Reader offer: Bavaria's Oberammergau Passion Play

Seize the rare opportunity to see this extraordinary event in beautiful Bavaria with Martin Randall Travel

Published: December 5, 2019 at 2:59 pm

Please note: The Oberammergau Passion Play has been postponed to the year 2022 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Click here for more details.

Dates: 2022 (dates TBA) Five days only £1,990 Lecturer Tom Abbott

Martin Randall Travel and BBC Music Magazine have got together to bring you the chance in a decade to visit Bavaria for the Oberammergau Passion Play, a unique and moving event that has been staged just once every ten years since 1634.

Based in a small village nestled in the Bavarian Alps, the play is theatrical spectacle and religious ritual rolled into one, and involves over 2,000 people. In its 400-year history, the Oberammergau Passion Play has gained iconic status for its brilliant and beautiful depiction of the Passion story. And it’s a spectacle that doesn’t come around very often. Miss it this year, and you’ll have to wait until 2030 for your next chance.

This extraordinary and rare trip is preceded by several days in the Bavaria capital Munich, spent visiting some of the region’s finest art and architecture.

How to book: Call Martin Randall on +44 (0)20 8742 3355 and quote 'BBC Music Magazine'

ITINERARY

Day 1: Munich

Fly at 12.40pm from London Heathrow to Munich (British Airways). After an introductory lecture and discussion, there’s a chance for everyone to meet over a dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Day 2: Munich

The day begins with a walking tour of key city sights: the glittering Baroque interior of the Asamkirche, the soaring nave of the Frauenkirche, and the Ohel Jakob Synagogue. The afternoon is devoted to the spectacular palace of the Wittelsbach dynasty – the Residenz. Here, the Cuvilliés Theatre houses one of the most wonderful Rococo interiors in Europe – its carvings were removed for safe keeping during World War II.

Day 3: Munich, Oberammergau

Free morning in Munich. En route to Oberammergau, we visit the loveliest of Ludwig II’s palaces, the Linderhof, before arriving at our Oberammergau hotel in time for a group dinner.

Day 4: Oberammergau

The day of the Passion Play begins with our second lecture, and some free time – a chance perhaps to visit the museum documenting the play’s history. The play is the product of ten months of rehearsal and the work of 2,000 people: each half lasts two and a half hours, with a three-hour dinner interval.

Day 5: Wies

On the way back to Munich Airport, we’ll stop at the beautiful 18th-century pilgrimage church of Wies, whose success, like the Passion Play, derives from its integration of high art and local, peasant tradition. Arrive at Heathrow at 5.25pm.

Plus: Each of the five-day tours will also be attended by BBC Music Magazine’s editor or deputy editor

DETAILS

Price, per person: Two sharing: £1,990, or £1,790 without flights.

Single occupancy: £2,290, or £2,090 without flights.

Included: flights (economy class) with British Airways (Airbus 320); travel by private coach; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts; 3 dinners with 2 glasses of wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Performance: second category tickets to the Passion Play have been confirmed.

Accommodation: Vienna House Easy, Munich (viennahouse.com): a 4-star hotel in the vibrant district of Neuhausen-Nymphenburg. Details of the 4-star hotel in Oberammergau are to be confirmed. Single rooms throughout are doubles for sole use.

How strenuous is this holiday? This is a fairly strenuous tour with some long coach journeys and walking and standing in churches and galleries. A good level of fitness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 53 miles.

Travelling group size: 10-24

How to book: Call Martin Randall on +44(0) 20 8742 3355 and quote 'BBC Music Magazine'

Terms and conditions: Holidays are organised by, and subject to the booking conditions of Martin Randall Travel Ltd, Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4GF, United Kingdom, and are offered subject to availability. Martin Randall Travel may cancel the tour if there are insufficient bookings for it to be viable. This would always be more than eight weeks before departure and Martin Randall Travel would refund everything you paid to them. ATOL and ABTA protected.

Booking deadlines: For the 1-5 June tour, book before 31 May

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