Saxony & Harz Winter Steam Extravaganza

DAY 1

Travelling by Eurostar from London St Pancras to Brussels, then onwards to Gotha and our base for one night, the Hotel am Tierpark, where we check in and enjoy our first evening meal together.

DAY 2

After breakfast this morning, we travel by rail to Oschatz where we depart on the Döllnitzbahn narrow-gauge railway for a return ride to Kemmlitz travelling through the town and beautiful open fields to Mügeln, formerly Germany's largest narrow-gauge railway station, before continuing to Kemmlitz. On return to Oschatz, we travel to Dresden for our six-night stay at the InterCity Hotel where we enjoy our evening meal together.

DAY 3

This morning, we travel by road to Schönheide for a ride over a 3-mile-long preserved line using classic Saxony Meyer locomotives. Afterwards, we continue to the mining town of Jöhstadt for the winter steam on the Pressnitztalbahn, a scenic 750mm narrow-gauge railway line following a river course through woodland to the village of Steinbach.

DAY 4

After breakfast, we explore the beautiful city of Dresden including a ride on the unusual, suspended monorail, one of the oldest suspension railways, plus the superb single-track funicular railway. This afternoon, we travel the short distance to Radebeul in the suburbs of Dresden for a return ride behind steam on the Lössnitzgrundbahn to Radeburg operated by 2-10-2T locomotives.

DAY 5

Today, we travel to Cranzahl for an exhilarating return ride behind steam on the Fichtelbergbahn, a steeply graded route climbing into the mountains and crossing the mighty 110m long, 23 m high Hüttenbach viaduct to the highest town in Germany, Oberwiesenthal, situated at 3,000ft.

DAY 6

This morning, a short local train ride takes us to Freital-Hainsberg where we join the steam hauled service over the Weisseritztalbahn for a nostalgic ride on the oldest narrow-gauge railway in public operation along a narrow gorge, through woodland, and past lakes to Kipsdorf and return. This afternoon, we enjoy an exclusive visit to see the mainline steam locomotives in the railway museum at the Altstadt roundhouse, one of the oldest in Germany dating back to 1847.

Day 7

After breakfast this morning, we travel by rail to Zittau where we ride behind steam on the Zittau Railway to Bertsdorf, a narrow-gauge railway offering many scenic and historic attractions such as the unique spectacle of a simultaneous departure of two steam trains. From here we ride both branch lines along charming landscapes to Jonsdorf and Oybin before returning to Dresden for our evening meal together.

DAY 8

After breakfast, we depart on the morning train to Wernigerode for a guided visit to the Steam Loco Works where the narrow-gauge locomotives are overhauled, founded in 1993 and located at the former Harz Narrow-Gauge Railways depot. We enjoy our evening meal at the HKK Hotel, our base for the next three nights.

DAY 9

Today, we experience the thrilling climb behind steam from Wernigerode through wintry landscapes to the summit of the Brocken Mountain aboard the Brockenbahn for a spectacular panorama of the Harz National Park. Afterwards, we enjoy time at leisure at the junction of Drei Annen Hohne, perhaps with a warming soup in the quaint café whilst watching the steam activity before returning to Wernigerode in time for our evening meal.

DAY 10

After breakfast this morning, we travel by local train to Quedlinburg for the morning steam working on the narrow-gauge Selketalbahn through the romantic Selke Valley and wintry forests to Alexisbad. Here we change to a railcar to continue our journey to Eisfelder Talmulhe where we join our steam hauled journey on the Harzquerbahn traversing narrow curves through wooded valleys to Wernigerode returning in time for our final evening meal together.

DAY 11

We bid farewell to Wernigerode and to Germany, returning by rail to Brussels, where we will join the Eurostar service to London St Pancras.

*We reserve the right to travel by heritage diesel train should the steam locomotive not be available / timetabled at the time of our visit.

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner