English

BDA & Beyond
Ride for the Living
Cycle the Capitals of European Jewry
Berlin and Krakow
June 27 - July 5, 2020

Tour Rates & Dates:

There are no Departure Dates available for this Package.
*Please note that all rates displayed are based on standard room double occupancy.
All rates above are in US Dollars, and are based on full payment by credit card unless otherwise noted.
If check payment discount is available for this tour, it can be selected after clicking "BOOK" above.
(Deposit can still be paid by credit card). Upgraded room categories may be available to book later in the booking process.
If Land & Air price is displayed, the air portion includes tax and fuel surcharges, which are subject to change until ticketed.

Tour Pricing:
Payment by check:
Double Occupancy: $3,299pp / Single supplement: $789

Payment by credit card:
Double Occupancy: $3,398pp / Single supplement: $813


Option to book single occupancy room available after click "BOOK" above.

For assistance with flights, please contact Anjie at
anjie@ayelet.com or 800-237-1517 x340.

Tour Overview:

Download a PDF version:

Register by March 31st and SAVE $100 per person!

Explore Berlin, Potsdam and Krakow by bike, foot and coach as we prepare for an unforgettable tour participating in the JCC Krakow's Ride for the Living. Learn about the rebirth of European Judaism as you explore these European capitals.

*Note: Itinerary will accommodate cyclists and non-cyclists, but content and order of features may differ slightly between the two.

*About the bike riding: All rides are on mostly flat, paved terrain with an occasional mild grade. Bikes are included at no additional cost where riding is mentioned in the itinerary. Limited “e-bikes” are available to rent on the Ride for the Living at an additional cost. Participants in the actual ride agree to fundraise a minimum of $1,000 for the Krakow JCC (details to follow).   Watch here:


INCLUDED:

3 nights Hotel Eurostars, Berlin
4 nights Puro Hotel , Krakow
All touring and sightseeing in a deluxe air-conditioned vehicle with an expert English-speaking guide
Registration for Ride for the Living
Meetings with local Jewish community leaders
Breakfast daily
4 dinners, 1 lunch & 1 cocktail reception
Scenic bike tour of Berlin (optional)
Internal flight from Berlin to Krakow
Ride for the Living opening and closing ceremonies and events
Private tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau with JCC Krakow
Entrance fees as per itinerary
Porterage

NOT INCLUDED:

Roundtrip airfare, departure taxes and fuel surcharges
Any border taxes or visas
Tips to guides, driver, and dining room waiters ($18 per person, per day; pre-collected)
Meals not listed above
Any items of a personal nature
Travel insurance (recommended - group policy available)

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Saturday, June 27, 2020: DEPARTURE

• We depart the United States on our overnight flight to Berlin.

Day 2: Sunday, June 28, 2020 WELCOME TO BERLIN!

• Welcome to Berlin! Upon arrival, we transfer to our hotel and meet our Ayelet Tours representative.
• We set out on a tour of Checkpoint Charlie, the famous Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War, to see it up close and learn more about this significant site.
• We continue our tour with a stop at the Berlin Holocaust Museum and the Burning Book Memorial at Bebelplatz, where the Nazis burned approximately 20,000 books in May 1933.
• We return to our hotel to check in and relax.
• This evening, we join together to enjoy a special welcome program and dinner.

Overnight in Berlin

Day 3: Monday, June 29, 2020: BERLIN

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Optional: Choose to join an early morning bike tour of Berlin, along important points of interest, including:
o Brandenburg Gate - 18th century neoclassical monument in Berlin
o Berlin Wall - previously separated East and West Berlin
o Checkpoint Charlie - famous Berlin Wall crossing point
o Site of Hitler's bunker - center of the Nazi regime in 1945
o Reichstag - Parliament building
o Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe - a Holocaust memorial created on the site of the former Berlin wall
• Next, we all join together to enjoy a walking tour of the old Jewish quarter, which is always evolving and changing. Along the way, we hear stories of Jewish life in Berlin from past to present as we visit the old and new synagogues, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Berlin, the Grosse Hamberger Strasse cemetery, where Moses Mendelssohn is buried, and even the former address of Regina Jones, the first female rabbi to be ordained.
• We continue with a tour of the Mitte, Berlin's historic center district and host to many of the city's top attractions.
• We visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Reichstag (Parliament), the Brandenburg Gate and other important sites for a more in-depth conversation about these landmarks.
• Later this afternoon, we visit the East Side Gallery, an open-air art gallery featuring artwork painting on the Berlin Wall.
• This evening, we enjoy dinner own (“follow the leader” option will be offered). Those who wish may stay in the Mitte area to explore the bars, restaurants and unique nightlife now thriving in Berlin's former Jewish district on own.

