Final-year school trip to Berlin, Warsaw and Kraków: the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, Warsaw Old Town, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Wieliczka (9 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and arrival in Berlin

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the time agreed with you.
• Daytime drive to Berlin via Hanover (about 650 to 850 km depending on your school), with two drivers taking turns.
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Free lunch during a motorway break.
• Arrival in the early evening, check-in at the accommodation for two nights, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 2: Berlin, from the Brandenburg Gate to the Wall

• The Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
• The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße, with its preserved section of wall and no man’s land, then Checkpoint Charlie.
• Free lunch, then a cruise on the Spree through the government district (on request).
• Walk along the East Side Gallery, then a climb up into the glass dome of the Reichstag (free, with advance registration).
• Dinner and last supervised evening in Berlin.

Day 3: From Berlin to Warsaw

• Check-out after breakfast and drive to Poland via Poznań (about 570 km, 6 h 30 excluding breaks).
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Arrival in Warsaw in the late afternoon and a first look at the Palace of Culture and Science, a gift from Stalin.
• Check-in at the accommodation for two nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Warsaw, the rebuilt city

• The Old Town, destroyed in 1944 then faithfully rebuilt and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Castle Square, the Market Square and the city walls.
• Visit to the Royal Castle (on request), then the Royal Route to the Copernicus monument.
• Free lunch, then a visit to the Warsaw Rising Museum, devoted to the 1944 Uprising (on request).
• Trip up to the viewing terrace on the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science (on request).
• Dinner and last supervised evening in Warsaw.

Day 5: Drive to Kraków and the Main Market Square

• Check-out after breakfast and drive south (about 300 km, 3 h 30 excluding breaks).
• Free lunch on arrival in Kraków.
• The Main Market Square, the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) and St Mary’s Basilica, where the trumpet call (hejnał) sounds every hour.
• Check-in at the accommodation for three nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 6: The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial

• Drive to Oświęcim (about 70 km, 1 h 15).
• Visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp, with a museum educator, compulsory for groups (on request).
• Free lunch (packed lunches recommended).
• Return to Kraków and a time for discussion with the teachers.
• Dinner and supervised evening in Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter.

Day 7: Wawel and the Wieliczka salt mine

• Walk up Wawel Hill and visit to the cathedral and the Royal Castle (on request).
• Walk along the Vistula to the Wawel Dragon, then free lunch.
• Drive to Wieliczka (about 15 km) and visit to the UNESCO-listed salt mine, with St Kinga’s Chapel carved out of salt (on request).
• Return to Kraków, dinner and last supervised evening in Poland.

Day 8: Drive to Dresden

• Departure after breakfast and drive to Germany via Wrocław and Görlitz (about 560 km, 6 h 30 of driving excluding breaks).
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Arrival in Dresden in the late afternoon and a walk through the old town: the rebuilt Frauenkirche, the Zwinger and the Brühl Terrace (exterior views).
• Overnight stop in or near Dresden, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 9: Return to your school

• Departure after breakfast.
• Daytime drive to Belgium (about 650 to 800 km) with regular breaks, two drivers taking turns.
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.