(Optional up to a 14-day tour)

Highlights:  Tour of the following Distilleries

• Ratzeputz, Celle

• Berentzen, Haselünne

• Hardenberg (Schwartzhog), Nörten-Hardenberg

• Echter Nordhäuser, Nordhausen

• Schierker Feuerstein, Schierke

• Jägermeister, Wolfenbüttel

Day 1: Arrival in Frankfurt, Germany

We will pick you up at the airport in Berlin. Then after settling into the hotel, you will take a 2.5-hour historical city walking tour with an experienced guide that covers all the main sights of the city. You will see The Pariser Platz, The Brandenburg Gate (the original gate for Berlin's City Wall), The Berlin Wall (over 1 km long, longest standing portion), The Royal Guard House, the Luftwaffe Headquarters, The Former SS Headquarters, Checkpoint Charlie (most famous of the original three Berlin Wall checkpoints), The Holocaust Memorial, Gendarmenmarkt, The Berliner Dom, The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and multiple other historical places in Berlin. After a day of touring the city, you will have dinner in a local German tavern. After dinner will be your free time to relax or out for drinks at one of the local German pubs.

Day 2: Ratzeputz - Celle, Germany

You will enjoy breakfast at your hotel in Wolfenbüttel. After a travel of approximately 1 hour to the city of Celle you will visit the Ratzeputz Distillery. Ratzeputz was first created in 1877 it contains extracts and distillates of ginger root and is astounding 116-proof (58% alcohol by volume). Its strong but delicate ginger flavor has helped it gain considerable international attention. After the distillery tour, you can take a tour of Herzog Palace, a castle with many baroque rooms, and the Renaissance Chapel. Later in the evening, you will enjoy a dinner (included) and the rest of the evening will be yours to relax or stroll through the town of Celle with over 400 half-timbered houses.

Trivia: The fresh ginger used in Ratzeputz is said to be beneficial to the stomach and is often drunk after meals.

Day 3: Berentzen - Haselünne, Germany

After enjoying breakfast at your hotel in Celle, you will travel approximately 2 1/2 hours to the city of Haselünne where you will tour the Berentzen Distillery, one of the leading beverage groups in Germany. For more than 250 years is one of the oldest manufacturers active in the production and sale of spirits and alcoholic beverages. The fruit spirits of the company are obtained from wheat grain and have an alcohol content between 15% and 20% alcohol by volume. They are produced in a variety of flavors Apple, Plum, Cherry, Green Pear, Currant, Melon, and Passion Fruit plus other fruit flavors. Other products include traditional grain (32%), double grain (38%), and the matured in oak barrels precious grain (38.5 %), also cream liqueurs and vodka.

Upon completion of your tour, you will head back to Frankfurt to your Hotel. This will be approximately a 4-hour drive. There will be ample drinks (beer, wine & water) and snacks with several short stops along the way. You will meet later in the day for a farewell dinner at a local German restaurant and the rest of the evening will be your free time to relax or go out for drinks at one of the local German pubs.

Trivia: Berentzen Apfelkorn is the most successful launch of a spirit in Germany since the Second World War and is also exported to foreign countries since 1979.

Day 4: Hardenberg (Schwartzhog) - Nörten-Hardenberg, Germany

You will enjoy breakfast at your hotel in Frankfurt. Then you will travel approximately 2 hours to the city of Nörten-Hardenberg. Here you will go on a guided tour of the Hardenberg distillery and experience everything you want to know about the distillery. What do the different raw materials used for the production of spirits feel like? How do they put the gold leaf into the Goldwasser bottles? What does a barrel look like from the inside? You will taste several of the schnapps specialties, and then you can keep the exclusive glass as a souvenir. After that, journey into the past with the Hardenberg castle tour. For over 1000 years the castle on Hardenberg hill has towered over the surrounding countryside. Now in ruins, it has provided a fairytale backdrop for many legends. After the castle tour will be a tour of the new exhibition: Prussian chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg. After the three tours, you will have a short drive to the town of Schierke where you will check into your hotel and enjoy dinner (included).

Trivia: The Hardenberg’s most popular schnapps is the Schwartzhog. A dark-colored drink named in honor of a black wild boar in the 16th century saved the people of the nearby castle from an unexpected attack. By squealing, the boar awakened the inhabitants and enabled the Royal Army to defend the castle.

Schnapps Tour of Germany – 7-Day / 6-Night Europe Tour

Cost:   Adults / $3,295*

            Students (ages 6-12) / $1,695

            Children 5 and under / Free

*Children under the age of 12 are required to share a room with an accompanying adult. There is a maximum of 2 children with 2 adults.

Prices are based on Double Adult Occupancy

Single room supplement of $750

Private Tour Supplement of up to $1,000 per person depending upon the tour requests and days.

The tour includes:

• All ground transportation from flight arrival and departure in Munich.

• Tour in private auto/minibus, with transportation to and from all tours and restaurants on the itinerary.

• All accommodations are in a clean comfortable hotel, bed & breakfast, or country inn. (German 3-5 star standards).

• Breakfast each morning.

• Dinner each evening with two free drinks (beer, wine, soda, juice, or water only).

• Free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with European snacks are available while traveling between cities and tours.

• Entry and tour fees for all sights are mentioned in the itinerary.

The tour does NOT include:

• Airfare to and from Germany.

• Meals other than those indicated in the itinerary.

• Beverages other than those indicated in the itinerary.

• Free time transportation or sightseeing.

• Personal expenses for shopping, etc. 

Optional tours:

We have handpicked our tours to give you the must-see sites with a relaxed and enjoyable vacation. We understand that some people have different interests than others. We will try to accommodate special requests such as a special tour, a historical site, a river cruise, or just a special dinner. Please feel free to contact us.