SPECIAL NEWSLETTER 20 YEARS OF AUGUSTUSTOURS

EDITORIAL CITY TOURS

I can hardly believe it myself, but I’m proud Setbacks such as the floods of 2002 and 2013, As an experienced incoming agency, we to say that it’s now 20 years since I founded the credit crunch and the ash cloud of 2010 organise tailored tours and programmes of AugustusTours as a one-woman company on might have been a stern test of our patience excursions to ’s most enchanting the 15th of February 1997. and strength, but they never stopped us from regions on behalf of customers ranging from both looking and moving forwards. tour operators and coach firms to private AugustusTours has since developed into groups, companies and clubs. Join us as ’s leading incoming agency and Yours faithfully, we explore the Baroque beauty of ’s provider of active tours – and it is you, our Anke Herrmann “Florence on the ”, follow in poetic customers and guests, who have enabled us AugustusTours footsteps in the elegant town of Weimar or to do so. Working on your behalf, we have owner explore the culture and traditions of the Sorbs conquered new destinations, pedalled along on a city tour to Bautzen. cycle tracks and tested hotels throughout Germany. Yes, your enquiries have grown In the early days, our main area of focus was more and more complex – but we have the organisation of tours to our beautiful enjoyed taking up the challenges that has home town of Dresden and the surrounding brought with it. The range region. Over the years, we have expanded of tours and our portfolio to include further destinations We have grown both better and bigger as services provided in other regions such as Berlin, Bavaria, a result, with a team of 20 employees now by AugustusTours Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. By constantly putting their expertise, ideas and passion into has grown considerably adding new, original tours to undiscovered a portfolio of outstanding products – from over the last few years, so we’d like to areas, we aim to cover the whole of Germany opera trips and tours focusing on themes use this edition of our newsletter to re- by 2020. such as architecture, art or the Reformation to mind you of our core areas of expertise. shore excursions for river cruises. We have offered tours to the federal state of Baden-Württemberg since 2016, giving our guests the chance to be charmed by GUIDED TOURS the idyllic landscapes of the or stroll through the picturesque streets of It is now 20 years since Anke Herrmann showed Heidelberg. The Romantic Road through the her first customers around the beautiful city charming Tauber Valley is one of the region’s of Dresden. Guided tours – whether on foot highlights, and connects the mediaeval town or by coach – remain an important element of Rothenburg ob der Tauber with a variety of of our City Tours. Wherever in Germany historic castles and palaces. your journey takes you, our guides will use their passion and enthusiasm to give you a Our many years of experience as an incoming fascinating introduction to their cities. agency have enabled us to build up an excellent network of contacts, thus making us AugustusTours only works with licensed, an ideal partner for the booking of a suitable experienced guides. They all possess extensive hotel for your group, the selection of expert local and specialist knowledge, versatile guides and couriers for guided tours and language skills and the ability to judge the excursions and the organisation of tickets for right moment for a spot of humour. first-class events during your city tour.

In addition to historical facts and insights into In addition to consultation and the both daily and cultural life, it is, above all, organisation of your dream tour, our services the “behind the scenes” anecdotes – whether also include the compilation of comprehensive entertaining or surprising, funny or touching travel documents for your courier, for example – that make our guided tours so captivating. city maps and brochures with details on Themed tours on topics such as architecture, destinations and excursions. It would be our literature, art and music are especially popular. pleasure to draw up a quote tailored to your Whichever option you choose, time invested precise requirements. We look forward to your in our guided tours is time well spent! enquiry!

Team of AugustusTours © Denise Arlt Photography; Anke Herrmann www.augustustours.de/en © Denise Arlt Photography; Zwinger Dresden © Christoph Münch Newsletter 20 YEARS OF AUGUSTUSTOURS

