Personal Itineraries on Driver-Guided Private Tours
Since 1997 Research and Travel has developed unique services that allow you to travel on individual itineraries. Be it a private family history excursion or a leisure tour on your own pace - we provide a driver-guide and guarantee a professional preparation of your personal tour. And usually we bring the right vehicle in size, comfort and safety. Sometimes people decide to use their own rental car, we would then join you as step-on guide.
A private tour is the perfect arrangements to visit ancestral towns and explore family history. Based on your information and/or pre-trip research carried out through us we design your itinerary. We plan on how and where to meet with you, make hotel arrangements, arrange local contacts, activities and appointments, introduce you to people and places and open doors in a variety of ways. Your guide is your knowledgeable fellow traveler, assists you in archival work or just shows you the best places to go. In any way he helps to maximize your travel experience. Welcome to Germany.
Cost for Private Tours
Personal tours including use of our vehicles cost approx. Euro 700,-- per full day for parties of 1-3 travelers and approx. Euro 820,-- for parties of 4 to 7 travelers. These costs are per party and can be shared. Surcharges apply for guide´s accommodation. As an average estimate approx. Euro 140,-- per night. Depending on where to meet with you a budget for the guide’s travel and possibly a pre-trip hotel night may be required (calculate approx. Euro 140,-- for travel costs plus Euro 140,-- for one night).
Your hotel, meals etc. are not covered in the days rate. They are usually settled directly between you and hotels but can also be included in an arrangement. Likewise not included is fuel, parking, ferries or other expenses that will be settled as per final routing, consumption and needs. In our proposal you will get an estimate of these costs. You may want to calculate approx. Euro 12,-- per 100 Km on the road.
Once we have a better understanding of your plans we will send you a proposal with final costs.
Logistics and Programs
Private tours with driver guide usually have 1 to 6 participants and last approx. 2 to 6 days. They can start and end at any place that match with your plans. That can be the arrival gate at your airport, a hotel lobby or any place that you advise, e.g. a private residence, railroad station etc.
For 1 to 3 participants we will use a Sedan or SUV (Mercedes E Class, BMW 5 Series, Audi A 6 or similar), parties 4 to 7 will travel in larger SUV or 9-seater Minibus (Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ford or similar). The max. number for driver guided tours is 7 (plus driver guide) which leaves one (small) empty seat and luggage space. For larger parties we use a minibus (16 to 27 seats) and need to hire a driver in addition to the guide and costwise we are getting closer to what we call “customized groups”.
Examples of Private Tours (2018 and 2019, 2021 to 2023)
These examples may inspire you and help you to see what we can do. There are more infos on recent private tours in the PICTURE section
December 2022 The Haunschild Family History Excursion Lower Saxony 2 Days 2 People 2 hotel nights
Started day 1 morning at Hannover, ended Day 2 evening at Hildesheim
The small places of Gratse and Klein Gleidigen set the scene for the Haunschild story. Mayor Nicht took time to show us around to former workshops and homes. Local cronicle writer Rudi Schatz and super nice people at a community event joined the party, coffee, sweets and spiced wine added to the Christmas Market atmosphere.
160 Km Mercedes E Class
Sept. 2022 Hartmann, Roller, Spiegelhalter and the Black Forest 8 Days 8 People 8 hotel nights
Started day 1 at Freiburgt, ended Day 8 at Munich
I could not join the Hartmann family from Indianapolis in the first 2 days due to a Corona infection and had a colleague to help me. We then explored family history in the Black Forest and made the lovely city of Freiburg our starting point for picture perfect historic ancestral homes and places. The Pastorius home and winery was on our way from Württemberg to Munich
1.800 Km Mercedes Vito Minibus
Sept. 2022 The Rhine River, the Eifel Region, Trier, Luxemburg, Franconia 6 Days 2 People 5 hotel nights
Started day 1 at Frankfurt, ended Day 6 at Munich
Susan and Jeff Stuart met wonderful people everywhere. Experts shared their knowledge and opened their homes and made this trip a very memorable one. On route to Munich the Addidas and Puma story added unusual sports, history and fashion moments before the Octoberfest.
1.600 Km BMW 5 Series
August 2022 Pam and Rick Sayre's Discoveries 7 Days 2 People 6 hotel nights
Started day 1 at Frankfurt, ended Day 7 at Munich
Pam and Rick Sayre are well kown genealogists from Delaware. No surprise that their prepwork was super intense and that the tour along with explorations all the way to the Saarland, through Württemberg and on to Munich also saw archival work in the Landesarchiv Stuttgart and local repositories. They returned home with great memories, new friends, lots of records and new questions to pursue.
1.500 Km Audi A 6
July 2022 History and Hospitality 6 Days 3 People 5 hotel nights
Started day 1 at Frankfurt , ended in the evening of day 6 in Frankfurt
The US war cemetery in Epinal France as well as Nuremberg added very meaningful moments to Janet and Lee Rupert's tour who had invited their grandson to discover family history with them. The Itzgrund people in Franconia had invited locals and distant cousins to welcome the guests and shared friendship and hospitality during a BBQ in their garden.
