Jewish Heritage Tour in Central Europe: Prague - Budapest - Krakow - Warsaw - Berlin

Trip Highlights:

• Sightseeing of Josefov - a former Jewish district of Prague
• Visit to Trebic - the best-preserved Jewish Quarter in Europe
• Visit to the largest synagogue in Europe, the Dohany Synagogue in Budapest
• Visit to Auschwitz- Birkenau - Nazi extermination camp, the symbol of the Holocaust
• Visit to the Wannsee Villa where Hitler decided on the “Final solution of the Jewish question”

Itinerary:

1st day Prague
morning Arrival in Prague, “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 streets.
evening Dinner at a typical Czech restaurant in Mala Strana. 

2nd day Prague 
morning Sightseeing of Josefov - a former Jewish district of Prague, with the 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.
evening A cruise on the Vltava river with dinner aboard. 

3rd day Prague - Budapest 
morning & afternoon A trip to Budapest. Stop en route in Trebic - the best-preserved Jewish Quarter in Europe, original houses, the Jewish town hall, rabbinate, school, a hospital, and an old cemetery, with about 3000 tombstones. Telè, a medieval beauty registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. 
evening Arrival in Budapest. Check-in at 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.
evening A cruise down the Danube among richly lit buildings, dinner - Hungarian cuisine and wine.

5th day Budapest 
morning We’ll visit 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. We’ll 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. 
evening 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 Castle hill.
evening Dinner at one of the restaurants in the Old Town.

7th day Krakow 
morning & afternoon 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.
evening Dinner with Klezmer music at one of the restaurants in Kazimierz. 

8th day Krakow- Auschwitz - Warsaw 
morning An excursion to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of former Nazi extermination camps, and a symbol of the 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.
evening Check-in and dinner at the hotel. 

9th day Warsaw 
morning & afternoon Before WWII, Warsaw was the biggest Jewish commune in Europe, and the 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 exhibition 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 Mila Street, the former SS headquarters, and the Umschlagplatz where transports heading for the extermination camp in Treblinka were formed.
evening Dinner and a Chopin concert.

10th day Warsaw - Berlin 
morning & afternoon 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 attempts 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. 
evening Check-in and dinner at the hotel in Berlin. 

11th day Berlin - Potsdam 
morning A day trip to Potsdam begins with a visit to the Wannsee Villa where Hitler decided on the “Final solution of the Jewish question” and Cecilienhof Palace where the Potsdam Pact was signed which determined the situation of Germany after WWII. 
afternoon Sightseeing in the historical center 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. 
evening Return to Berlin, dinner and overnight.

12th day Berlin 
morning Visit the Pergamonmuseum, where antique art is displayed, including such monumental exhibits as Te Pergamon Altat, Market Gate of Miletus or Processing Street of Babylon.
afternoon Shopping or leisure time.
evening An organized cultural activity.

13th day Return journey
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

Services included:

• 2 night's accommodation in Prague in a hotel chosen by you on bed and breakfast basis
• 3 night's accommodation in Budapest in a hotel chosen by you on bed and breakfast basis
• 2 night's accommodation in Krakow in a hotel chosen by you on bed and breakfast basis
• 2 night's accommodation in Warsaw in a hotel chosen by you on bed and breakfast basis
• 3 night's accommodation in Berlin in a hotel chosen by you on bed and breakfast basis
• All transfers as per above mentioned itinerary
• Private English speaking guide as per the itinerary
• Entrance fees for all sightseeing
• Meals as per the itinerary

Services not included:

• The journey to the Czech Republik and from Germany
• Tour guide   
• Public transport
• Insurance
• Personal expenditure, tips, etc.
• All other services not mentioned in the itinerary

Price on request.

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