Final-year school trip to Dresden: the Bastei, Saxon Switzerland and Leipzig (5 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and arrival in Dresden

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the time agreed with you.
• Daytime drive to Saxony via Cologne, Kassel and Erfurt (about 680 to 800 km depending on your school, 8.5 to 10 hours excluding stops).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Arrival in Dresden in the early evening, check-in at the accommodation for three nights, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 2: Dresden, the ‘Florence on the Elbe’

• Walk through the old town: the Frauenkirche, destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt identically in 2005 (free admission outside services), the Neumarkt and the Procession of Princes, a 102 m mural made of Meissen porcelain tiles.
• The baroque courtyards of the Zwinger, then visit to the Old Masters Picture Gallery and Raphael’s Sistine Madonna (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then the Brühl Terrace, nicknamed the ‘Balcony of Europe’, on the banks of the Elbe, with a view of the Semperoper.
• Late afternoon in the alternative Neustadt district and its decorated courtyards (Kunsthofpassage).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Excursion to Saxon Switzerland

• Drive to Saxon Switzerland National Park (about 40 km, 45 min).
• Hike to the Bastei Bridge, 194 m above the Elbe, among the sandstone pinnacles.
• Walk down to the village of Rathen and crossing of the Elbe by ferry.
• Lunch at your own expense, then visit to Königstein Fortress, perched on its rocky plateau (on request).
• Return to Dresden, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Leipzig, city of Bach and of the peaceful revolution

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and drive to Leipzig (about 115 km, 1.5 hours).
• Discovery of St Nicholas Church, starting point of the peaceful demonstrations of 1989, and St Thomas Church, where Bach was cantor.
• Visit to the ‘Runde Ecke’ museum, in the former headquarters of the Stasi, the East German secret police (free admission).
• Lunch at your own expense, then trip up the Monument to the Battle of the Nations (on request).
• Check-in at the accommodation in Leipzig for one night, dinner and last supervised evening.

Day 5: Return to Belgium

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and departure around 9 am.
• Daytime drive back to Belgium (about 580 to 700 km) with regular stops.
• Lunch at your own expense during a stop on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.