Overnight in Berlin

Day 4: Tuesday, June 30, 2020: POTSDAM

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Today, we travel to Potsdam. Along the way, we stop at the Wannsee House, where the Wannsee Conference took place and the “final solution” of the Jewish question was decided.
• Upon arrival in Potsdam, we begin our biking tour of the city (non-biking option runs parallel), starting with the Cecilienhof Palace, site of the Potsdam Conference, where allied leaders such as Truman, Churchill and Stalin met in 1945 to decide the fate of Germany, which surrendered weeks later.
• We also make a brief photo stop at the Palace of Sanssouci.
• We continue to Zacharias Frankel College, where many prospective rabbis come to study the Jewish texts and train to become Masorti/Conservative rabbis. The graduates from this college are the first to be ordained as rabbis in Germany since before WWII.
• We return to Berlin and visit the Gleis 17 Memorial, the train platform from which many of Berlin's Jews were deported during WWII.
• Evening at leisure to explore and have dinner on own (“follow the leader” option will be offered).

Overnight in Berlin

Day 5: Wednesday, July 1, 2020: MUSEUM ISLAND

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Today, we visit Museum Island to tour the many museums located there. We begin at the Pergamon Museum, built in 1930, containing reconstructed and immense historically significant buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate. Also located here are the Altes (Old) and Neues (New) Museums, as well as the Bode Museum with a sculpture collection and late Anqiue and Byzantine art.
• This afternoon, we visit the NENI restaurant to enjoy lunch, meet with Israeli chefs and learn about the culinary world in Berlin.
• Later this afternoon, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Krakow.
• Upon arrival, we check into our hotel and enjoy dinner together.

Overnight in Krakow

Day 6: Thursday, July 2, 2020: THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We join Ride for the Living for an opening ceremony at the JCC Krakow.
• This afternoon, we drive to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous Nazi concentration camp, for a private tour with the JCC Krakow. We see the museum and pay tribute to the victims; over a million Jews and others that perished in World War II.
• We return to Krakow to enjoy a “welcome to the ride” dinner together.

Overnight in Krakow

Day 7: Friday, July 3, 2020: RIDE FOR THE LIVING

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Ride participants: We travel by bus to Auschwitz and begin our 60-mile bike ride to the JCC Krakow. The ride is on a flat, enjoyable and meaningful route. Shorter 12, 30 and 45-mile ride options are available.
• Non-riders: We enjoy a Jewish heritage tour that includes the old Jewish town known as Kazimierz, where we see the Old Synagogue, a massive fortress-like building erected in the 15th century, the “Temple” and the Remuh Synagogue.
• We continue to the Little Museum at the Drug Store inside the Jewish Ghetto, then pass by Schindler's Factory and the site of the Plaszow Concentration Camp, now a Polish history museum.
• This evening, everyone joins together for Shabbat dinner with over 600 cycling participants and the local Jewish community and guests from around the world; the biggest Shabbat dinner in Krakow since before WWII.

Overnight in Krakow

Day 8: Saturday, July 4, 2020: DISCOVERING KRAKOW

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Today, we enjoy city tours led by the JCC Krakow and the Ride for the Living.
• This evening, we join 20,000 people for Havdalah and an open-air concert, featuring highlights from the Jewish Culture Festival.
• Dinner on own this evening (“follow the leader” option will be offered).

Overnight in Krakow

Day 9: Sunday, July 5, 2020: FAREWELL

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• We participate in the final closing event for Ride for the Living.
• We transfer to the airport for our flight to connect to our home cities.

The Memories Last Forever!!
*Itinerary subject to change