OPERA AND MUSICAL TOURS Themed tours focusing on the lives of Richard CYCLING HOLIDAYS Wagner and Johann Sebastian Bach enjoy Music-themed tours make up a large enduring popularity. Yet it is not just composers Specially designed cycling tours inclu- proportion of our product portfolio, and we and artists, but also a collection of fine opera ding luggage transfer services have been delight in giving our guests the chance to houses that attracts visitors to destinations part of our tour portfolio since 1998. Our gain fascinating insights into famous German throughout Germany. We recently welcomed home route is the Elbe Cycle Path. Over composers and their musical careers. From Hamburg’s magnificent Elbphilharmonie to the years we have added a range of other Bach, Beethoven and Handel to Schumann, the German cultural landscape, and eagerly great routes to suite a variety of tastes. Wagner and many more besides, a whole host anticipate the reopening of Staatsoper Unter of big names have shaped musical history den Linden in Berlin in October 2017. Thousands of miles of cycle track have both in Germany and around the globe. already been travelled by our pedal- There are also a wealth of top-class music happy team. We check our tours on a Demand for tours based around perfor- festivals to choose from. It would be our regular basis and possess a wealth of mances of Wagner’s Ring Cycle is always pleasure to offer you a tailored tour based knowledge on routes following the Elbe high, and we are therefore always on around one of a range of highlights including River. The hotels we use along each route the look-out for high-quality productions the annual Bach Festival in Leipzig, the Handel have been visited by us in person and in a variety of towns and opera houses festivals in Halle and Göttingen, Munich Opera received a good rating. What is more, throughout Germany. Festival and the festivals of classical music in we are proud to work with an excellent Dresden and Schwetzingen. network of reliable partners. Our fleet of Yours Ulrike Ehlemann over 90 touring bicycles can be rented in (City & Cultural We have something for music lovers of all combination with our tours. Tours for Groups) tastes, and organ-themed tours are one of our Tel. +49 351 56348 15 specialities. Saxony boasts a long tradition of Yours Ricarda Mager organ-building, and fans of this wonderful (Manager Cycling & instrument will already be aware of the Walking Tours) Silbermann organs in Freiberg as an example Tel. +49 351 56348 23 of outstanding workmanship. For experienced organists, we are able to arrange to play one or more of the organs visited.

PROVEN SERVICE QUALITY THEMED AND CULTURAL TOURS Having begun in 2008, the celebratory Luther Decade reaches its climax in 2017. In order At AugustusTours, quality is not just a In addition to music, we also cater to a to assist operators of group tours, churches watchword, but one of the fundamental variety of other themes popular with groups. and associations with their preparations, our pillars upon which our daily work is founded. We constantly scour the country for newly website features three potential itineraries, We know there are a whole host of different announced events, anniversaries and other bookable hotel dates in towns connected to reasons why our guests choose to book highlights – often looking a number of Luther and a special package for independent with us, but in the end it is often their gut years ahead. Once selected, each theme travellers. Thanks to this groundwork, we feeling that makes the decision for them. In is carefully developed with a keen eye for have not only eased the organisational strain particular, experience has shown that people detail. This involves contacting museums and on our guests, but also sped up the process who feel they are in good hands with us, also other partners in order to gather as much of putting together tailored, unique tours. reward us with a repeat booking. information as possible. The final step is the creation of a proposed itinerary which enables We also welcome suggestions for new themed We at AugustusTours have always scrutinised our customers to gain an initial impression tours from our customers. To give an example, our service quality with the aim of becoming and plan their journey around the tour. our steam locomotive tours are regularly even more customer-friendly. True to our expanded to include offers and destinations motto of “Anyone who stops getting better Our main focus in 2017 is an event of global which can be booked by both independent has stopped being good”, our service quality importance, and one intrinsically linked travellers and groups, often at the request of has now been subjected to regular audits to Central Germany: Together with a large our customers themselves. This newsletter according to the guidelines set out by the number of guests, we are celebrating the gives you further information on the themes ServiceQualität Deutschland initiative for over world-renowned reformer Martin Luther and and destinations currently included in the 13 years. the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. AugustusTours portfolio.

