Oberammergau Passion Play & Lake Garda Tour

From

£1,799.00 / Per Person

See the 2020 Oberammergau Passion Of The Christ

  • 12 Days
  • Departing June 2020
  • Germany, Italy
  • 24 People in Group

Passion Play 2020 and Lake Garda

From the world famous Passion Play, to the celebrated city of Cologne, the shores of Lake Garda and the fair city of Verona, there is so much to see on this spectacular two tiered coach holiday. We begin in Germany, where we enjoy a few days visiting Cologne and Heidelburg before we head to Oberammergau for the moving and emotional Passion Play. After an emotive evening, we journey towards Italy and the stunning shores of Lake Garda, paying a visit to Austria’s Innsbruck along the way. From our base on the Lake we offer many fabulous excursions, why not join us as we cruise the shores of Lake Garda, visiting the surrounding towns and villages, experience Verona on our included tour, and why not even join our optional tour to the floating city of Venice, all making for the perfect holiday.

Recommended for: Couples, Honeymoon, Religious, Anniversaries

crucifixion-oberammergau

Oberammergau Passion Play 2020

Once again, the world-famous Passion Play returns to the beautiful village of Oberammergau for its 42nd performance. Why not make 2020 the year you experience this ‘play of life and death’, combined with the beauty of Bavaria, Germany, Austria and Italy on one of our fully-escorted tours.

The History of the Passion Play

Imagine a small Bavarian village nestling in the shadows of the Alps in 1633. The Great Plague descended and many lives were lost to this mysterious illness. The villagers made a solemn vow that, if the lives of the villagers were spared the whole village would perform a play every ten years, depicting the story of Christ’s suffering, dying and resurrection. Miraculously the Plague did not claim any more lives and so true to their vows, the villagers of Oberammergau enacted their first play in 1634.

The tradition, which has continued without interruption every decade since, in spite of wars and other problems, will be continued for the 42nd time in 2020.

Famous throughout the world, it is expected that around 500,000 people will attend the Passion Play in 2020, over half of these will be guests from around the world.

The Play

Due to a play law, the performers of the play all come from the village beautiful village of Oberammergau, to maintain the tradition of the solemn vow the villagers made in 1633. Everyone taking part must have been born there, or lived in the village for at least 20 years. At times, the stage also holds small herds of sheep and goats, donkeys, a hors and armoured Roman soldiers.

From Ash Wednesday, 2019, all of the performers let their hair grow – the men also let their beards grow – so that they have an authentic biblical appearance.

Altogether, there will be more than 2000 Oberammergau villagers taking part in this world-famous play in 2020.

The play runs from mid May to the beginning of October starting at 2:30pm and finishing at 10:30pm with a break for dinner at 5pm.

The Village of Oberammergau

The picture-perfect Bavarian town of Oberammergau is located in the picturesque Ammergau Alps, and along with the Passion Play, is also known for its wood carvings and colourful frescoes – or Lüftlmalerei – which decorate many of the buildings. The town is a good base to see the impressive Linderhof Palace – favourite of King Ludwig II, and his famous fairy tale Neuschwanstein Castle.

Oberammergau Accommodation & Tickets

oberammergau-seatplan

There is a choice of accommodation, ranging from lovingly appointed rooms in private houses to luxurious hotels. Tickets for the Passion Play are allocated along with the accommodation, and whilst we can’t advise on the exact location of the seats, as a general rule, the higher the grade of accommodation, the better the seats. See the seating plan below which illustrates the location of each ticket category.

Category D Accommodation: Includes Ticket Category 2. Category D accommodation will be 2-star hotels or 3-star pensions/guest houses in Oberammergeau.

Category C Accommodation: Includes Ticket Category 1 or 2. For Category C accommodation, you will stay in 3-star hotels or 4-star pensions/guest houses in Oberammergau.

Category B Accommodation: Includes Ticket Category 1 or 2. If you choose Category B accommodation, your stay will be in 4-star hotels or 5-star pensions/guest houses in Oberammergau. Details of accommodation will be confirmed closer to the time.

Tour includes

  • 11 nights hotel (including two nights in the Oberammergau area) with continental breakfast
  • 1 lunch
  • 9 evening meals
  • Ticket for the Oberammergau Passion Play
  • Convenient local joining points

Tour Itinerary

Day 1

Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to Belgium for an overnight stay.

Day 2 - Cologne & the Rhine Valley

We leave Belgium and head to the city of Cologne with its splendid Gothic cathedral with twin spires that dominate the skyline view from the River Rhine. After some free time, we continue along the Rhine Valley with the opportunity to join an optional relaxing cruise along the river to enjoy the sedate scenery of the vineyards and castles that adorn the Valley. We continue to the Mannheim area for our overnight stay.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 3 - Heidelberg

Enjoy an included morning visit to the picturesque town of Heidelberg on the River Neckar, famed for its university dating back to 1386, castle and Old Town – the ‘Altstadt’. After lunch, we head south to our accommodation in the Oberammergau area for a two-night stay, with time to relax ahead of tomorrow’s spectacle.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 4 - Oberammergau Passion Play

This morning, relax and soak up your surroundings. We will have lunch at noon, ahead of the Passion Play which begins at 2.30pm*. The play will end at 10.30pm, with a break for dinner between 5pm and 8pm. We will transfer back to our accommodation after the performance.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5 - Innsbruck

We leave after breakfast and head for the splendours of Lake Garda. En route to Lake Garda we call into Austria’s Tyrolean capital of Innsbruck. Surrounded by steep mountains, the city’s location is most impressive. Perhaps the most notable landmark is the Golden Roof from where the Emperor Maximilian I used to watch the events in the square below. Leaving Innsbruck, we travel over the spectacular Brenner Pass into Italy to our hotel in Lake Garda for a five-night stay.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 6 - Lake Garda

A leisurely morning followed by an optional excursion to a local wine cantina to taste the local produce. This evening, you can enjoy an optional cruise across the lake to the pretty shore-side village of Limone.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 7 - Verona

Today, we include a visit to the charming city of Verona. Famed as the home of Romeo and Juliet, Verona also boasts the impressive amphitheatre where the opera festival takes place each year. The many charms of Verona will be brought to life on our optional walking tour with a local guide who will reveal many fascinating stories behind the buildings and personalities of this fine historic town.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 8 - Free Time or Venice

No time in this part of Italy is complete without a visit to Venice. Join our optional excursion to this city of canals, gondolas and palaces. Enjoy the famous sights including the Bridge of Sighs, St. Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace. For a different view over St Mark’s Square, enjoy our optional lagoon cruise as we sail past Guidecca Island and Venice’s Lido resort made famous by the International Film Festival.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 9 - Free Time or Villages of Lake Garda

It’s our final day in Lake Garda and there’s so much to see and do around the lake. Our optional lake tour will stop at some of the most picturesque villages, including Sirmione from where we take a short boat trip.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 10

We leave after breakfast and enjoy a leisurely drive through the Alps to the Lucerne area of Switzerland for an overnight stay.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 11

We head north, crossing the French border, arriving at our overnight hotel in northern France this evening.

Included meals: Breakfast

Day 12

Return home.

Included meals: Breakfast

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