Final-year school trip to the Rhine Valley: Cologne, Koblenz, a cruise, the Loreley and Rüdesheim (4 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school, Cologne and arrival in Koblenz

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time, and daytime drive to Cologne (about 2 to 3 hours depending on your school, excluding stops).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Visit to Cologne Cathedral (free entry), then lunch at your own expense in the old town on the Rhine.
• Drive to Koblenz (about 1 hour 30) and check-in at the accommodation for three nights.
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 2: Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress

• Walk to the Deutsches Eck, the headland where the Moselle joins the Rhine, crowned by the equestrian statue of Emperor William I.
• Cable car ride across the Rhine and visit to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then walk through the old town: the Jesuitenplatz, the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche) and the Schängel fountain.
• Visit to Marksburg Castle in Braubach, the only hilltop castle in the valley never to have been destroyed (on request).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Rüdesheim, a Rhine cruise and the Loreley

• Drive to Rüdesheim (about 1 hour 15) and walk along the Drosselgasse and the winegrowers’ lanes.
• Cable car ride up to the Niederwald Monument, with a panoramic view of the valley (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then Rhine cruise from Rüdesheim to Sankt Goarshausen (about 2 hours), past Bacharach, Pfalzgrafenstein Castle at Kaub and the Loreley rock.
• The coach meets the group in Sankt Goarshausen and drives up to the Loreley plateau for the view over the river (free access).
• Return to Koblenz, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Bonn and return to your school

• Rooms vacated after breakfast, luggage loaded onto the coach.
• Drive to Bonn (about 45 min) and visit to the House of History (Haus der Geschichte), devoted to Germany since 1945 (free admission).
• Lunch at your own expense and walk through the centre, from the Münsterplatz to Beethoven’s birthplace.
• Departure in the afternoon, daytime drive back to Belgium.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.