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*** tours
officially starts in Prague, Czech Republic. I suggest you fly into
Prague the day before the tours start.
We have booked space in a very nice hotel in the historic center
the day before every tour starts. ( as a option )
Sept. 12 – Friday *** 1st Sept. Tour officially starts at 9 AM - in the
lobby of our Hotel in Central Prague.
AM – Depart for Brno, stroll the city center , lunch. stop at
Austerlitz - Napoleon’s battlefield Stop at a village folk
PM pottery workshop. Check in to our hotel in Uherske Hradiste,
dinner, optional stroll around the historic square.
Sept. 13 – Saturday
AM – Whole day spent at a spectacular wine and harvest festival,
with-in a few blocks of our hotel. Approx. 1,500
PM people in Kroje for the parade, a number of stages with bands, dance
groups, foods, crafts, new wine ( burcak )
Sept. 14 – Sunday
AM – Morning free to attend folk festival, church, sleep, shop, etc.
then off to visit medieval Buchlov castle started
PM about the year 1250. Visit a hand made butter workshop. Dinner in a
local wine restaurant. some wine tasting ?
Sept. 15 – Monday
AM – Special Czech breakfast – Brewery tour, then off to Slovakia.
Stop in spa town of Piestany stroll the arcades
PM Lunch, taste the famous spring waters. Arrive to Komarno, check-in,
dinner, walk around the restored center.
Sept. 16 – Tuesday
AM - Excursion to Budapest – walking tour of the castle district,
fisherman’s bastion, across the historic chain bridge, PM Group lunch,
free time. Then to Szentendre village, best shopping in Hungary ! Free
time to shop, eat dinner.
Sept. 17 – Wednesday
AM – Visit to the oldest Church in Central Europe ( A unique Heritage
tour find ! ) the Slovak National stud -
PM ( horse farm ) a Hungarian style castle, and a arboretum, Dinner in
historic Nitra city. Founded in the 800’s .
Sept. 18 – Thursday
AM – Depart for Bratislava charming capital city of Slovakia. Walking
tour of the historic center, shopping or lunch.
PM Visit to Rosa coeli monastery founded in 1181, and Jewish cemetery.
Arrive to Jihlava, check-in and dinner.
Sept. 19 – Friday
AM – Guided city tour, including medieval catacombs. Free time to
stroll the large square, shop, have lunch.
PM Tour Rokstejn castle – built in 1380. Visit a open air museum. Meet
a local gingerbread folk artist. dinner.
Sept. 20 – Saturday
AM – Depart towards Prague with a excursion through a old gold mine, (
souvenirs ? ) lunch in a nearby village
***(2nd Sept. tour starts at 5 PM from hotel lobby - on this day
Sept. 20 – includes
dinner cruise & hotel stay )
PM check-in to our city center hotel near Wenceslas square, dinner
cruise on the Vltava river, around Charles bridge.
****1st Sept. tour (9 days) ends here, OR you can extend the tour by 2
or 8 days with the program listed below
Sept. 21 – Sunday
AM - Walking tour through the Prague Castle complex - the largest in
the world, lunch and continued sightseeing of
PM Karluv Most (Charles Bridge), and Stare Mesto (Old Town). till
about 4 PM, evening free - for concerts, etc
Sept. 22 – Monday
AM - Guided tour of Vysehrad Castle and/or Josefov (Jewish Town) or
Museums or opt out - to explore on your own, PM visit family or
whatever you wish. Evening - is a amazing dinner at a wine restaurant with
dancing and music.
***** 11 day tour - Sept. 12 – 22 ends tonight, but
will include ride to airport next morning.
Sept. 23 – Tuesday
AM - Off to Pisek, walking tour of the center including oldest stone
bridge in Central Europe from 1250. Then a
PM Czech farm village visit – learn to make kolac - a Czech pastry
and Jiternice - sausage, and a folk craft, sing
and folk dance. Then to Ceske Budejovice - check-in at our
charming hotel in the historic old town, dinner.
Sept. 24 – Wednesday
AM – Special Czech breakfast - tour of Budweiser brewery. Walking tour
of the square, garnet, crystal, antique
PM shopping. Excursion to Cesky Krumlov ( World heritage site ) walking
tour of the historic center, free time.
Sept. 25 - Thursday
AM – Visit a local folk pottery. Tour the magnificent Hluboka Castle,
with it’s astonishing furnishings. Trebon, lunch, PM stroll the town .
Visit the Museum of Czech emigrants, meet local folk artists. Dinner at a
stylish restaurant.
Sept. 26 – Friday
7:30 AM - Departure for the Prague airport, arriving about 10:30 AM
for flights and a lifetime of great memories !
* the final itinerary will have more stops, and much more detail. I do
not publish this in advanced because we don’t
want our out-of-the-way places to be swamped with tourists. Our secret
places are for you - our valued guests.
PRICES FOR
THESE WONDERFUL TRAVEL EXPERIENCES ARE ONLY ;
1st SEPT. tour : A FULL 9 DAY TOUR is : $ 2495.00* per-person,
double. Single is $ 400 extra.
With 2 day Prague extension, A FULL 11 DAY TOUR is : $ 2829.00*
per-person. Single is $ 480 extra.
2nd SEPT. tour : A FULL 6 DAY TOUR ( starting in Prague Sept. 20th
)is $ 1659.00 pp. Single is $ 300 extra
BOTH tours together : A FULL 14+ DAY TOUR is : $ 3295.00*
per-person, double. Single is $ 575 extra.
