Tour Highlight:
- The Choral Synagogue in Bucharest
- The State Yiddish Theatre in Bucharest
- Sibiu - The Cultural Capital of Europe
- The citadel of Sighisoara - an UNESCO World Heritage Site
- The Jewish Temple in Targu Mures
- The Sighet Synagogue
- The Sathmar Synagogue & Jewish cemetery
- The Temple of Deportees in Cluj
- Art Nouveau in Oradea
- The Neologue Temple in Oradea
- The Jewish Museum in Budapest
- The Dohany Street Synagogue
- Budapest Jewish cemetery
- The Holocaust Memorial in Budapest
- The Rumbach Street Synagogue in Budapest.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Bucharest. Arrive in Bucharest, where you will be met at the airport and transferred to your centrally located hotel. This afternoon is at leisure. In the evening meet your fellow travelers and Tour Director at the welcome cocktail and dinner. (D)
Day 2: Bucharest - The Paris of the East. Today you will visit Bucharest, "The Paris of the East". It once had a large and important Jewish community. Nowadays there are around 4000 Jews living in Bucharest. Visit the Choral Synagogue, built at the half of the 19th century. In the Great Synagogue, meet a representative of the Community and talk with him about Romanian Jewry. A great Jewish site is the State Yiddish Theatre, still open and performing. Visit also the Jewish Museum, set in an old synagogue in the former Jewish district. Have lunch in one of Bucharest's famous restaurants and visit in the afternoon the Ceausescu Palace and find out more about communism in Romania. Admire the large boulevards and the villas and palaces along them. Enjoy dinner in a restaurant beautifully set on the shore of a lake. (B, L, D)
Day 3: Enter Transylvania. The tour takes you today to Transylvania. First, visit in Sinaia the Peles Castle, the former residence of the Romanian Royal family. Have lunch in Sinaia and then cross the Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania and arrive in Brasov, one of the most charming cities in Romania. On a walking tour, see the beautiful Old Town of Brasov. In the evening attend the service in one of Romania's most beautiful synagogues. Enjoy a Shabbat dinner together with the Jewish community of Brasov. (B, L, D)
Day 4: Beautiful Brasov. After breakfast, your Tour Director will give you more information on what you can further visit in Brasov. The city is rich in culture and you spend for sure an interesting ay by exploring Brasov on your own. In the evening join a dinner in a very special place: a restaurant opened on a hill, in a former medieval bastion of the city. The Brasov Philharmonic Orchestra will perform for us! (B, D)
Day 5: The Cultural Capital of Europe. After a drive through Southern Transylvania you will arrive in Sibiu, the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2007! Check into your centrally located hotel and have lunch. In the afternoon, discover on a walking-tour the Old Town of Sibiu, which is beautifully preserved and renovated. Visit also the imposing synagogue. You will see why it was chosen the Cultural Capital of Europe. In the evening you are invited to dine in a farmhouse in the small village of Sibiel. Taste some delicious Romanian specialties. (B, L, D)
Day 6: Jewish traces in Central Transylvania. After breakfast drive to Medias and visit the neo-Romanic synagogue, which has been recently restored. Drive afterwards to Sighisoara, an UNESCO site. This is one of the best preserved citadels in Europe. On a walking-tour explore this romantic town, with its narrow streets, colorful houses and medieval towers and bastions. Have lunch and drive further to Targu Mures. Discover this multiethnic city: half of the population is Romanian, half Hungarian. Visit the center built in Art-Nouveau style. The Palace of Culture will impress you for sure. (B, L, D)
Day 7: Targu Mures and Cluj. In the morning visit the beautiful Temple and meet a representative of the Jewish Community of Targu Mures. Further you will drive to Cluj, the cultural capital of Transylvania. Have a panoramic tour of the city, followed by a visit of the Temple of Deportees. Here, find out more about the history of Transylvanian Jews. Have lunch and reach in the late afternoon Baia Mare. Dine in your centrally located hotel. (B, L, D)
Day 8: Sighet and Sathmar. Today we will visit two cities in which Jewish culture flourished: Sighet (Sighetul Marmatiei) and Sathmar (Satu Mare). In Sighet visit the imposing Temple and also the house in which Elie Wiesel, Nobel-prize winner for peace was born. This part of Europe experienced periods in which Jewish culture flourished, but unfortunately also many real disasters. After lunch drive further to Satu Mare, the place from where the Sathmar Hassidim living now in Brooklyn left. Overnight in Satu Mare.
(B, L, D)
Day 9: Oradea - The neologue Synagogue. Drive through Western Romania and arrive for lunch in Oradea, one of the most beautiful cities in Romania. The Old Town is quite impressive, built in Art Nouveau-style, as well as your hotel. Visit the neologue synagogue which dominates a part of the city. Neologue synagogues spread all over Hungary in the 19th century. The language in which the services are held is Hungarian. (B, L, D)
Day 10: Budapest - Jewish life in Central Europe. In the morning cross the border into Hungary and drive towards Budapest. Arrive at noon and check into your centrally located hotel, which is in walking-distance to the Jewish district. Have lunch. In the afternoon explore the Jewish district of Budapest. Jewish life is very active in Budapest, the Jewish community having around 80.000 members. Visit the world’s second largest synagogue: the Dohany Synagogue, which was beautifully restored. The Jewish Museum nearby tells us further the story of the Jewish Community. You will also visit the Holocaust Memorial, erected in honor of the Jews deported from Hungary during WWII. Another memorial is dedicated to a very special person: Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, which helped many Jews from Budapest escape the Nazis, by issuing Swedish passports for them. Find out more about this brave man. In the evening, celebrate the Shabbat in a kosher restaurant in Budapest’s Jewish district. (B, L, D)
Day 11: Budapest.In the morning you have the opportunity to attend the service in the Dohany Synagogue. The rest of the day is at leisure, to discover on your own more of Budapest, which is one of the most important cultural cities of Central Europe. Enjoy a fare-well dinner in one of Budapest's famous restaurants. (B, D)
Day 12: Good-bye, Hungary! Your Romania & Hungary tour ends today. The transfer to the Budapest International Airport is included. (B)
Guaranteed departure date: August, 20 2008
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Included:
- 11 nights accommodation in good, centrally-located 3*, 4* and 5*-
hotels
- 11 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 11 dinners including 2 Shabbat dinners
- Professional tour director
- Transportation by modern motorcoach, minivan or SUV, depending on
the number of travelers
- All entrance fees
- Transfers from and to the airport.
Private Tours: The above trip can be booked also as a private tour, at your preferred date. We can customize the tour in order to meet your demands (shorten or extend the tour, select different hotels, select the car preferred). The policy of our company is NOT to charge any fee for customizing an itinerary.
Ask us for a quote.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
Romania
Hungary
Cultural Journey
Pilgrimage/Spirituality
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