1.400 km Audi Q5
May 2022 Bye Bye Basbeck, hello America 1 Day 2 People 1 hotel night
Started day 1 at 10:00 am at Hamburg, ended in the evening of the same day at a Stade rental car station
Robin Schütte met Dr. Peter Schütte from Hamburg, an important and famous author from the 70ties until today. Robin's family history in the Hemmoor and Basbek area machtes Peter's autobiographical writings and led to discoveries in literature and history.
200 Km BMW 3 Series
May 2022 Grünbach - a Lost Place. And from Hochstadt is Houscht PA 4 Days 1 Person 4 hotel nights
Started day 1 at a Frankfurt hotel, ended back in Frankfurt on day 4
Rick Bender's ancestral place does no longer exist: Grünbach ruins are in the military training area Baumholder. But we were able to visit. A very, very unique chance and experience. And in Hochstadt we met Alfons Pressler, local historian and decendant of Elvis Presley. James Beidler has just published the story in German Life March 2023
600 Km BMW 7 Series
Okt 2021 Chythia and Merritt Beischel. The Kuhns and other family 13 Days 2 People 14 hotel nights
Started day 1 in the morning at a Frankfurt hotel, ended day 13 with a farewell in Berlin.
Still under Corona conditions but doeable and enjoyable, Feilbingert / Palatinate, Württemberg and Baden, Osnabrück, Bünde and Engter, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hamburg and on to Schwerin and more family history places in Mecklenburg. Berlin. A long and super interesting tour with great local hosts.
1.700 Km BMW X5
2020 and 2021 Corona Ruled the World
All travel came to a stillstand. We had a lot of communication, updates, postphoned plans.
And finally travel projects started to be revitalized and we could welcome you back in late 2021.
Sept 2019 The Schulenburg Excursion 3 Days 2 People 2 hotel nights during the tour
Started day 1 at 12:00 noon at Hannover airport, ended day 3 in the evening at Bremen
Hannover archives, family history excursions in Northern Germany, Bremen, Bremerhaven
600 Km Audi A 6
Aug 2019 Eifel, Luxemburg and Belgium 4 Days 3 People 3 hotel nights during the tour
Started Day 1 at Cologne/Bonn airport, ended Day 4 at 2 pm at Düsseldorf
Cologne, the Rhine river. Family history excursions in the Eifel region, Luxemburg and Belgium. Koblenz and the Moselle valley to Düsseldorf
1.500 Km BMW X5 SUV
May 2019 Missouri visits Germany 6 Days 4 People 7 hotel nights during the tour
Started day 1 at 1p.m. at Cologne railroad station and ended day 6 at Amsterdam airport
Cologne, Black Forest, Colmar France, Lake Constance, Munich, via Rhine river valley to Amsterdam
2.600 Km VW Touareg SUV
April 2019 The Hartzells and the Schambers 5 Days 2 People 4 hotel nights during the tour
tarted Day 1 at 10 a.m. at Passau, Bavaria, ended at Luneville, France
Nuremberg, Würzburg, family history excursions Württemberg and the Palatinate, Straßburg and Alsace Lorraine France
1.800 KM Audi A 6
Brian has shared his research and memories to this excursion in a newsletter for the Ohio Chapter Palatines to America. With kind permission a reprinted version for the Pennsylvania Chapter is available here: Penn Pal Newsletter Nr 2, Vol 40, April 2020 see page 6.
July 2019 Jewish Heritage Franconia and Alsace 6 Days 3 People 4 hotel nights during the tour
Started day 1 at 09 a.m. at Frankfurt and ended day 8 noon at Frankfurt
Family history excursions Jewish heritage in Franconia, Württemberg, Straßburg and Alsace Lorraine France. Via Saar region and moselle river back to Frankfurt
1.800 Km BMW 5 Series
Aug 2018 A Mecklenburg Sea Shore Excursion 1 Day 4 People no hotel needed
Started at 09 a.m. and ended 7 p.m. at Baltic Sea cruise terminal Warnemünde / Rostock
Ludwigslust castle, Bad Doberan and historic seaside resorts, Mecklenburg county and Schwerin
300 Km Mercedes E Class
July 2018 5 Days 6 People 5 hotel nights during the tour
Started day 1 at 07 a.m. at Amsterdam airport and ended day 5 in the evening at Amsterdam
Netherlands, Rhine river valley. Family history excursions Westfalia, the Rhineland and Franconia. Würzburg, Bamberg, Munich and back to Amsterdam
2.800 Km Mercedes Vito 9 seater minibus
Dec 2018 4 Days 2 People 3 hotel nights during the tour
Started day 1 at 09 a.m. at Frankfurt and ended day 4 2 p.m. at Frankfurt
Family history excursions 18th century pioneer emigrants in the Palatinate, Fulda and Kassel. Hesse, Thuringia and back to Frankfurt
1.400 Km BMW 5 Series
Oct 2018 5 Days 2 People 4 hotel nights during the tour
Started day 1 at 09 a.m. at Munich and ended in the afternoon of day 5 at Hannover
Munich, Nuremberg. Family history excursions in Thuringia and Brandenburg. Berlin to Hannover and via ICE Railroad to Frankfurt for homebound flights.
1.600 Km Mercedes E Class