The Harz Mountains in Winter
Explore timeless towns and romantic railways
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You are viewing the 2018 itinerary
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Join us as we ride on vintage steam trains through wild landscapes and romantic gorges to discover charming towns with timber-framed houses and cobbled lanes. Wernigerode, a beautiful town amidst the mountains, provides an excellent base for this wonderful rail tour.
We depart from St Pancras International by Eurostar to Brussels, travelling in First Class, with a light meal and drinks served on board. Our journey continues by highspeed train to Cologne for an overnight stay. After dinner in the hotel, perhaps take a stroll through Cologne's Old Town, which has been lovingly and carefully restored to its pre-war appearance. You can admire the pretty pastel-coloured houses, as the narrow streets wind down towards the Rhine Promenade. Alternatively, perhaps visit a traditional Cologne 'brauhaus' for a 'kölsch', a lovely way to round up the day.
After breakfast we join the train across northern Germany to Hanover. Here, we meet our coach which takes us through the Harz Mountains. We continue through the magnificent landscape of the Harz region to the stunningly beautiful town of Wernigerode, we are greeted by mulled wine on arrival and stay for five nights at the HKK Hotel Wernigerode. The Harz Mountain range is an area of undulating forests peppered with pretty lakes. Such terrain is ideally suited to narrow-gauge railways and a network was built in the pioneering days of the railway. Today the Harz Mountains system offers a wonderful public transport service and steam-hauled tourist trains with beautifully restored vintage rolling stock.
This morning we travel by Standard Class rail to medieval Goslar, nestled at the foot of the Harz Mountains. Older than Berlin, this former Free Imperial city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is crammed full of fantastic, historic architecture, including half-timbered houses dating back to the early 16th century. We take a guided tour of the picturesque town, discovering some fine examples of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. After the tour, you have some free time to continue exploring independently; perhaps visit the Kaiserpfalz. Built at the beginning of the 11th century after silver had been discovered in the area, the grand Kaiserpfalz is a delight to explore. The impressive building, designed primarily as a summer residence, is now the largest Romanesque palace in all of Europe. Alternatively, you could visit the Rammelsberg Mining Museum, which provides a fascinating look into the industrial history of Goslar. The mine here was in operation for an unbroken period of over 1000 years. At its height the operation had the largest deposits of copper, lead and zinc in the world. The energy for this vast mining system was provided by the Upper Harz water management system. This impressive system was first constructed in the Middle Ages by Cistercian monks and later dramatically expanded. The entire area now has UNESCO World Heritage status, and showcases the industrial heritage of this region of Germany in superb fashion.
Today we embark on a scenic rail journey on the Brocken Railway to the summit of Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains at 3,743 feet (1,141m). We enjoy stunning panoramic views of the Upper Harz National Park as we wind our way up the mountain to the terminus, Brockenbahnhof, the highest narrow-gauge railway station in Germany. This towering summit has long been associated with dark forces, perhaps most famously in Goethe's Faust, and during the Cold War Brocken was a military base used for border surveillance. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, the mountain was off limits to all but the Soviet army. Given its altitude, Brocken Mountain was the perfect location for the world's first television antennae and today it offers one of Europe's most spectacular lookout points, commanding wonderful views of the sloping treelined hillsides below.
You are free to explore Wernigerode today. A particular highlight of this beautiful town is the grand Wernigerode Castle. Sat upon a hill, this is a building straight from the pages of fantasy. Constructed on the site of an old medieval fortress, it was rebuilt into it's current Neo- Romantic style in the 19th century.
Our excursion today is to the beautifully preserved town of Quedlinburg. Here we take a guided walking tour, following which we have the opportunity to explore at our own pace. Here you can discover the cobbled streets, passing a fine collection of medieval timberframed buildings and Romanesque architecture in the Old Town, which has UNESCO World Heritage status. Considered to be one of the best-preserved medieval and renaissance towns in Europe, it offers a wealth of history and culture, whilst also having a modern flair and fabulous examples of Art Nouveau architecture. The Burgberg "castle mountain", an imperial stronghold dating from as early as the 10th century, and the Romanesque Collegiate Church are also both well worth a visit. This afternoon we embark on a wonderfully scenic journey on the historic Selke Valley Railway, whose terminus is now in Quedlinburg. The quaint railway is arguably the region's best-kept secret. The route ascends into the Harz Mountains through a varied landscape. This metre-gauge railway was dismantled by the Soviets at the end of World War II, but was then subsequently rebuilt as far as Gernrode in the post-war years. With reunification the Selke Valley Railway, or Selketalbahn, was acquired by the Harz Mountain Railways and the line finally extended to Quedlinburg, allowing greater tourist access to this nostalgic journey though dense forests and mountains.
This morning we transfer by coach to Hanover to rejoin the fantastic high-speed First Class service to Cologne, where we change trains and continue on the service to Brussels. On arrival in the Belgian capital we connect with the onward Eurostar service to London St Pancras International, where our tour concludes.
Please note that while every departure of this tour will feature the same excursions, the order may differ from that shown above.