Semper Opera Dresden © Frank Exß; Statue of Martin Luther © Newsletter AugustusTours; St. Marienthal Abbey © AugustusTours; Ulrike www.augustustours.de/en Ehlemann © Silvia Frenzel; Ricarda Mager © Denise Arlt Photography 20 YEARS OF AUGUSTUSTOURS

ADVENT, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S TOURS WALKING HOLIDAYS

The breaking of our bookings record for (“Schwibbögen”), revolving pyramids and is right on our Advent, Christmas and New Year’s tours incense smokers (“Räuchermännchen”). doorstep, so it was an easy decision to seems to have become an annual event in add walking tours for individual travellers recent years – and no trip is complete without A visit to a gingerbread maker’s in Pulsnitz or and groups to our portfolio in 2006. Our a visit to one of Germany’s oldest and most a stollen baker’s in Dresden is always a tasty tailored walking tours now include routes charming Christmas markets! treat. If your journey takes you to Bavaria, through Saxon Switzerland and the why not enjoy its winter landscapes with Mountains. To whet your appetite: an excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle or ∙ The “Striezelmarkt” in Dresden Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Our circular walking holiday through ∙ Leipzig Christmas Market the Elbe Mountains is just ∙ The “Christkindlesmarkt” in Nuremberg Our portfolio also includes tours spread over as popular with our guests as our tours ∙ The “Christkindlmarkt” in Munich Christmas and New Year’s Eve, with many following in the footsteps of renowned hotels offering special packages including a romantic artists along the Painters’ Path. The smaller, alternative Christmas markets traditional Christmas menu or a gala dinner now established in many larger towns and to see in the New Year. If you would like to We make sure our guests enjoy a carefree cities are also gaining in popularity. When take in an opera or a concert during your stay, walking holiday by arranging for their you’re next in Germany for some festive cheer, we recommend Berlin, Dresden, Munich or a luggage to be transferred from hotel to why not try the romantic Advent market next combination thereof! hotel. to Dresden’s famous Frauenkirche or the Mediaeval Christmas Market in Munich. Wherever you choose to go, you won’t want Yours Verena Riedel to miss out on a guided tour of the city, (Cycling & It’s well worth rounding off your tour with either on foot or by coach. A short break Walking Tours) a trip out into the surrounding area. This is will give you the chance to warm up with a Tel. +49 351 56348 24 especially true in Dresden, where you are just mulled wine or a hot chocolate while enjoying a stone’s throw away from the regional delicacies, for example stollen cake – a winter wonderland with a long and in Dresden, a “Leipzig Lark” in Leipzig or a proud tradition of hand-made candle holders hearty bratwurst in Nuremberg.

STEAM TRAIN TOURS A special journey on a historic, steam-pul- RIVER CRUISES led train to Prague will be the jewel in the Steam engine enthusiasts, fans of all crown of our anniversary year. Set to take It is no coincidence that river cruises are things nostalgic and guests simply looking place on the third weekend in Advent, the extremely popular! A slower pace of travel, for something a bit different have now tour gives you the opportunity to sample an array of different landscapes and access to been enjoying our steam engine tours at the festive season in both Dresden and a variety of cultural options and fascinating destinations throughout Germany for almost Prague. An express steam locomotive will destinations all make for a holiday that is as a decade. To celebrate our anniversary year, take you from the capital of Saxony to unforgettable as it is relaxing. Its many and we’ve put together packages based on four the capital of the , where varied riverside pearls make Germany an ideal special steam engine events. First up is you can explore the city’s narrow, winding destination for river cruises to suit all tastes. the Dresden Steam Engine Festival in April, streets and sample some Czech delicacies a perennial favourite with its own unique at Prague Christmas Market. Our river cruise services include the atmosphere. The summer then awaits with organisation of shore excursions, local two further highlights: The Heizhausfest in Yours Frauke Mollée coach transfers, admission to and tours of Chemnitz (August) and Meiningen Steam (City & Cultural museums, tickets for evening events and Locomotive Days (first weekend in September). Tours for Groups) a smorgasbord of culinary highlights and The events are hosted by probably Europe’s Tel. +49 351 56348 13 tastings. Our products currently focus on largest working railway maintenance depot cruises along the Elbe, the Baltic coast, the for steam locomotives (Chemnitz Railway Main and the Danube. In 2017 we will be Museum) and Western Europe’s last major exploring the Rhine and the Moselle on your steam locomotive repair shop (Meiningen behalf in preparation for the addition thereof Steam Locomotive Works). to our list of attractive destinations.

