Germany Tour Review: Berlin, Bamberg, Werzberg, Dachau, Jewish Museum, Boros Bunker, Music & Theater, Art & Architecture

Overall this travel agency did a very good job in Berlin. The tour guides were knowledgeable and interesting. We liked having 3 different guides vs. one which was unusual but worked. We also liked having a phone at our disposal with contact numbers and other valuable information. Our agent was accessible whenever we needed to call her. However, there are some suggestions and things that I would have preferred been done differently after we left Berlin.

For example, we told our agent that we like jazz music, galleries, markets and live theatre, so she suggested that we attend the WYLD show in Berlin. She purchased VIP seats for $140 each which included checking our coats (we had none), a drink (the bar was too crowded to get near it during intermission) and a take away brochure (which we didn't need). The "regular" tickets were about $60. We weren't asked in advance if we wanted all this extra stuff before she purchased the tickets. And the show was totally touristy. We never would have chosen this show to attend. 

Also, all the train tickets she purchased for us were first class. We weren't asked in advance if we wanted to travel first class on the trains. We spent way more money than we needed to. Most of the train rides were at most one hour. We didn't need first class for that short a ride.

We felt that we could have used a guide for a half day in Bamberg. There was a palace there that would have been interesting to learn more about. We had no guides after we left Berlin at all. Although we enjoyed visiting the palace in Werzberg, it took most of a day to get there and back. There was a palace in Bamberg (granted, it wasn't a UNESCO site) but we would have preferred to spend more time in Bamberg instead of going to Werzberg for the day. There was a once a year antique market on the day we were leaving Bamberg that we happened to stumble upon which we would have loved to spend time in but unfortunately we had only about one hour.

Lastly, we were short changed at Dachau. Initially, there was only a 2 1/2 hour time slot in the itinerary. We felt that would have been rushed. So we paid extra for a driver to pick us up from Dachau (arranged by our agency) later even though we paid (again!) for a first class train ticket which we need to get partially refunded for. We still did not have enough time to go on the tour and see the film. There was no need to rush us back to Bamberg from Dachau. There should be a 4-5 hour time period to see Dachau properly plus travel time. 

So I think that they were very good at planning the Berlin part of the trip, but the rest was not as well planned.