For this tour, we recommend arriving to, and departing from, London Gatwick or London Heathrow airport (LGW or LHR). London Gatwick is approximately 30 miles from your start and end point, and London Heathrow is approximately 19 miles from your start and end point.
It is your responsibility to check and fulfil the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.
Provisional departure and return times, where available, can be found together with our dates and prices by clicking on the 'Prices & Availability' button. We write to all booked customers approximately 10 weeks prior to the start of their tour to advise the exact departure and return time for their particular group.
An escorted experience and all travel arrangements
Comfortable accommodation in your destination
Delicious meals included
Exciting excursions and free time to explore
Not Included
We are taking the opportunity to review our recent trip to the Harz Mountains.This was our first trip with Great Rail Journeys and we were not disappointed!
The organisation and arrangements were excellent, with the Tour Manager, Irene, being both very knowledgeable and helpful without being intrusive. The First Class train travel to and from Wernigerode was excellent, and the interim stay at Koln was both welcome and interesting, with a must-have visit to the Dom.
The accommodation throughout was very good. Wernigerode made a perfect base for the tour, the highlight of which was the train ride to the top of the Brocken Mountain; the air at the top was fresh and clean, and the views fantastic. The other travellers were great company and had a wealth of experience of Great Rail Journeys tours - one was on her 14th trip!
The Harz Mountains tour is both enjoyable and interesting.
It is based at Wernigerode, which is just over the old east-west border. The town is a delightful mix of many coloured timber-framed houses, tightly packed along cobbled streets.
The cobbles are set in arcs by a man working backwards on a one-legged stool! The town centre is a parade of shops and has a fine wooden town hall.
The hotel is large with exceptionally friendly staff. The buffet breakfast is enormous and even has a British breakfast bar. Two minutes' walk from the hotel is an excellent, Greek-run fish restaurant. But beware - the helpings are enormous!
The rail system runs across both open fields and wooded mountains and describes a circular layout, basically. The steam trains are well maintained and the carriages are clean and warm. The system is a working commuter route and is assisted by diesel locomotives.
The visits to Goslar and Quedlinburg are interesting, especially
when arriving by steam train.
All in all we can certainly recommend the tour whether you are
a rail buff or not.
I should like to take the opportunity of expressing my satisfaction with the above tour.
This was my first Great Rail Journey and I have to say that I was very impressed with all the arrangements which led to a very enjoyable few days.
Of special note was the Tour Manager, Geoff, for whom nothing was too much trouble, and his organisational skills are to be highly commended.
We have recently returned from a really enjoyable Great Rail
winter tour. We chose this tour because of my husband's
interest in steam trains. However, everything about it was a real
joy, not just the steam engines but the First Class travel all the
way to Quedlinburg, the hotel and John, our Tour Manager.
What a gem Quedlinburg is. It is so pretty and so unusual that I
likened it to being in a model village. On our free day, John
arranged for us to join him at a local restaurant to sample local
German food, which was such an enjoyable experience in spite of the
walk in the rain!
I think the most memorable occasion was our trip up The Brocken
mountain, by steam train of course. It was a most glorious day and
we could see for miles. Also, there was enough snow around still to
give the right atmosphere.
The arrangements were brilliant, as usual! The hotel at Wernigerode was lovely, with super staff and plentiful delicious food. It was also incredibly quiet and peaceful despite being so close to the town centre - it was a lovely start to the tour. We enjoyed the Harz Mountains very much, and Goslar, which made a nice stopping point on our journey to the Rhine, was beautiful indeed.
Our hotel at Assmanshausen was fantastic - so old, so well
preserved and lovely - as again was the food, with a huge array at
breakfast. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. I must confess we
looked at the river cruise ships and thought "mmmmm, nice!"
Our Tour Manager, Richard, was superb. Extremely well organised,
all information given succinctly, very professional, charming and a
great sense of humour - good man!
Finally our fellow travellers - as usual, fantastic. All very
friendly, swapping tables for various meals, and we all got on well
together with hugs all round as we left St Pancras on our return. I
recall our first GRJ tour, to Austria four years ago. A
young couple were on honeymoon. On our first night she exclaimed "I
don't believe it - everyone's talking to everyone else!" - that
says it all, and it still happens.
We look forward to planning our next trip with you. Thank you to all at Great Rail Journeys.
It started well, with a courtesy call from out Tour Manager
several days prior to our tour. We were very impressed by this,
it augured well for what was to come.
From the start everything went smoothly - from our first contact
at St Pancras International to our return.
Most seats were assigned and in First or Superior Class. Nothing
was too much trouble for our Tour Manager - he was tireless. All
hotels were extremely good, very well picked, and a bonus was that
we stayed for several days in each, so didn't have to live out of
our suitcases.
We were never rushed or harassed even though much ground was
covered. Handling luggage on and off trains is the traveller's
responsibility, so the lighter one can travel the better - we'll
certainly prune our luggage for our next journey.
This was an experiment in alternative travel and Great Rail
Journeys passed with flying colours.
Explore timeless towns and romantic railways
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