New Year's Holiday in Berlin

December 27, 2007 - January 3, 2008
TDF




Join tdf’s third Berlin New Year Holiday Tour.  This trip includes round-trip airfare, 6 nights accommodations, 2 performances, breakfast daily, 2  dinners, gala New Year’s Eve party and 3 lunches.  
 



The New Year Holiday provides a fine occasion to explore the delights and diversions of this vibrant international metropolis. This festive 6-night visit includes a gala New Year's Eve dinner in a grand palais, a New Year's Day concert at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, an opera performance at one of Berlin's three major opera houses and a backstage tour at the Staatsoper.  We also visit the internationally acclaimed Jewish Museum , and the new Holocaust Memorial.  We include a visit to Potsdam and Schloss Sanssouci, the summer palace of Frederick the Great.  
 






1.  Thursday, December 27     
We depart from Newark at 6:30 pm aboard Continental Airlines, non-stop to Berlin.  Dinner is served on board.  (Dinner-in flight) (Breakfast-in flight)



2.  Friday, December 28     
We arrive at 8:10am at the Berlin airport where we meet our local guide and travel directly to Berlin.  A relaxing boat tour on the Spree River and a light lunch provides a pleasant start to the tour.  We check into the four-star Crowne Plaza Hotel, centrally-located in the heart of the capital of Germany The 423 air-conditioned rooms and suites, the indoor pool, sauna, solarium, fitness facilities and massage section are ideally suited to accommodate the leisure traveler.  Tonight we have a welcome dinner in a local restaurant.  (L) (D)



3.  Saturday, December 29     
After our daily breakfast we tour the former West Berlin sector, seeing many well known sites: The Tiergarden, the newly constructed Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate and the remarkable new glass Houses of Parliament. After enjoying a lunch in the spectacular Roof Garden restaurant of the Dome with its view across historic Berlin, there is time to visit the remarkable Reichstag Dome, now one of Berlin's most iconic landmarks.  We complete the day with a visit to the Gemäldegalerie, the repository of one of the world's most extensive collections of European art including masterpieces by Holbein, Durer, Van Eyck, and Vermeer.  Tonight we plan to attend an opera in one of Berlin’s three grand opera houses. (schedule to be advised).  (B) (L)  
 



4.  Sunday, December 30     
Today we have a tour to historic Potsdam, the town of kings.  Inside an impressive, vast park we visit Schloss Sanssouci, the magnificent rococo palace of Prussia's Frederick II. Visit the Neues Palais (New Palace), stopping in the 'Marble Gallery' to see the famous statuary.  After enjoying lunch in Potsdam, we visit the villa in Wannsee, once the site of the infamous Wannsee Conference and now a memorial to victims of the Holocaust.  We return to Berlin.  The remainder of the afternoon and the evening are free.  (B) (L)



5.  Monday, December 31     
After breakfast we visit the newly reopened German Historic Museum for a guided tour.  Designed by renowned architect, I. M. Pei, the elegant building spectacularly links baroque with modern 20th century architecture.  We tour backstage at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, a beautiful 18th century opera house built by Frederich II.  Tonight we celebrate the arrival of the New Year at the Silvesterball im Palais am Funkturm.  The Funkturm, Berlin's Radio tower, was built to resemble the Eiffel Tower.  In the tower's palais ballroom we are transported back in time to the 1950's as we dance our way into the small hours under the gold-leaf ceiling.  At midnight the Berliners waltz, which is a delight to see and join.  (B) (D)



6.  Tuesday, January 1     
We have a relaxing late breakfast at the hotel.  In the afternoon we tour the former East Berlin where we see the marked difference from the West.  Construction under the Communist regime was usually in a very drab, institutional style but many old buildings were not torn down and today a splendid restoration and recreation of old structures is taking place.  We visit the Berlin Wall Documentation Center and a preserved section of the Wall.  In the late afternoon we attend a special New Year's Day concert in the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, with Daniel Barenboim conducting Strauss, Boulez and Mozart.  (subject to availability).  (B)  



7.  Wednesday, January 2     
Today we tour the evocative, newly opened Jewish Museum which pays homage to Berlin's rich and tragic Jewish heritage.  Architect Daniel Liebskind (co-designer of the World Trade Center site) planned the layout to convey a torn Star of David. We finish the morning with a visit to Berlin's world-famous Museum Island where we visit the Pergamon Museum, one of the most unique museums in the world, exhibiting  the Pergamon Altar, part of the ancient Zeus temple that dates from 160 - 180 B.C. Tonight we have our farewell dinner in a local restaurant.  (B) (D)



8.  thursday, January 3     
After breakfast we transfer from the hotel to the Berlin airport for 9:40 am flight to Newark, arriving at 1:10pm.  (B) (Lunch-in flight)





This engaging experience includes:

  • Round trip airfare on Continental
  • 6 nights accommodation at 4-star Crowne Plaza Berlin
  • Full buffet breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 3 dinners including:
  • -New Year's Eve Gala dinner and dancing
  • Two performances (subject to availability)
  • Entrances and fees as per itinerary
  • Boat cruise on Spree River
  • Luggage handling in the hotel and at the airport
  • Local tour leader throughout the tour
  • All transfers, excursions and transportation by private deluxe
  • VAT and local taxes
PROGRAM PRICES  
Per person (double occupancy) from New York: $2999  
Single Supplement: $499  
Air Taxes: $250