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Itinerary - See beginning date above. |
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Day 1 |
Depart home
cities for overnight flight to Berlin. |
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Day 2 |
Upon morning arrivals in Berlin, you will be met
and escorted to our waiting deluxe air
conditioned motor coach. Our visit will begin
with a city tour that showcases the three
centers of Berlin: the west around
Kurfuerstendamm Boulevard and the Memorial
Church, the new center around Potsdamer Square
and finally the eastern section around Unter Den
Linden, Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz. The
driver will then deliver you to the Hotel Melia
Berlin, which is centrally located in the heart
of the German capital. You’ll have time to rest
before meeting Pastor Lutzer for a welcome
dinner and evening walk. |
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Day 3 |
 Breakfast
is included this morning at this beautiful hotel. What other
city in Europe has changed over the last ten years as much as
Berlin? Our tour of this once divided metropolis includes Ku-amm,
the restored Reichstag, monumental Bradenburg Gate, Charlotten
Palace, the 210-foot Victory Column in the vast Tiergarten Park
and a visit to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Lunch
together today while we enjoy the sites. Visit the Pergamon
Museum, one of the five wonderful museums that sit on Berlin’s
Museum Island. The Pergamon Museum is divided into three
distinct sections: the Antiquity Collection, the Islamic Art
Museum, and the Near East Museum.
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Day 4 |
Enjoy a buffet breakfast at your hotel this
morning. This morning we travel to Potsdam, the
Brandenburg state capital located opposite
Berlin metropolis. We will visit the Palace
Cecilienhof, where in 1945 the Potsdam Agreement
was signed among the Allied Powers. Take a walk
through the beautiful garden with impressive
terraces and fountains at the Palace Sanssouci.
Here the Kaisers ruled. Dr. Lutzer will help us
connect the Hilter Era with these locations and
also the probable role of Europe in future
Biblical prophecy. Lunch and dinner are
included today. This evening we drive to
Wittenberg for 2 nights and stay at the
Best Western Stadtpalais.
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Day 5 |
Start the day with a fantastic breakfast.
Today’s journey in Wittenberg recalls the life
and work of Martin Luther. See the gates of
Schlosskirche (Castle Church) where he nailed
his 95 Theses in 1517 challenging the Catholic
Church; then visit the Stadtkirche, (City
Church) where Luther and his associates preached
the gospel to the common people. Take advantage
of buying your lunch of bratwurst or weiner-schnitzel
in the town square dominated by the monuments of
Luther and Melanchton. We will visit the
Lutherhalle, an important museum located in the
Augustinian monastery in which Luther lived,
first as a monk and later as owner with his wife
Katharina von Bora and family. Lutherhalle’s
collection of objects related to the history of
the German Reformation include Luther’s own
desk, the pulpit from which he preached at the
Stadtkirche, his teaching robe, and first
editions of his books. |
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Day 6 |
Our day begins with breakfast and then our
journey continues to Eisleben, situated in the
countryside of the Harz Mountains. Luther was
born and baptized in Eisleben and also found his
last resting place there. Visit his house where
he was born and died. Continue on to Erfurt,
the spiritual home of Martin Luther. Sights
include a visit to the Augustinian Monastery
where Luther served as a monk. We will also
visit the Franciscan church where Luther
preached in 1529 and St. Mary’s Church where he
was ordained as a priest. Enjoy your stay at
the Mercure Hotel Erfurt.
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Day 7 |
Enjoy a
lovely buffet breakfast before departing for Eisenach in the
Thuringian Forest, where little has changed since the Middle
Ages. Visit the Luther House where Luther was educated from
1498-1501. Continue to the Wartburg Castle, where Luther took
shelter from the wrath of the Pope and translated the New
Testament from Greek to German. We will travel to Nurnberg to
see the stadium where Nazi rallies took place and the Coliseum
that Hitler built. We continue on our way to Munich with a sack
lunch, passing through the picturesque towns of Dinkelbuhl and
Nordlingen and arrive in Munich in the afternoon. Stay at the
Arabella Sheraton for 3
nights. |
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Day 8 |
Breakfast is included this morning before
joining Pastor Lutzer for the Hitler and the
Third Reich Walking Tour where you’ll see the
beer halls which hosted the first small
gatherings of the fanatics who would one day
lead the Third Reich, and the place where Hitler
made his first major speeches. We’ll walk
through the streets where Hitler fought his way
to power to the HQ from which he bullied the
world! Pastor will share his perspective on how
events of the Hitler period affected the
Christian world.
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Day 9 |
Enjoy breakfast this morning before we travel
today through the beautiful Bavarian Alps –
starting with a brief account of Hitler’s life.