Tour price is based on double room occupancy. Price includes :
Hotel rooms with private bath, in small select superior class hotels ( 3
stars or above). Almost all meals ( which are large ). Professional
driver, in a nice new 48 passenger modern air-conditioned motorcoach - (
with LOTS of room to relax and spread out on all those empty seats, this
is a real luxury – as most tours will cram you in, every seat is full )
This is a fully guided tour, with a full time licensed local Czech
guide. At the end of the tour, transport to the Prague airport.( one time
of departure per tour ) Your admission to places and events on the
itinerary. Plus lots of entertainment, ( due to our extensive expertise,
almost all entertainment we have is exclusive to Heritage Tours ) This
is a Land only tour. Program is subject to change, tour price based on
currency exchange rates as of Oct. 1, 2007. No two tours have ever been
the same, each is unique and designed around the local calendar of
events. Tour size is limited to around 15 – 20 people –
again this is a real luxury, as many of my competitors have 35 to 50
people on one tour. Tour space is held by deposit only.
*Listed tour price is by personal or bank check, final payment by credit
card will add 4 % to your total price. ( the 4 % is NOT added to your tour
deposit ) You may charge your tour deposit to your credit card, by phone
or email. Or by personal check sent by postal mail.
To place a credit
card tour deposit, and or to book your flights to Europe ONLY
call Forest Lake
Travel at : (651) 464-5092 or Toll Free 1-888-427-8687 (Central Time Zone)
We invite you to view our extensive web site,
www.czechheritage.com as much
more information can be found there. For ALL tour questions please
contact Mark, as he is on every tour - best by email at :
Bmark@visi.com or by phone at ( 651)
426-1222 or you can also try ( 480 ) 982-7994 - ask for Mark
We add many things to our tour program in Europe and are only
satisfied when most people say I am too tired to
go on ! We don’t believe in playing games with tour prices, there will be
very few extras while you are on our tour.
Those very few extras
are: a. One meal a day, mostly lunches ( with two BIG meals a
day, its not missed by most people) Beverages other than breakfast. b. Car, drivers,
translators, for family visits and personal reasons, and additional
services done by the genealogical service. c. An occasional
evening cultural program, or extra stops at places or events we come
across. d. Gratuities during the tour. e. Transportation to
/ from Europe ( Deb at Forest lake travel can get you a price for this –
or do your own thing ! ) in Budapest transfers to meet the start of the
tour.
For references please feel free to contact :
Elizabeth
Miller in NC (704) 364-4857 email,
emiller@vnet.net
Karen Helwig ( 262 ) 473-2187 in Wisc. email,
helwigr@cni-usa.com
Kathryn Betlach
(415) 479-8483 in Calif.
Gary Zabokrtsky ( 402 ) 729-2875 in Nebraska. email :
garyzab@alltel.net
Barb Bening ( 507
) 964-2739 in MN
Lisa Conrath email, ewm1573@yahoo.com
in SC.
Betsey McCalley (
319 ) 363-9163 in Iowa
Doreen
McKenny 952-941-0426 in MN
Doreenlouise@aol.com
Gerry Payette in
ILL. ( 708 ) 478-1247
Kathy Sigdestad in KY email :
kathysig@insightbb.com.
Marge Duffy in
MN email, Mduffy38@aol.com
Midge Robbeloth 920-426-8890 in Wisc.
LFACHE@aol.com
Carol & George
Bisek in MN Cbisek@hazelden.org
Pat & Dick Kutilek 402-393-7469 in Neb. email,
dpkutilek@cox.net
Susan Tesauro
in ILL 708-597-8822
Jan Jacobs 303-420-6442 in CO email :
jjacobs19@aol.com
Elaine Jones in
Neb email : ekathryn@cox.net
Our exclusive family history assistance: While on a Heritage Tour if
you are interested in locating your family’s roots, we can make it
happen. We take this mission VERY SERIOUSLY. Unlike others we contact
and search for your living relatives LONG before you depart for Europe.
We check in advance to make sure people know you are coming, that the
church will be open, that people will be home etc. All these matters
dealing with family history are handled by a professionally licensed
genealogical service, run by a Slovak-American married to a Czech based in
Prague. They work extensively in Central Europe. We will contact your
relatives, and you and they will decide how long your visit will be, a
evening, afternoon, a day ? As not everyone will speak English, drive, or
even have a car, we can help out with a car, van, driver or translator if
you request it, no problem ! ( at a additional fee ) We will basically
fill in with whatever you need to make your family visit a roaring success
! Detailed information regarding this service and much more, will be
sent out to you – after you have signed up for a tour.
This is a GREAT GENERAL TOUR, each day is plum full of activities,
your personal family history and visit is for you, the group is not
invited along. We will be very interested to hear about your wonderful
visit, but it’s your day to be spent with your family.
Don’t let the large paragraph above worry you if your not of Czech or
Slovak background. If your interest is just seeing a wonderful part of
Europe - enjoying a more in-depth experience, or extensive travelers
looking for a better travel experience – all have found our tours a
wonderful off the beaten path travel experience !
In the last few years we have had many non-Czech or Slovak background
people join us, as more of the world learns what a wonderful place Central
Europe really is. Including American Teachers and librarians doing school
projects, and American’s living in Europe full time. On our last tour of
2006, we had 6 Australian’s and a lady from England – two of the
Australians were returning for their 2nd tour with us ! ( none of whom
are of Czech or Slovak background, they had all heard wonderful things
about our tours ! )
You will meet many friends as we have over the last 16 years, it's
less like a tour and more like a family
outing visiting friends. Don’t miss your chance…………. Join
us for the trip of a lifetime in 2008 !
for more family history information please contact the national
Genealogical Society I founded the :
CzechoSlovak Genealogical Society Int. PO
Box 16225 St. Paul MN 55116
or visit their web site at:
www.cgsi.org ( a not-for-profit,
totally volunteer organization )
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