Northern Germany by Steam

DAY 1

We depart by Eurostar to Brussels connecting onwards to Bremen for an overnight hotel stay. Tonight, we enjoy an included evening meal together at a local restaurant.

DAY 2

After breakfast this morning, we travel by rail to Hamburg where we enjoy a relaxing steamboat cruise on the beautiful Alster Lake after which we visit the fantastic "Miniatur Wunderland" - the largest model railway in the world costing over 39,000,000€. This amazing venue features 11 Theme Worlds with over 16,000m of track, over 1,100 trains, more than 10,000 rail cars plus buildings, cars, and aircraft that appear to take-off with around 250 flights per day! We then continue to our hotel to stay for three nights at the InterCity Hotel in Hamburg.

DAY 3

Today we journey north to Flensburg for the amazing "Dampf Rundum" steamboat festival. Every two years ship owners bring their vintage steamboats and sailing craft to Flensburg for this phenomenal event. We enjoy a full day to stroll around watching craftsmen at work, sampling local food and beer, enjoying the atmosphere, and taking a tour of the festival by boat (of course!). We return to Hamburg by train later in the day.

DAY 4

After breakfast, we travel by rail to Kappeln for a ride on the Angelner Steam Railway which is unique in Germany for its passenger coaches from the 1920's. This unusual line uses an ex-Scandinavian steam locomotive and coaches to take you back to the time when travelling was still an experience. Our nostalgic route to Süderbrarup, a two-hour round trip, will run through the beautiful landscape of Angeln, past meadows, fields, deers, and hares after which we will return to Hamburg.

DAY 5

We travel to Rostock today where we will discover this charming city with a guided tour on a privately chartered vintage tram followed by time at leisure to explore our surroundings before our evening meal together at a local restaurant. We will be staying for three nights at the InterCity Hotel in Rostock.

DAY 6

After breakfast, we continue our adventure at one of the most popular lines in Northern Germany - the Molli Steam Railway. We will experience a ride over the line including the famous street running section. Also included is an exclusive photography session and guided tour of the depot and, in the afternoon, we have made a special arrangement to have a private lineside bus at our disposal chasing the trains for amazing photo opportunities.

DAY 7

Today, after breakfast, we travel by train to Putbus on Rügen Island for a return ride over Rasender Roland (or Raging Roland as it is affectionately known) - a 24km long, steam-powered, narrow-gauge railway which began operations in 1985. This idyllic light railway runs daily, and we will travel from Putbus via Binz, Sellin and Baabe to Göhren and return experiencing the landscape of Rügen on a train full of nostalgia. A lunch box will be provided by the hotel for our adventure today and, upon on return, we are free to dine at leisure.

DAY 8

After breakfast this morning, we depart Rostock by fast train via Hamburg and Dortmund to Gütersloh where we have a private coach transfer to the rarely visited narrow-gauge line at Mühlenstroth. We have arranged a special, exclusive charter on this 1-mile, 600mm gauge railway using some of their open wagons that were used during the First World War and, afterwards, we have free time to look around the fascinating collection of steam and diesel locomotives. We will return to Gütersloh to enjoy our final evening meal together in a local restaurant.

DAY 9

Following our breakfast this morning, we will begin our journey home by rail via Köln and Brussels to London.

B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner