Colditz and Dresden – Tales of legend and beauty rebuilt – 2026

As we have no other visits this day, we’ll take Eurotunnel across the Channel and head to our hotel, the ACHAT Hotel Bochum in Dortmund.
Along the way we’ll hear about how and where Peter was initially captured and of his first escape and recapture.

Today we’ll visit Spangenberg Castle, which is now a luxury 5-star hotel, but during the war it was a POW camp, the second from which Peter escaped!
It also held other notable prisoners including Bruce Shand, the father of Queen Camilla, John Frost, of Arnhem Bridge fame and Bob Stanford Tuck, to mention a few!
We’ll enjoy afternoon tea and cake in the hotel and have the most amazing tour, including a dungeon which holds one of the deepest freshwater wells in the world (it is surprisingly deep!) and follow the story of Peter’s escape and recapture.
In the evening, we’ll adjourn to the Mercure Hotel, Erfurt, not too far from Spangenberg.

We arrive at the town of Colditz and find lunch before entering the castle to hear a unique talk delivered by Piers in the Sick Bay, where his father worked, about life in the castle as a prisoner.
Overnight we’ll stay at the Leonardo Hotel, Dresden Altstadt.

We return to the castle for a tour, visit the museum and souvenir shop before finding lunch in the town. Then we’ll see the town jail, a staging point for many POWs and the exercise park, the start of so many escapes.

The name itself calls to mind the huge controversy of saturation bombing and the destruction of this beautiful city so close to the end of the war.
Today, we’ll take a tour to see how this is now only a memory, and the city has been restored to its former glory.

You can either take a flight from Dresden (which is not included, and you will need to arrange) back to the UK or enjoy a run across Germany (with plenty of stops) back to the ACHAT Dortmund for a night of rest.

Today we return to the UK via Eurotunnel for speed and comfort, returning to our departure points by the early evening.