Fri, 4 May – Travel Day
Sat, 5 May – Arrive Paris (A)
Make your way from the airport to our hotel, get your bearings, have a nice meal, and then settle in for a good night's sleep – we are on the move tomorrow! (Paris, 4 nights, breakfast, Pavillon Saint-Louis Bastille)
Sun, 6 May – Paris Flea Markets (A)
Sunday is the very best day for shopping at Les Puces Saint-Ouen. With a seemingly inexhaustible supply of venders – over 3,000 of them! – it is one of the largest antiques and collectibles markets in the world. The high quality of the items to be found here defies the term "flea market."
Mon, 7 May – Marché Saint-Pierre (A)
Located at the foot of the Montmarte, Paris' largest textile market never ceases to delight dolly couturiers the world over. The market – quartier may be a more apt description – includes the largest and oldest department store Le Marché Saint-Pierre, from where the area takes its name, as well as several smaller specialty shops like Tissus Reine and Moline.
Tue, 8 May – Les Musées de Paris (A)
The diminutive Musée de la Poupée is tucked away in the Impasse Berthaud near the colorful Centre Pompidou. More than five hundred stunning French dolls, dating from 1800 to the present, are cleverly displayed in vignettes containing doll furniture, doll accessories, and toys. The Musée de la Mode et du Textile exhibits themed collections that change each year: costumes, accessories from the 17th century to the 21st century, textiles, important works by grand couturiers of the 20th century, silk, cloth, lace, braid, and embroidery.
Wed, 9 May – Travel Day
Our destination today is Luzern, Switzerland (D). On the way, we stop at Beaune (B), capital of the French wine region. The town has a majesty about it, rather like one of the good vintages it is famed for. At its center is the Hôtel Dieu, with its inner courtyard and polychrome, tiled roofs. Radiating out from it are cobbled streets lined with boutiques of all kinds, from wine and food to avant-garde fashion. (Luzern, 4 nights, breakfast, Hotel Seeburg)
Thu, 10 May – Luzern (D)
You don't have to walk far in the charming Old Town of Luzern to find many exquisite shops and boutiques; but first, we've arranged for you a special trip to Karin Bahs' antiques shop, offering an abundance of antique dolls, dolls' houses, and doll accessories for sale.
Fri, 11 May – Basel(C)
The four-story Puppenhausmuseum offers an especially unique exhibition of dolls, toys, teddy bears, and miniatures. Thousands of objects are cleverly arranged in themed displays that captivate, charm, and amuse.
Sat, 12 May – Mt. Pilatus Kulm (D)
Luzern's Mt. Pilatus has so many stunning aspects, and on the "Golden Round Trip", you'll experience every single one: Lake Luzern by boat to the foot of the mountain, the world's steepest cogwheel railway to the Pilatus Kulm (altitude 2,132 meters), and the fantastic finale – a ride in a gondola by aerial cableway to Kriens. Awaiting you are alpine meadows, mountain streams, rugged cliffs, breathtaking panoramic views over the lakes of Central Switzerland – not to mention the Alps! You will see no fewer than 73 mountain peaks – you're welcome to count them!
Sun, 13 May – Travel Day
Our destination today is beautiful Salzburg, Austria (E). (Salzburg, 3 nights, breakfast, Hotel Doktorwirt)
Mon, 14 May – The Getreidegasse (E)
Salzburg's Old Town, with its world-famous baroque architecture, is one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Start your day exploring the Getreidegasse, the Old Town's most picturesque shopping lane – high, narrow houses tightly nestled together, enticing shops, wrought iron guild signs, and romantic passageways and courtyards. The city is the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – you can visit the house where he was born. Not to be missed is the Augustiner Bräu, offering one of the most unique drinking and dining experiences of your life!
