Amsterdam to Zurich
Faculty: Seth Sikkema and Pete Rusaw
Class meeting time: Tuesdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Trip Dates: May, 2024
Highlights
This tour will highlight the beauty of Amsterdam, the Rhine River, and the Alps while understanding how the medieval times, the Reformation and World War II have helped shape the region. To start the tour, we will go to Amsterdam and see the beauty of the city and countryside, while also visiting the Corrie tenBoom house, and seeing the great works of art by Van Gogh and Rembrandt. From there we will proceed down the beautiful Rhine river and go castle hopping while visiting the town of Mainz where we will visit the very beginnings of Gutenberg’s printing press. Next, we will travel to Rothenburg, one of the most well-preserved medieval towns in Germany, where we will visit cathedrals, gardens, and walk around the Old Town Walls. From there, we will travel to Salzburg, Austria where we will see the town Fortress, stop by Mozart’s home, go to the Eagle’s Nest where Hitler vacationed, and go high in the Alps for hiking and tobogganing. We will finish our trip with a stop in Innsbruck to hike and do some canyoning and then end in Zurich where we will visit key places of the Reformation (Calvin, Zwingli, etc,) and a day trip to play in the Swiss Alps.
Tentative Itinerary
| Day 0 | Amsterdam: Portland to Amsterdam |
| Day 1 | Amsterdam: Arrive in Amsterdam, Skinny Bridge, Bloemenmarkt, Albert Cuypmarkt |
| Day 2 | Amsterdam: Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum, Dutch Resistance Museum |
| Day 3 | Haarlem: Travel to Haarlem, afternoon in Kuekenhof Gardens |
| Day 4 | Haarlem: Corrie tenBoom house, free afternoon |
| Day 5 | Delft: Travel to Delft, afternoon at Royal Delft museum |
| Day 6 | Delft: Free day to explore Delft or Rotterdam |
| Day 7 | Koblenz: Travel to Koblenz (7 hrs), cable car and German Corner |
| Day 8 | Koblenz: Day trip to Burg Eltz, pack a lunch, possibly go to Basilica of St Castor |
| Day 9 | Mainz: Travel to Mainz, Gutenberg Museum, St. Augustine’s Cathedral |
| Day 10 | Mainz: All day castle-hopping on the Rhine (need to determine your route) |
| Day 11 | Rothenburg: Plonlein, Medieval Crime Museum, Old Town Walls, Night Watchman |
| Day 12 | Rothenburg: Free day to explore Rothenburg |
| Day 13 | Salzburg: Travel to Salzburg (5 hours), tour down town & Fortress |
| Day 14 | Salzburg: Eagle’s Nest, tobogganing, possible concert night |
| Day 15 | Salzburg: Sound of Music bike ride and free afternoon |
| Day 16 | Innsbruck: Travel to Innsbruck (2 hours), hike to top of Patscherkofel |
| Day 17 | Innsbruck: Adventure day (canyoning and hiking) |
| Day 18 | Zurich: Travel to Zurich, Guided Reformation tour in afternoon |
| Day 19 | Zurich: Day trip to Grindelwald with hiking in the Swiss Alps |
| Day 20 | Zurich: Free day in Zurich |
| Day 21 | Zurich: Return to Portland |
