Classic Germany: Berlin, Bavaria and Black Forest

A private panoramic tour takes you through Berlin’s history today, from the Brandenburg Gate to the East Side Gallery, the longest surviving stretch of the Wall and now an open-air canvas for artists from around the world. Your driver-guide fills in the stories behind Checkpoint Charlie, the Gendarmenmarkt, and Charlottenburg Palace along the way, tracing a city that’s been rebuilt and reinvented more than once within living memory.

In the evening, return to Hotel Luc, Autograph Collection, to unwind after a full day taking in Germany’s capital.

Today’s private driver-guide takes you into Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg, two neighborhoods that show a completely different side of Berlin from yesterday’s landmarks. Kreuzberg mixes street art with one of the city’s biggest Turkish communities, home to the currywurst and the döner kebab, itself invented in Berlin, both worth trying from a street stall rather than a restaurant. Prenzlauer Berg, once a rundown corner of East Berlin, has become one of the city’s most design-conscious neighborhoods, full of boutiques and cafes that took root once the artists and squatters who first colonized the area after reunification moved on.

The day winds down back at Hotel Luc, Autograph Collection.

A private transfer takes you to Berlin’s train station for the journey to Frankfurt and onward to Oberwesel, where Castle Hotel Auf Schoenburg awaits above the Rhine. Your Standard Room looks straight out over the river, and the afternoon is yours to explore Oberwesel itself, a walled medieval town still ringed by sixteen surviving watchtowers and known today for the vineyards climbing the hillsides around it.

As evening sets in, dinner is a four-course meal inside the castle’s centuries-old walls, a fitting start to your time on the Rhine.

Today is a Rhine cruise from St. Goar, passing the Lorelei Rock, the sheer slate cliff blamed for centuries on a siren said to lure sailors to their deaths on the rocks below, before arriving in Rüdesheim. The town’s medieval streets are the centre of one of Germany’s best-known wine regions, and the afternoon is built around wandering them and tasting the local Rieslings.

Your private driver returns you to Castle Hotel Auf Schoenburg for another four-course dinner overlooking the river.

A private transfer takes you to Heidelberg, where the NH Heidelberg and your Superior Room become base for the day. A private walking tour through the Altstadt takes in the baroque old town, still shaped by the university founded here in 1386, one of the oldest in Europe and still central to the city’s identity today.

From there, a funicular climbs up to Heidelberg Castle, half ruin and half restoration after centuries of war and fire, with a guided tour filling in the history behind what’s still standing and views over the city and the Neckar valley below.

Today takes you into the Black Forest, starting with the Triberg Waterfalls, Germany’s highest at 163 meters over seven natural stages, before stopping at the Eble Uhren-Park, home to the world’s largest cuckoo clock, a Guinness-recognized record it’s held since 1997. Lunch is a proper taste of the region, hearty and built around local game and cream, before an afternoon at the Black Forest Open Air Museum, where original farmhouses moved from across the region show how life here actually looked centuries ago.

Depending on the season, the afternoon might also bring a scenic drive through the valleys or a toboggan run down the hillside. Return to the NH Heidelberg in the evening, ready for the next leg of the trip.

A scenic train takes you to Munich, where the Platzl Hotel and your Superior Room become base for the final stretch of the trip. An English-speaking assistant handles check-in, and the rest of the day is yours, whether that means a walk through Marienplatz or a slower afternoon in the English Garden, one of the largest urban parks in the world and considerably bigger than Central Park or Hyde Park.

A private tasting tour through the Viktualienmarkt fills the morning, sampling Bavarian specialties while learning the history behind them, from the market’s origins as a farmers’ market in the early 1800s to the specialties still sold from the same family stalls generations later.

The afternoon shifts to Munich’s beer halls, including the Hofbräuhaus, founded in 1589 as the royal court brewery and still one of the largest beer halls in the world, holding several thousand people across its main hall alone. It’s touristy, loud, and completely worth it once.

Return to the Platzl Hotel in the evening, just a few minutes’ walk from the Hofbräuhaus itself.

Your exclusive journey concludes with a private transfer to Munich Airport.