Final-year school trip to Amsterdam and Berlin: canals, the Jordaan, the Reichstag and the Berlin Wall (7 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and arrival in Amsterdam

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the time agreed with you, and drive to the Netherlands (about 200 to 300 km depending on your school, 2.5 to 3.5 hours excluding stops).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Cruise on the Golden Age canals: the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht and the Prinsengracht.
• Lunch at your own expense, then walk from Dam Square to the Begijnhof and the flower market on the Singel.
• Check-in at the accommodation for two nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 2: Amsterdam, from Anne Frank to the Jordaan

• Visit to the Anne Frank House, where she wrote her diary during the occupation (on request).
• Walk through the Jordaan, with its canals, inner courtyards and small markets, then lunch at your own expense.
• Visit to the Rijksmuseum and Rembrandt’s ‘The Night Watch’ (on request) or group bike ride with a guide (on request).
• Supervised free time in the Vondelpark and the centre.
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Drive to Berlin

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and departure for Germany.
• Daytime drive via Osnabrück and Hanover (about 650 km, 8 hours excluding stops).
• Lunch at your own expense during a stop on the way.
• Arrival in Berlin in the early evening, check-in at the accommodation for four nights, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 4: Historic Berlin

• The Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
• Lunch at your own expense, then Museum Island, Berlin Cathedral and the Gendarmenmarkt.
• At the end of the day, visit to the glass dome of the Reichstag (free, with prior registration).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: Berlin, a divided city

• The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße, with its preserved section of wall and death strip.
• Checkpoint Charlie and the Topography of Terror documentation centre.
• Lunch at your own expense, then interactive visit to the DDR Museum (on request).
• Cruise on the Spree, then walk along the East Side Gallery and through Kreuzberg.
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 6: Sachsenhausen and last day in Berlin

• Drive to Oranienburg (about 35 km, 45 min) and visit to the Sachsenhausen memorial and museum, a former concentration camp, with a specialist guide (on request).
• Return to Berlin and lunch at your own expense.
• Alexanderplatz and a trip up the TV Tower (on request), then supervised free time at the Hackesche Höfe.
• Dinner and last supervised evening in Berlin.

Day 7: Return to Belgium

• Departure after breakfast.
• Daytime drive back to Belgium (about 650 to 850 km) with regular stops.
• Lunch at your own expense during a stop on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.