Day 1 — Frankfurt › Ladenburg

Arrival at Frankfurt Airport. We board the coach for a tour of Germany's financial capital, passing the trade fair grounds and the headquarters of the main financial institutions before reaching the historic centre, with the Cathedral and the Römerberg square, where the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were crowned. After the tour, we continue to the nearby town of Ladenburg, where Carl Benz invented what we today call the automobile. Dinner and overnight.

Day 2 — Ladenburg › Heidelberg › Ladenburg (Full board)

In the morning, a visit to the Carl Benz Museum and a tour of Ladenburg, a town that preserves Roman and Baroque heritage, Jacobean details, two impressive churches (Catholic and Protestant), a former archbishop's palace and a remarkable sculpture commemorating the citizens' farewells to their bishops. In the afternoon, a visit to Heidelberg, city of the Palatine princes and its famous university: the ruins of the palace with its gardens and the famous barrel, and the old town with the Hauptstrasse, the Town Hall, the Church of the Holy Spirit, the Knight's House, the University, the Jesuit church and the Old Bridge over the River Neckar. Return to the hotel late afternoon.

Day 3 — Ladenburg › Mainz › The Rhine › Ladenburg (Half board)

In the morning, a visit to Mainz, a riverside city with an important Romanesque cathedral and an interesting historic centre. We continue by coach to Bingen and St. Goar, where we board a boat for the most celebrated stretch of the Rhine, enjoying lunch on board as we pass Pfalz Castle, Lorch, Bacharach, the Loreley Rock and a landscape of vineyards reaching down to the water's edge with castles on both sides of the valley. The cruise ends in the lively town of Rüdesheim, with its narrow, atmospheric lanes. Return to the hotel.

Day 4 — Ladenburg › Baden-Baden › Stuttgart › Bad Mergentheim

Breakfast and departure for Baden-Baden, the thermal spa resort known since Roman times and the meeting place of the European jet set for a century, which still retains the atmosphere that made it famous: the Baths, the Casino, the Theatre. We continue to Stuttgart, capital of Baden-Württemberg: a stroll through the historic centre with the Old Castle and its magnificent Renaissance courtyard, the New Palace and the bustling Königstrasse. In the mid-afternoon, arrival at the heart of the Romantic Road: Bad Mergentheim, a town that served as the seat of the Teutonic Order, with its charming architecture. Dinner and overnight.

Day 5 — Bad Mergentheim › Rothenburg › Schwäbisch Hall › Bad Mergentheim (Half board)

In the morning, we travel up the Tauber valley to Creglingen, where we admire Tilman Riemenschneider's altarpiece of the Virgin, carved in acacia wood with lime-wood figures — a spectacular work of exceptional detail. We continue to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where time seems to have stood still for centuries: the Herrngasse, its elevated position above the valley, the former Hospital, the Master Builder's House with its atlantes and the beautiful Renaissance Town Hall. In the afternoon, a stop in Schwäbisch Hall, notable for the market square with the grand staircase of St. Michael's Church, the setting for open-air theatre performances every summer. Return to the hotel late in the day.

Day 6 — Bad Mergentheim › Würzburg › Wertheim › Bad Mergentheim (Half board)

A day devoted to Würzburg, a city on the banks of the Main: the Cathedral, the market, the beautiful Rococo buildings and above all the Residenz, a magnificent Baroque palace featuring Balthasar Neumann's spectacular staircase, the ceiling painted by Tiepolo, the Court Chapel — a Baroque masterpiece — and the gardens. After lunch at a restaurant, we follow the Main to Wertheim, at the confluence with the Tauber: the castle, the market square and its churches. Return to the hotel.

Day 7 — Bad Mergentheim › Michelstadt › Frankfurt

Breakfast and departure for Mosbach, with its typical half-timbered buildings, continuing via Eberbach to the small town of Michelstadt, with its charming old town: the town walls, the market square and the historic Town Hall. After lunch, we continue to Frankfurt with free time for shopping. Dinner at a restaurant and overnight.

Day 8 — Frankfurt

Breakfast and transfer to the airport.