OUR NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA ITINERARY*

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Welcome to Germany!

Sunday, May 24, Monday, May 25
Essen

Day 1: Meet and Greet
We’ll convene at our comfortable, well-situated hotel for a welcome drink at the bar, a preview of the week ahead and, if time and weather permit, a short photo shoot, followed by dinner and a good night of sleep to prepare for a busy week!

Accommodations: GHotel & living, Essen
This clean, modern hotel is highly rated for its helpful staff, “nice, quiet rooms”, “great breakfast” and “cool bar setting” in the heart of Essen.
Meals Provided: Welcome Drink, Dinner

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Day 2: Essen and Zollverein
After breakfast, we’ll spend the morning exploring this “post-industrial city of commerce and culture”. Your instructors will give guidance, tips and lots of checking in with each member of our group. Following lunch, we will spend the afternoon shooting at the Zollverein complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which was once the largest coal processing facility in the world. Known as “the world’s most beautiful coal mine”, Zollverein is renowned for its architecture and historical significance and offers intriguing compositions and colors for photographers. Later, we’ll meet for a review of the day’s images and demonstrate ways to edit and enhance our images.

Accommodations: GHotel & living, Essen
Meals Provided: Breakfast ________________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, May 26
Duisburg to Aachen

After breakfast, we will load our bags on to our tour van and head for Duisburg to tour Landschaftspark, the turn-of-the-century steel works decommissioned in the 1980s, with its photo-ready blast furnaces, inclined lifts and casthouses. Following lunchtime, we will continue to our hotel in Aachen. Later, we’ll meet to critique the day’s images and delve further into useful photo editing techniques,

Accommodations: Art Hotel Superior, Aachen
This 4-star hotel is located near a forest in the Burtscheid area of Aachen. It features quiet and elegant rooms, a spa, and a restaurant serving Mediterranean and regional specialties. “Big rooms, friendly staff and lovely breakfast.”
Meals Provided: Breakfast
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Wednesday, May 27
Aachen

Today we will meet after breakfast for a full day of shooting the medieval architecture and the lively street scenes in this iconic Westphalian town, including a city tour and a private after-hours shoot inside Aachen Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Accommodations: Art Hotel Superior, Aachen
Meals Provided: Breakfast
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Thursday, May 28
Cologne and Photokina

Today, we are off to the world-famous city of Cologne and Photokina, the world's leading fair for imaging, where we’ll explore the very latest in new products and trends, participate in new model announcements and collect lots of swag! The famed Cologne Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site.and an iconic example of High Gothic architecture set amid a reconstructed old town, is a short taxi ride from the fair location.

Accommodations: Art Hotel Superior, Aachen
Meals Provided: Breakfast ________________________________________________________________________________________

Friday, May 29
Monschau

After breakfast, we’ll spend part of the morning talking about our experiences this week, reviewing our images and taking a look at photo editing best practices, then travel 45 minutes south to Monschau, a quintessential German town largely unchanged over 300 years. We will explore the picturesque narrow cobblestoned streets and traditional half-timbered houses and shoot in the historic Senfmühle Monschau Mustard Mill. Weather permitting, we’ll take a short ride to shoot the surrounding landscapes, with an easy to moderate walk to the hilltop for pretty views of the Westphalian and Belgian countrysides.
Our farewell dinner will be in Monschau.

Accommodations: Art Hotel Superior, Aachen
Meals Provided: Breakfast, Dinner ________________________________________________________________________________________

Saturday, May 30
Breakfast and Farewell

This morning, a complimentary small-group transfer is available to Düsseldorf International Airport, depending on your departure time.

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*Due to circumstances beyond our control, we may have to make changes to the original itinerary. Every effort will be made to keep changes to a minimum, and our standard of quality is always maintained.

Photographs by Siegmund Bergemann