The bus takes you up steep mountain roads to
Obersalzberg, a tiny community above
Berchtesgaden. The history of Obersalzberg’s
takeover by the Nazi Party and Martin Bormann’s
transformation of the mountain into Hitler’s
Southern Headquarters will be told. You will
view many original buildings dating back to when
the area was an off-limits second seat of
government after Berlin. You will then board a
specifically equipped mountain bus for a
breathtaking drive up the 6.5 km road on the
edge of the cliff, leading up a 27% incline to a
high mountain parking lot, just below the
“Eagle’s Nest.” A marble-lined tunnel leads 124
m into the heart of the mountain where you will
board the original brass-lined elevator for a
ride up through the heart of Kehlstein mountain
another 124 m straight into the building
itself! Perched up at 1834 m (6017 ft), the
Eagle’s Nest and the road network leading to it
were considered feats of engineering as they
were completed in only 13 months time in
1937-38. Constructed as a 50th birthday gift
for Adolf Hitler, the diplomatic teahouse’s
construction details and history will be told
during the guided tour. Lunch is included in
today’s activities. |
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Day 10 |
We begin
our drive from Munich to Geneva. You will be able to see quirky
and quaint alpine towns and high-peaked landscapes while tracing
the spine of this iconic range! Stay 2 nights at
Novotel Geneve City Centre.
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Day 11 |
Have breakfast before we begin in Geneva. This
city was the center of the Swiss Reformation
movement with John Calvin as its chief
theologian. We will begin the day by visiting
St. Peter’s Cathedral where Calvin taught the
Reformed doctrine. You can see Calvin’s chair
and climb 157 steps up to the top of the North
Tower, where the view is worth the effort!
Under the Cathedral are the ruins of a Roman
sanctuary, a 4th century basilica and a 6th
century church! Calvin’s Academy is near by and
is also called The Protestant Lecture Hall.
John Knox also taught here for three years.
Next we see the Reformation Monument which was
constructed between 1909 and 1917. This
impressive monument is also referred to as the
“Protestant Rome!” The giant wall is 325 feet
long and 30 feet high and displays 15 foot tall
statues of four Geneva Reformation leaders:
Guillaume Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza and
John Knox. Spend the afternoon shopping or
relaxing by the lake. |
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Day 12 |
Have a roll or croissant before we depart very
early for Zurich, a beautiful city filled with
history and ambience, framed by the breathtaking
Alps. Zurich was at the center of the Swiss
Reformation in the 16th century under the
leadership of Ulrich Zwingli. Visit the
Grossmunster Church, the mother church of the
Reformation in Switzerland where Zwingli began
teaching his Reform theologies that led to
Zurich’s freedom from Rome’s control. Also see
the Helferei where Zwingli lived. We will visit
the shore of the Limmat river where the
Anabaptists were drowned. We will have a
farewell dinner together this evening. |
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Day 13 |
Most of us will be flying home this morning,
arriving this same day.
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Pre-Extension in
Rome -- June 5th to June 10th |
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Day 1 |
Depart your home cities today. |
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Day 2 |
Arrive Rome and after going through customs,
take a short visit to the Catacombs. The
Catacombs are labyrinth of underground tunnels
extending nearly 9 miles and were once
Christian burial places. The catacombs were used
as places of momentary refuge for the
celebration of the Eucharist. After the
persecutions (366-384) they became real shrines
of the martyrs, centers of devotion and of
pilgrimage for Christians from every part of the
empire. We then will enjoy a brief walk while
it is still early down the historic Appian Way.
We will settle into our hotel room and then
enjoy dinner together at an authentic pizzeria |
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Day 3 |
This morning we will depart for a view of
Christian Roman sights. We will visit the
Basilica of St. Paul, located outside the walls
of the tomb and about two miles from where he
was killed. We’ll continue to St. John’s
Basilica, where relics of both Peter and Paul
are said to remain under the main altar.
Numerous fires and earthquakes have left little
of Constantine’s original Basilica, and the
church’s present appearance is the rebuild of a
17th century interior alteration by Borromini.
Look for original bronze doors taken from the
Roman Curia at the entrance, 12 colossal marble
statues of the Apostles, a chapel supported by
four columns allegedly from the Temple of
Jupiter, the altar where the Pope says mass, and
a 13th-century cloister. We will see the Holy
Stairs, climbed by Jesus Christ on his way to be
judged by Pontius Pilate. The stairs are in Rome
now thanks to Saint Helena, Constantine’s
mother, who brought them back piece by piece
from Jerusalem in the 5th century. Today we
will also see Trevi Fountain and the Spanish
Steps – located in the middle of Rome’s most
fashionable neighborhoods. |
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Day 4 |
Early this morning we will visit the Vatican and
its Sistine Chapel Museums along with St.
Peter’s Basilica and Square. We will stop
for lunch at the Piazza Navona, known as much
for its street performers and sketch artists as
for its Bernini fountains, also illuminated at
night. It has always been the hub of public
spectacle as far back as the 1st century when
great athletic contests were held in Emperor
Domitian’s stadium that stood on this site. At
the end of the tour we will visit the Pantheon,
one of the most impressive monuments of
antiquity and a fascinating example of Roman
construction techniques. Built by Marcus
Vipsanius Agrippa in 27 BC, it was completely
rebuilt by Hadrian in 118-125 AD, though the
original inscription remained on the pediment.
It became a Christian church in 608 AD, with the
name of St. Mary and the Martyrs and a fortress
in the Middle Ages. The afternoon is free and
we’ll dine together this evening.
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Day 5 |
Transfer to the airport this morning for your
flight to Berlin. |
