B = Breakfast included L = Lunch included D = Dinner included
Overview
Itinerary
Purpose
Arrangements
Price
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Journey Overview
Your experience in Oberammergau promises to become a treasured memory. Around the Passion Play, we have created a wonderful journey through history, culture, and cuisine in Austria and Germany.
You may depart this journey wondering what impressed you more: the majestic peaks of this beautiful country or the exquisite taste of chocolate and cheese. You will experience both the beauty of Switzerland and the delight of Swiss contributions to the culinary world. This journey features the bucket list experience of the Passion Play in Oberammergau which pledges to be more inspiring than either the mountains or the cuisine.
Your Host for the Journey
Your current host for A Taste of Switzerland is Purposeful Journeys by MCE Founder and CEO, Mike Malone. While Mike would be very happy to host this journey, this and most other journeys are open to prospective, interested hosts.
There are many benefits to serving as a journey host for your cohort of fellow travelers. We will do everything we can to empower you to serve as host for your cohort of fellow travelers at a level you choose. You may want to engage the experience at a more social level while relying on the expertise of in country tour directors and guides. You may want to become more engaged intellectually or spiritually by teaching, leading devotions, or offering your expertise through one or more talks or conversation sessions. Whatever your interest in your level of engagement as a journey host, we will do all we can to support you so that yours becomes a journey of a lifetime.
Become a Host for this Journey
If you are interested in hosting this journey or would like to consider hosting a journey customized just for you and your group, click the button below to learn what it means to Become a Host. We also invite your inquiry. If you want to learn more about hosting this or another journey, please get in touch. We would love to share the benefits of what hosting a journey could mean for you and your cohort of fellow travelers.
Day 1 – Wheels up!
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
A Taste of Switzerland fellow travelers depart from Chicago (or other major airport) on an overnight flight to Zurich, Switzerland.
Day 2 – Switzerland, Herzlich Willkommen!
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Following our arrival in Zurich, we will meet our tour manager and transfer to the beautiful Hotel Astoria in Lucerne. After some rest and time to settle in, we will gather for a spectacular welcome dinner. D
Day 3 – Beautiful Lucerne
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Our local guide will escort us through the spectacular city of Lucerne. We will enjoy a one-hour boat cruise on Lake Lucerne followed by time to explore, to shop, or to rest. B,D
Day 4 – Yummo! A Chocolate Adventure!
Friday, August 26, 2022
We will meet our local guide for a culinary sightseeing tour with an emphasis on Swiss chocolate. This excursion will conclude in time to allow time to shop on your own, explore or relax before dinner. B,D
Day 5 – A Beautiful Day in the Alps
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Today, we venture to the top of the world. At least it will surely feel that way. We will ride a gondola from Kriens to Pilatus Top and take a cogwheel train from Pilatus top to Alpnachstad. All of this, and there will still be time to relax or explore on your own before dinner. B,D
Day 6 - Say Cheese!
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Today we travel to Engelberg where we will enjoy a visit the Engelberg Abbey. We will participate in a cheese making session and a visit of the cheese factory. This excursion will conclude in time to allow time to explore or relax before dinner. B,D
Day 7 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Monday, August 29, 2022
Our visit to the Swiss Transport Museum is sure to delight and fascinate. Our tour manager will guide us through Switzerland’s most visited museum which showcases the past, present and future of mobility with interactive and varied exhibits. Surely no one will mind if you pop into the Lindt Boutique within this museum for another taste of Swiss Chocolate. B,D
Day 8 – Off to Oberammergau!
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
We say Auf Wiedersehen to Switzerland today, but any feelings of sadness are sure to be swept away by the sights way to Oberammergau. We should have time to explore Oberammergau before we gather in the evening for dinner together as we anticipate the performance of the Passion Play the next day. B,D
Day 9 – 42nd Passionsspiele-Oberammerau
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
We will enjoy breakfast at our hotel on the day of the Passion Play performance. The play takes place in two parts with a three-hour intermission. During intermission, your three-course dinner will include a choice of two menus. This Passion Play is performed only once a decade; for most of us, this will be a once in a lifetime experience. B,D
Day 10 – Welcome to Munich!
