Germany by ICE: Hamburg, Berlin, Munich & Cologne

Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Day 1 Arrival in Hamburg

   Arrive in Hamburg and check in at a hotel close to the main station. In the evening take a first walk around the Inner Alster lake to the Town Hall and the Jungfernstieg, where the white Alster steamers leave from the jetty. Dinner suggestion: a fish restaurant in the Speicherstadt.

2. Day 2 Hamburg harbour

   Your local guide takes you through the red-brick warehouses of the Speicherstadt and the modern HafenCity to the Elbphilharmonie Plaza. Then a one-hour harbour boat tour shows you container terminals, shipyards and the Landungsbrücken piers. Free afternoon for the Miniatur Wunderland, the world's largest model railway, or the elegant shops around the Alster.

3. Day 3 ICE to Berlin

   A first-class ICE brings you to Berlin in under two hours. After check-in your guide walks with you from the Reichstag through the Brandenburg Gate and along Unter den Linden to Museum Island and the Berlin Cathedral. Evening free in the lively streets around Hackescher Markt.

4. Day 4 Berlin and the Wall

   A day about Berlin's divided past: Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse and the painted East Side Gallery. In the afternoon visit one of the museums on Museum Island or take a boat trip on the Spree past the government quarter.

5. Day 5 ICE to Munich

   The high-speed line south crosses the Thuringian Forest at up to 300 km/h and reaches Munich in about four hours. Your guide meets you for a walk through the Old Town: Marienplatz, the Frauenkirche with its onion domes and the Viktualienmarkt. Dinner in a traditional beer hall.

   
6. Day 6 Munich at leisure

   Morning visit to the Residenz, the royal palace in the city centre, then a relaxed afternoon in the English Garden with its surfers on the Eisbach wave and the Chinese Tower beer garden. Optional: a half-day trip by regional train to Lake Starnberg.

7. Day 7 ICE to Cologne

   An ICE along the Rhine brings you to Cologne; the last hour follows the river past vineyards and castles. You step out of the station directly in front of the Cologne Cathedral. Your guide shows you its treasures and the Old Town, and in the evening you taste Kölsch beer in a brewery tavern.

   
8. Day 8 Departure

   Free morning for the Chocolate Museum on the Rhine or a climb up the cathedral tower. Departure by train from Cologne, or by ICE in one hour to Frankfurt Airport.