Christmas market in Annaberg © Tourismusverband Erzgebirge www.augustustours.de/en e.V.; Weißeritztalbahn © M. Mehner, www.edition99.de; Walkers © Newsletter AugustusTours; Verena Riedel, Frauke Mollée © Denise Arlt Photography 20 YEARS OF AUGUSTUSTOURS

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES OUR SERVICES NEW DESTINATIONS AT A GLANCE

Originally a tour operator for Dresden and ∙ Arrangement of hotel accommodation Whereas demand used to focus on classical the surrounding region, AugustusTours has ∙ Provision of experienced guides and tour sightseeing tours to Saxony, Thuringia and since evolved into an incoming agency for the managers Saxony-Anhalt, many guests now wish to whole of Germany. Our city and cultural tours ∙ Organisation of taxis and/or coach rental adopt special interests such as music, steam are enjoyed by hundreds of groups each year, ∙ Registration for guided tours of museums engines, art, the Reformation or river cruising and now include destinations far beyond our ∙ Booking of spaces on special boat and into their tour – and it is our pleasure to home port of Dresden. train trips oblige! We now also offer tours to Berlin, ∙ Reservation of tables at suitable restaurants Bavaria and a variety of other German regions. AugustusTours has established itself as a ∙ Sourcing of tickets for evening events reliable, ambitious partner for national and Baden-Württemberg became part of our international travel companies of all sizes. Group Tours portfolio in 2016, and is set to Our guests currently have a particularly be joined by the Rhineland and the Moselle Whether drawing up a tailored quote including keen interest in tours based on “Martin in 2017. Further destinations, for example the suitable hotel accommodation, creating a Luther and the Reformation” and a va- Hanseatic cities of Northern Germany, are set personalised itinerary with specially selected riety of musical topics. It would be our to be added between now and the year 2020. themed elements or compiling a set of fail- pleasure to put together a quote tailored safe travel documents, AugustusTours always to your requirements! We can’t wait to show you what we have in takes care of its customers with expertise, store! ideas and passion. Yours Katja Marquardt (Manager City & Cultural Dates for your diary 2017 – 2020 We would love to hear from you about not Tours for Groups) 2017 500th anniversary of the Reformation only the German destinations you would be Tel. +49 351 56348 18 2018 Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Semper interested in adding to your brochures, but Opera House in Dresden and Plan- also the themes your customers would like to dampf steam engine festival in Trier integrate into their tours. To help us turn your 2019 100 years of Bauhaus requirements into a winning product, please 2020 Oberammergau Passion Play and fill out our current online survey. the major Beethoven anniversary

EQUALS HIGH QUALITY AND PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE IN THE FIELD OF GROUP TRAVEL

Our services are determined by: Our service for groups includes: If you like to receive more information on the …Expertise ∙ Customised offers for every request subjects mentioned in this newsletter, please We only work with selected reliable and ∙ Attractive conditions and complimentary do not hesitate to contact us! experienced partners who support us in seat regulations for groups from 10 people ensuring that your tour is a complete success. ∙ Detailed travel documents incl. city maps Please feel free to visit our website and per room and information for the tour sign in for our regular email newsletter to …Ideas leader or coach driver get the latest information on our group All our offers are tailored to the specific ∙ Inside tips on city and highlights during your tours, interesting news from AugustusTours, requirements of each group we welcome. group’s stay attractive tour proposals, as well as special Regular training and our longstanding offers and insights into our travel destinations. experience enable us to use insider tips to enhance your tour and make your stay an AugustusTours e.K. unforgettable experience. Turnerweg 6 01097 Dresden, Germany …Passion Phone: +49 (0)351 563 48 0 Whether we are dealing with your initial Fax: +49 (0)351 563 48 11 enquiry or carrying out a post-tour evaluation [email protected] of your trip, we aim to not only meet, but www.augustustours.de exceed your expectations.

Status 01/2017, subject to alterations

Silhouette of Dresden © Christoph Münch; Heuhüttental in Murgtal Newsletter Valley © Zweckverband im Tal der Murg; Bauhaus Dessau © www.augustustours.de/en AugustusTours; Katja Marquardt © Silvia Frenzel