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Following breakfast at our wonderful hotel in Oberammergau, we will depart on our comfortable ride to magnificent Munich with a stop in Ettal to visit the Abbey. We will have time to explore a bit or relax as needed before gathering for dinner to discuss all that we have seen and experienced, especially in Oberammergau. B,D
Day 11 – A Royal Day
Friday, September 2, 2022
Today we visit Nymphenburg Palace as part of our sightseeing tour of Munich. Enjoy the rest of your day in Munich before we gather for dinner. B,D
Day 12 The Formal End to our Purposeful Journey
Saturday, September 3, 2022
The memories, perhaps most especially the once in a lifetime experience of the Passion Play, will indeed last a lifetime. We hope your conversation, and therefore your journey, will continue with your new friends. Our journey concludes, formally, with the departure of our flight home.
Purpose
The Passion Play was first performed as a thanksgiving to God for sparing the people of Oberammergau from the plague. Just the opportunity to attend this Passion Play with the experience of being welcomed by the people of Oberammergau should provide an inspiring experience and heighten your sense of purpose on this journey in a way that will be uniquely your own.
A Taste of Switzerland features the Passion Play to be performed in Oberammergau, Germany. This renown Passion Play has been performed every ten years since 1634. Only twice in 400 years has the Passion Play been canceled. On two other occasions, the Passion Play has been postponed. The last time the Passion Play was postponed was over 100 years ago.
As much talent and energy as we invest in creating our purposeful journeys, in the end, we trust as much as we hope fellow travelers will find their own purpose in the travel experiences we create. In the case of Christ, Culture, and Cuisine, the two bucket list experiences of the Passion Play and Oktoberfest, which have both been postponed until 2022, are intended to be highlights of this journey to be remembered for a lifetime. These experiences, however, promise to be just two spectacular highlights around which there will be several others. The purpose of this journey will be to immerse you in experiences of Christ, culture, and cuisine in the hope of stimulating thoughts of living life to the fullest in our own culture.
Our Philosophy
We hope you will measure the quality of your journey, not by the quantity of sights you see, but by the invaluable experiences you absorb.
Balance of stimulating experience, serious reflection… …and just plain fun.
One word describes our intention for your journey: balance. We believe each place we visit should relate to whole story, the arc of a narrative. We believe in creating journeys formed and shaped as narratives; journeys that are serious, purposeful, and fulfilling with time to reflect with fellow travelers or alone while providing opportunity for experiences that are just plain fun.
Expert interaction and rich personal encounters
Rather than a trip led by a tour guide trained to disseminate information from a script, we endeavor to seek experts to lead you on a journey who are available as a resource for as much depth as you desire or to leave you to your own reflection.
One beautiful base location
Too often, group travel can leave you feeling like you are part of a herd of a large group of strangers hustled from sight to sight, packing and unpacking everyday of your trip. With us you will stay in one beautiful base location that serves as a base for our excursions. Changing hotels as few times as possible during a journey allows greater opportunity to experience people and culture.
Meticulously planned; yet flexible journey
How does a trip become a journey? Carefully selected excursions that form a narrative, staying in one beautiful base location, with time and flexibility for reflection, and activities that are just plain fun.
Cuisine as a delectable complement to culture and conversation
Cuisine, and the wonderful dining experiences we share in an eclectic array of venues, provide a delectable complement to your rich encounters with the culture and the delightful conversation you enjoy with fellow travelers.
Arrangements
Arrangements for this journey will appear in this section as those arrangements are confirmed. The information provided here will tend to be of a more general nature. More detailed information, such as group flight times, will appear on the password protected Fellow Travelers page. Once you become part of this journey, you will be sent a password to access specific arrangements for this journey:
Flight Information
As a fellow traveler, you will have the flexibility to choose how you will join your cohort to formally begin your journey. Purposeful Journeys marks the formal beginning of your journey with the welcome reception and dinner at our destination hotel. On most journeys, you will have three options to join your cohort. Below are the options for joining your cohort with the primary advantage for each option:
- Join Your Cohort on Our Group Flight: On most journeys, Purposeful Journeys will arrange a group flight from a major airport in closest proximity and convenience for the majority of the cohort. The group flight will include a transfer from the destination airport to the hotel.
