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Amsterdam to Zurich

Faculty: Seth Sikkema and Pete Rusaw
Class meeting time: Tuesdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Trip Dates: May, 2024

Amsterdam

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