The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich

Location: Belgium

Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to Belgium for an overnight stay.

Accommodation Name: hotel

Meals: None

Location: Bavaria

To Bavaria for a three-night stay.

Accommodation Name: Hotel Johannisbad or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Munich

We start with the rise of National Socialism in Munich in the 1920s and Hitler’s involvement in the November 1923 Putsch. We see the Ludwig’s Bridge and Isartor, then visit the Hofbrau House where Hitler gave many of his early speeches. At the Odeonsplatz we see where Hitler was when war was declared in 1914. We then move on to other Third Reich sites in Munich, including the Ehrenhalle and site of the Brown House. After lunch we travel to Dachau, to look at the ‘Final Solution’ and one of the first Concentration Camps.

Accommodation Name: Hotel Johannisbad or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Berchtesgaden

Today we travel through Austria to the Eagle’s Nest (weather permitting), built for Hitler’s fiftieth birthday. Maybe take time to see the visitors’ centre and tunnels in Berchtesgaden, we look at the story of Hitler’s sister, Paula, and see the stunning war memorial murals in the main square.

Accommodation Name: Hotel Johannisbad or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Nuremberg

We head to Nuremberg, which Hitler considered to be the ‘Capital of the Party’. Here we look at the sites connected with the many rallies of the Third Reich. We then walk to the nearby Luitpold seeing the ground where more than 150,000 National Socialists gathered for rallies in the 1920s and 30s. Overnight in Nuremberg area.

Accommodation Name: 3-star hotel in Nuremberg or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Nuremberg

We look at the story of the post-war Nuremberg Trials, visiting the court where they took place and the new exhibition. The original courtroom 600 is still in use and, subject to modern-day demands, we may also go into the courtroom itself. Continue to Berlin area for four nights.

Accommodation Name: Vienna House by Wyndham Andel's Berlin or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Berlin

In Berlin we look at the heart of the Third Reich regime starting at the Reichstag area, walking to the nearby Brandenburg Gate and go to the site of Hitler’s Bunker before visiting the ‘Topography of Terror’ exhibition. After lunch we travel to the 1936 Olympic Stadium where Jessie Owens destroyed the myth of Aryan invincibility. In the Grunewald area of West Berlin we see where decisions were made about the ‘Final Solution’ at Wannsee and visit ‘Gleis 17’ the memorial site to Berlin’s Jews who were deported to the death camps in the East.

Accommodation Name: Vienna House by Wyndham Andel's Berlin or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Oranienburg

Today we look at the establishment of Concentration Camps in Germany with a visit to Sachsenhausen just outside Berlin. This was used to detain mainly political prisoners and was used again in the Cold War. Later we travel to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. This was a women’s camp and a number of SOE agents were killed here, including Violette Szabo GC immortalised in the film Carve Her Name With Pride.

Accommodation Name: Vienna House by Wyndham Andel's Berlin or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Berlin

The end of the Third Reich came in April 1945 with the Allied advance from the West and the final Soviet attack from the East on Berlin. Today, we look at the Battle for Berlin, starting on the Seelow Heights. We then look at some of the Russian memorials and burial grounds around Berlin and see the Karlshorst Museum.

Accommodation Name: Vienna House by Wyndham Andel's Berlin or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Munster

Leaving Berlin we travel to Munster to visit the superb German Panzer Museum with its impressive collection of German tanks and armoured fighting vehicles. We stay overnight in the Hamburg area.

Accommodation Name: 3-star hotel in the Hamburg area

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Lüneburg Heath

We travel to Lüneburg Heath where the British took the surrender of German forces in May 1945. We also visit Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau. Continue to our overnight hotel in Holland.

Accommodation Name: hotel in Holland

Meals: Breakfast

Location: Netherlands

Return home.

Meals: Breakfast