Between Culture, History & Enchanted Landscapes (Belgium - Luxemburg - Germany)

Day 1 - BRUSSELS

Arrival in Belgium, a country rich in museums and art cities and the birthplace of the great surrealist painter René Magritte (1898-1967) and inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax (1814-1894). Meeting with the guide and departure to Brussels, famous for the chocolate capital of European Union and considered as a venue for important European political bodies like the European Union, the European Commission and the Council. The city also hosts the headquarters of NATO. Arrival at the hotel. Accommodation in the reserved rooms. Overnight.

Day 2 - BRUSSELS

Breakfast. Meeting with guide and panoramic tour of Brussels, is an architectural and cultural heritage, where the lower town is built around the Grand Place which is its heart: the palaces of the corporations and several dazzling facades, the home of King and the surrounding Town Hall giving power to the square the most beautiful square in Europe. Behind the town hall, in the rue de l'Etuve, we meet the most famous citizen of Brussels. And here that has always peed since 1691, the Manneken Pis. In addition to collegiate Royal Borough of Saint Michael and Gudula meet the courthouse and the park connecting Warande told the Parliament Palace with the Real Palace. We must reach the district of Laken, where the great annual fairs are held in the Exhibition Park to see the Atomium Built in 1958, represents an iron crystal molecule magnified 165 billion times, a symbol of the city. Specialties include the famous Belgian chocolates, lace, chocolate, crystal and diamonds. Overnight.


Day 3 - BRUSSELS / LIEGE / LUXEMBURG

Breakfast. Departure to Liege, the historical capital of Wallonia. Independent since 1000, is the city of freedom for excellence, often won by shedding his own blood, and the first principle in the entire history of the Episcopal Church. But it is also the city of Charlemagne, of Georges Simenon and home to major universities that influenced the work of scientists, scholars, engineers and artists more or less known. Liege, also known as the "Ardent City" for its flamboyant Gothic buildings, pure and irresistible as his Meuse. Arrival, panoramic tour of the city. Proceeding to Luxemburg. It is the capital of Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, little has been understood between Western and Central Europe. It is situated on a rocky spur at the confluence of the Alzette Pétrusse. On three sides is overhanging on the spur of the natural channels, so since the Middle Ages was considered a fortress. Hometown of one of Europe's founding fathers, Robert Schuman (1886-1963), Luxemburg is one of three official venues of the European Union and hosts its financial and judicial institutions: the Court of Justice of European Communities, the European Bank Investment, the Court of Auditors, the General Secretariat of the European Parliament, the Office of Publications and several departments of the European Commission. He also based in Luxemburg, Eurostat, the statistical center of Europe. Arrival in the afternoon at the hotel. Accommodation in the reserved rooms. Overnight.

Distances:
Brussels - Liege = 95 Km
Liege - Luxemburg = 150 Km

Day 4 - LUXEMBURG

Breakfast. Meeting with guide and panoramic tour of the city of Grand Palace, La Place Guillaume, the neoclassical City Hall, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in the late Gothic style, the Vondel Park, etc.. When we contemplate the bottom of the valley of the River Alzette, or the homes of Grund, the "old" city of Luxemburg is binding even today for the walls that made her an important town in history. Today, as we saw the location of many European Union institutions, the capital of the small Grand Duchy extends and builds its economic prosperity thanks to financial institutions, banks and leading multinationals to high-level rise exponentially in Luxemburg. Return to the hotel. Overnight.

Day 5 - LUXEMBURG / COLOGNE

Breakfast. Departure to Germany: home of the great poet JW Goethe (1745-1832), physicist A. Einstein (1879-1955), philosopher I. Kant (1724-1804), composer L.van Beethoven (1770-1827), writer T. Mann (1875-1955), and the inventor of printing with movable J. Gutenberg (1390-1468). Arrival in Cologne. The city with its 2000 years of history and its unique personality, it attracts millions of visitors each year. Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany. Whether it be the triennial music, "Cologne Pride", the fireworks and lights of the "Kölner Lichter" or Christmas markets, it offers in every season, an extensive program of events of all kinds and even invents A fifth season of world-famous: the famous Cologne Carnival. It is also nicknamed the "Cathedral City": it is long 144 meters wide, 86 m. high and 157 m. During the course of the excavations were found relics of Roman and among other things, the remains of an early Christian church, enlarged probably in the sixth century and later replaced by "Old Cathedral" in the ninth century under Archbishop Hildebold. Meeting with the guide and panoramic tour of the city that will conclude with a visit to the famous Cathedral (St. Peter and St. Mary), one of the largest in Europe, already the site of a Roman temple dedicated to Mercury. With the transfer from Milan relics of the Magi by Archbishop Reinald von Dassel, it was decided to build a cathedral more solemn. The first stone was laid on August 15, 1248. Since the beginning of the sixteenth century, however, work was suspended and resumed in 1842. 15 October 1880 Emperor Wilhelm I began the cathedral completed. Accommodation in the reserved rooms. Overnight.
 
Distances:
Luxemburg - Cologne = 220 Km

Day 6 - COLOGNE / DUSSELDORF / COLOGNE

Breakfast. Departure to Düsseldorf: regional capital of NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia), once a region of coal and steel is a industrial heartland today, modern technology center, a region rich in culture and head office for the new tecnology media. City of the great poet Heinrich Heine (1799-1856).
Historical residence of electors princes, is characterized by wide streets lined with elegant shops and a belt of parks and gardens that meander through the perimeter of the center. Its location on the riverside of the Rhine it is also a major river port.The Gothic church of S. Lambertus century. XIII-XIV, stone and red brick with a tower of 72 m on the front and the Theater of Opera, the Königsallee (central artery) of walking and shopping street with art galleries and boutiques of the most famous names in fashion. The old city with the Burgplatz, which is the square of the ancient castle and the old city center, the Schlossturm (castle tower) only remnant of the grand ducal castle (XIII-XVI), which was destroyed in 1872, the Altes Rathaus (the old town hall) at the center of the square with the monument of the Prince Elector Johann Wilhelm, etc;. Time available. Return to the hotel in Cologne. Overnight.

Distances: Cologne - Düsseldorf = 38 Km

Day 7 - COLOGNE / AACHEN / BRUSSELS

Breakfast. Departure to Aachen, a city on the border with Belgium, famous for its old town and the oldest cathedral in northern Europe, is a conglomeration of architecture of various periods, including the chapel Byzantine / Carolingian of Charlemagne (Kaiserkapelle), which is the oldest part of the cathedral. Charlemagne began the construction of the chapel in 786. His death in 814, was buried in his cathedral, where his remains are still preserved in a casket. The Aachen Cathedral was the first German monument to be included in 1978 in the UNESCO list of World Heritage, and was one of the first three objects of historic Europe. It is also proposed as one of seven modern wonders. The cathedral took its present form over more than a millennium. The heart of the Cathedral of Aachen is the Palatine Chapel, although now surprisingly small compared to the later additions, at the time of its construction was the largest dome north of the Alps . Its fascinating architecture with classical, Byzantine and Franco-German is the essence of a monumental building of primary importance for 600 years, from 936 to 1531, the cathedral at Aachen was the church of coronation for 30 kings of the Holy Roman Empire. Departure for Brussels. Arrive late afternoon at the hotel. Accommodation in the reserved rooms. Overnight.

Distances:
Cologne - Aachen = 71 Km
Aachen - Brussels = 144 Km

Day 8 - DEPARTURE

Breakfast. Transfer to the airport in Brussels. End of our services.