1st day Prague
Arrival in Prague, ‘a city of a hundred spires’, a jewel among the European cities, with Baroque churches, and the Hradcany Castle dominating the view.
Check-in at the hotel.
afternoon Guided walk in the Old Town from the Wenceslas Square, through the main square with the town hall and the Astronomical Clock, and further on to the famous Charles Bridge and to the Mala Strana (‘Lesser Quarter’) full of charming, narrow street. Dinner at typical Czech restaurant in Mala Strana
2nd day Prague morning Sightseeing of Josefov – a former Jewish district of Prague, with town hall, Alt-Neu, Spanisch and Pinkas synagogues, and an old Jewish cemetery. afternoon Visit the Prague Castle with St Vitus Cathedral and the palaces of the Prague aristocracy.
In the evening a cruise on the Vltava river with dinner aboard
3rd day Prague - Budapest morning Trip to Budapest. Stop enroute in Trebic - the best preserved Jewish Quarter in Europe, original houses, the Jewish town hall, rabbinate, school, hospital and an old cemetery, with about 3000 tombstones.
Telč, a medieval beauty registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
evening Arrival in Budapest. Check-in to the hotel. Dinner at a stylish Budapest restaurant with Gypsy music
4th day Budapest morning Sightseeing of Budapest by bus - the Royal Castle, the Castle hill, the Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church (‘the coronation church’), Gellért Hill with a magnificent panoramic view of the city and bridges over the Danube.
afternoon Visiting the impressive edifice of the neo-Gothic Parliament, the best-known building in Budapest.
In the evening a cruise down the Danube among richly lit buildings, dinner - Hungarian cuisine and wine
5th day Budapest
There are approximately 100.000 Jews currently living in Budapest - it is third largest Jewish community in Europe.
In the morning visiting the old Jewish quarter with Europe’s biggest Dohany Street Synagogue, the Jewish Museum, and the Holocaust Memorial, as well as the newly-open Rumbach Street Synagogue and Kazinczy Street Synagogue. Learn about the story of two officials - Raul Waldenberg and Carl Lutz who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during WWII.
afternoon Trip to Szentendre, a lovely, artistic town situated on the Danube. In Szentendre we see a museum dedicated to the famous Jewish Hungarian ceramics artist Margit Kovacs. Dinner in Szentendre, return to Budapest for overnight
6th day Budapest - Krakow morning Leaving Budapest for Krakow through picturesque landscapes of the West Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia.
afternoon Arrival in Krakow, Poland’s former capital city. Check-in at the hotel, and a walk around the Main Square, the largest Medieval square in Europe, and visiting the Royal Wawel Castlehill. Dinner at one of the restaurants in the Old Town
7th day Krakow
Full day sightseeing following the footsteps of the Jewish community in Krakow. Visiting Kazimierz, Europe’s best preserved former Jewish district, with the 15th century Old Synagogue, Remuh Synagogue and the adjacent 16th century cemetery, and the delightful 19th century Temple Synagogue.
afternoon Visiting the Galicia Jewish Museum, the premises of the former ghetto and concentration camp in Plaszow, and Oscar Schindler’s factory. Dinner with Klezmer music at one of restaurants in Kazimierz
8th day Krakow- Auschwitz - Warsaw
Trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of former Nazi extermination camps, and the symbol of Holocaust, where over one million people were murdered in gas chambers. Sightseeing in Auschwitz I – Stammlager, with a crematorium and a wall of death, and Auschwitz II – Birkenau, with well-preserved barrack huts and ruins of gas chambers.
afternoon Drive to Warsaw. Check-in and dinner at the hotel
9th day Warsaw
Before WWII, Warsaw was the biggest Jewish commune in Europe, and second largest in the world, with over 350.000 Jews. The community had nearly disappeared following the Holocaust, since even less than 10% of the Jewish inhabitants survived. One of the points of the visit in Warsaw is a meeting with a representative of the local Jewish community in the historic Nozyk Synagogue, then visit an exhibiton about the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto at the Jewish Historical Institute, the Monument of the Ghetto Heroes, the bunker of the commanding officers of the uprising at 18 Miła Street, the former SS headquarters, and the Umschlagplatz where transports heading for the extermination camp in Treblinka were formed.
Dinner and a Chopin concert in the evening
10th day Warsaw - Berlin
A railway trip to Berlin.
Sightseeing in the Scheunenviertel Jewish quarter with a synagogue in Oranienburgerstrasse, the extraordinary Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag – the German Parliament the conquest of which was a symbolic ending of the Second World War in May 1945.
Visit the unusual–looking, new Jewish Museum designed by a famous architect Daniel Liebeskind.
Get familiar with Berlin’s most recent history - visit the Berlin Wall which used to divide the city into two parts for dozens of years; see the Checkpoint Charlie Museum presenting the story of the Wall and the attepmts at overcoming it by refugees from the communist part of the city, and the Potsdamer Platz which is a symbol of the new, united Berlin
11th day Berlin - Potsdam
A day trip to Potsdam begins with visit to the Wannsee Villa where Hitler decicded on the ‘final solution of the Jewish question’, and Cecylienhof palace where the Potsdam Pact was signed which determined the situation of Germany after WWII.
afternoon Sightseeing in the historical centre of Potsdam with the scenic Dutch Quarter, the Russian Colony, and the Sanssouci Palace, a famous residence of the Prussian king Frederick II with a splendid park around it
12th day Berlin morning Visit the Pergamonmuseum where antique art is displayed, including such monumental exhibits as Te Pergamon Altat, Market Gate of Mletus or Processin Street of Babylon. In the afternoon shopping or leisure time, and in the evening an organised cultural activity
13th day
Check-out of the hotel. Flight back home.
The program may be realized by bus from Prague to Berlin. In case of smaller groups, there is a choice of buses and trains instead of planes, in the following order:
Praga – Budapest, Budapest – Krakow, Krakow – Warsaw, Warsaw – Berlin
