of time two wings were added, one in Renaissance style and the other in Neoclassical style. Lunch in a local restaurant and free time in the city until the designated time to depart for Einsiedln, to visit its Benedictine shrine a beautiful pilgrimage center in the cantón of Schwyz, currently the largest in Switzerland. Having finished the visit, transfer to Zurich, dinner and lodging.

DAY 6 ZURICH – LUCERNE – (EXC. MOUNT PILATUS) Breakfast. Early departure to visit Zurich, where Bahnohofstrasse, the main artery of the city, stands out. We will also see the Church of Saint Peter, Town Hall, or the Grossmünster, a a majestic building from the 11th and 12th centuries. Continuation to Lucerne, where we will see the Chapel Bridge, constructed in 1333 and adorned with numerous paintings that evoke the war exploits and the martyrdom of the patron saints of the city, Leodegar and Mauritius; and the impressive octogonal “Water Tower”, as well as the “Dying Lion” of Lucerne, one of the most famous monuments in the world, sculpted directly in living rock in memory of the Swiss heroes. Lunch in a local restaurant, and in the afternoon we will visit Mount Pilatus, ascending in the famous cogwheel train, the steepest in the world, to the altitude of 1,230 meters. Return to Lucerne, dinner and lodging.

DAY 7 LUCERNE – THE RHINE FALLS – FREIBURG – HEIDELBERG Breakfast. Departure, crossing the Black Forest, with leafy woods and deep lakes, to the impressive Rhine Falls, where we will contemplate the spectacle of furious water falling with a great roar. Lunch in a local restaurant and continuation to Freiburg. Panoramic tour of the city, where we will get to know its historic area and we will be able to contemplate the famous Cathedral, with the most beautiful tower of Christendom, the small canals that continue to furrow the streets of the Old City, adorned with mosaics of the cantons of the Rhine, Town Hall, Martin’s Gate, etc. Having finished the visit, transfer to Heidelberg, dinner and lodging.

DAY 8 HEIDELBERG – FRANKFURT – MADRID Breakfast and tour of this lovely city, famous for its historic center with the Castle of Heidelberg and the oldest university in the country. The historic center of Heidelberg is well preserved and consists mainly of a large pedestrian zone where various churches, like the Church of the Holy Spirit, and many baroque buildings can be found. Here also is found the center of the University of Heidelberg with its library and the Studentenkarzer, or student prison. The Heidelberg Castle not only is the most notable place in the city, but also the most famous ruin in Germany. Lunch in a local restaurant and transfer to Frankfurt to embark on a regular flight for Madrid. Arrival and END OF TRIP