Advantage: This is often the most cost effective and certainly the most convenient option. - Meet Your Cohort at the Destination Airport: For a number of reasons, you may want to choose a flight other than the group flight and still meet your cohort in time to transfer from the destination airport to the hotel. Fellow travelers who choose this option will incur an additional cost for the transfer from the destination airport to the destination hotel.
Advantage: Fellow travelers may find a balance between the convenience of choosing their own flight from an origination airport other than the airport where the group flight will depart while still taking advantage of the group transfer to the destination hotel. - Meet Your Cohort at the Destination Hotel: As a fellow traveler, you may want to choose to meet your cohort at the destination hotel in time for the formal beginning of your journey with the welcome reception and dinner.
Advantage: This option offers fellow travelers the most flexibility. Fellow travelers will need to weigh the flexibility of this option with what will likely be additional costs.
Group flights will usually be announced between 90 and 180 days prior to departure of your purposeful journey. Fellow travelers will be kindly requested to choose the option for meeting their cohort to formally begin their journey soon after group flight arrangements are announced.
Hotel Accommodations
Arrangements have been made for fellow travelers at the following hotels: The Hotel Astoria in Lucerne, a Category B hotel in Oberammergau to be determined by the administrators of the Passion Play, and the Hotel Hilton Park in Munich.
Ground Transportation
Transfers to and from the arrival flight into and departing flight from Europe will be provided. Other ground transportation will be provided throughout the journey.
Meals
Most meals are included in this purposeful journey. Dining in Europe tends to be as much of a leisurely event as a means of taking sustenance. Meals provide time for us to relax, taken in the culture, and discuss all that we have seen and experienced as fellow travelers that day. See the current, tentative itinerary for details.
Sightseeing and Events
This purposeful journey includes a premium, two-night Oberammergau Passion Play Package. We will enjoy Category B hotel accommodations as determined by the Passion Play administrators and Category 1 Passion Play tickets.
Land Only Cost—$4,350 (Please be sure to check for current incentives!)
Current Incentives:
- Deposits through December 31, 2021 are just $150 (usually $300). Your deposit will only become non-refundable with your first payment. Until then, you can cancel at any time.
- NO PAYMENTS UNTIL 2022: Your first payment will not be due until January 2022.
- Make payments by check instead of credit card and receive a discount of $150.
Your journey includes:
- Taxes and airline surcharges
- Deluxe coach transportation throughout your itinerary
- Double occupancy hotel room ($750 single supplement)
- Meals as specified in the final itinerary
- Admission fees as specified in the final itinerary
- Only goods, services, or activities as explicitly included in the General Terms and Conditions.
Your journey does not include:
- Round trip airfare
- Gratuities for service staff, coach driver(s) and guides
- Alcoholic beverages, bottled water, after dinner drinks
- Travel insurance
- Any goods, services, or activities expressly excluded in the General Terms and Conditions.
Remittance Schedule:
- Deposit of $150 is due with your application.
- You may cancel any time until your first payment is due.
- Your deposit is fully refundable until your first payment is due.
- Your first payment will be due in January 2022.
- Payments due as specified in your remittance schedule.
- Final payment must be received no later than the date specified on your invoice and remittance schedule.
When approved as a fellow traveler…
…you will receive an invoice and a remittance schedule from Malone Clan Expeditions, LLC along with a link to a password protected page on our website that will offer details and updates about your journey.
General Terms and Conditions
Malone Clan Expeditions, LLC will administer your journey. You must accept the General Terms and Conditions at the time you submit your application. Please refer to the General Terms and Conditions for any applicable additional fees that may apply in certain situations and circumstances such as any deviation from the group flight itinerary or your requirement of a single room.
We cordially invite you to apply to join us as a fellow traveler
Please complete the application form. You will be prompted to submit a payment deposit of $150 (regularly $300) with your application once your form is complete with all required fields. We are delighted you are taking the step of submitting your application to become a member of a journey with us. We look forward to notifying you of your acceptance as a fellow traveler.