Tue, 15 May – Toy Museum & Hallstatt (E,F)
The Spielzeugmuseum des Salzburger holds the largest collection in Austria on the history of European toys. All types of toys are represented and exhibited in the rooms of the historic Bürgerspital (civilian hospital) built around one of the most beautiful Renaissance courtyards in Salzburg. Later today, we head to Hallstatt (G), a tiny village "bullied onto a ledge between a selfish mountain and a sleepy lake with a waterfall ripping furiously through its middle." The Vienna of prehistoric Europe, it is a postcard-picturesque spot to relax, eat, and walk – it can be toured on foot in about 10 minutes!
Wed, 16 May – Herrenchiemsee Palace (G)
King Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee Palace is located on an island on the Bavarian lake called Chiemsee. Modeled on the Château de Versailles, this palace was built as a "Temple of Fame" for King Louis XIV of France, whom the Bavarian monarch fervently admired. Our guided tour takes us through its opulent rooms. Then we're on our way to Coburg, Germany (H). (Coburg, 5 nights, breakfast, Hotel Stadt)
Thu, 17 May – Puppenfestival Flea Market (H,J)
The "high days" of the 21st Annual International Puppenfestival kick off with a huge flea market, where you will find oodles of dolly treasure! Several hundreds of dolls are beautifully exhibited with toys, miniature rooms, doll clothing, and doll accessories at the Coburger Puppenmuseum.
Fri, 18 May – The German Toy Road (I,J,K)
Visit two museums and two factories on the German Toy Road from Coburg to Sonneberg. At the Reinhold Lesch factory, see the processes of manufacturing glass and plastic eyes for dolls and plush toys. Engel-Puppen operates the oldest doll factory in Rödental, making dolls since 1896. We will see every aspect of vinyl-doll-making on our factory tour. The Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum contains a treasure trove of dolls, salesmen's samples, toys, and dioramas of 19th- and 20th-century doll manufacture. Explore the processes of doll, teddy bear, and toy manufacture of the last century in the detailed exhibits and workshop displays of the Museum der Deutschen Spielzeugindustrie.
Sat, 19 May – International Puppenfestival (J)
The main even of the Puppenfestival is today's International Doll and Teddy Bear Show. Various trade shows and special exhibitions are located throughout the village. Be sure to visit Peter Packert, the Puppendoktor. Shop for charming holiday candy containers of papiermâché at the Ino Schaller factory.
Sun, 20 May – Arnstadt & Waltershausen (L,M)
The Schloßmuseum Arnstadt, formerly the palace of Duchess Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt, features the "Mein Vergnügen" Exhibit of wax and wooden dolls in elaborate room settings, from the mid-1700s. It details virtually every aspect of town life in baroque Germany – in miniature. Deep in the Thüringer Wald, in a 12th-century hunting palace perched on a hill overlooking Waltershausen, is the Schloß Tenneberg Heimatmuseum. Among its other precious relics, the dolls, bodies, wigs, shoes, and stockings of well-known Waltershausen factories are exhibited. Most exceptional are the original master books of the J.D. Kestner firm.
Mon, 21 May – Rothenburg ob der Tauber (O)
More than 800 dolls produced by French and German makers over a span of 200 years reside in the enchanting Puppen- und Spielzeugmuseum. Browse the offerings in the museum's well-stocked gift shop. Spend the rest of the day exploring this walled city, a veritable shopper's paradise with two, year-round Christmas markets. (Rothenburg odT, 2 nights, breakfast, "Auf Wiedersehen" Dinner, Hotel Glocke)
Tue, 22 May – Nürnberg (N)
Nürnberg's Spielzeugmuseum Lydia Bayer contains the largest and most varied doll and toy collection in the world. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum's Toy Exhibit features a world-famous collection of 17th- and 18th-century dolls' houses. "Auf Wiedersehen" Dinner.
Wed, 23 May – Frankfurt (P)
Transfer to Frankfurt am Main International Airport for flights homeward. (Note: Book flight to depart after 12:00.)
