MEDIEVAL TRAVEL COURSES 2004 – present

This is a comprehensive, in-depth, and vigorous 3 week travel course focused on the European Middle Ages. We regularly traverse 5-7 countries, studying medieval castles, churches, cathedrals, city walls, synagogues, and mosques, wherever we can find them. Any student is invited to join this course if interested in the Middle Ages and in an intensive travel course. Below you can find the itineraries from 2004 to 2011.

Contact the instructor:
Prof. Albrecht Classen, German Studies
318 Learning Services Building
tel.: 520 621-1395
email: aclassen@email.arizona.edu

Global Initiatives/Study Abroad

Generation Study Abroad

Why study abroad:

Outcome and personal growth: Study abroad is not simply a fun activity, which it certainly is, but it is a life-changing experience and will open many doors for your career and future life. For some practical tips how to utilize your study abroad experience for your future job application’s, see this link.

Success stories from students over the years

Students from 2018 give their impression

Students talk about the travel course in 2014

Group photo above Innsbruck 2019

Application

Apply Now

Scholarship Universe

Passports renewal

Passports, through Global Initiatives

One Scholarship, for instance:

Alumni, friends, and family of Dr. Donna Swaim have created an endowment to honor her academic influence and mentorship during her prestigious career at The University of Arizona. Dr. Swaim believes that students who travel abroad with faculty will not only benefit academically, but will also perceive their faculty as more approachable and accessible, resulting in stronger student-faculty relationships.

A committee from Student Affairs and Enrollment Management / Academic Initiatives and Student Success will select two (2) recipients of the Donna Swaim Travel Abroad Scholarship. Each recipient will receive a $1,000.00 scholarship.

The online application form can be found here: https://goo.gl/forms/IIEgVV9KEk

See this advertisement video for a quick intro.

The 2013 tour was featured in UA News, June 21, 2013

More Travel Information

Travel requirement: only one suitcase (up to 50 pounds) and a carry-on, or backpack. Check with the airline policy. You must have an umbrella and a watch. For further details, see the checklist with travel tips Participants must be in good physical health, fit to hike relatively steep hills to visit castles and churches without outside help, walk for a longer stretch when we explore medieval cities or monasteries, and keep up with a fairly fast pace. Our hotels are normally centrally located, but sometimes that cannot be the case, or the bus might not be able to take us close to it, requiring you to pull your suitcase/s for some distance and up the stairs, if the elevator in the hotel does not work or does not exist.

Helpful links:

The Classen March

For an enjoyable activity when we need to cover some distances:

Always count on the left foot:
eins, zwei, drei, vier, fuenf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn, ein Stock, ein Hut, ein Schirm, und (this one brings both feet together), (while standing, move the left foot) vorwaerts, rueckwaerts, seitwaerts, und…. then you start marching and counting again.

Trip Itineraries

Itinerary 2024

Fly into Madrid, go to Avila (Spain)
Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Burgos and vicinity (Spain)
Bordeaux (France)
Lyon (France)
Yvoire and Gruyere (Switzerland)
Michelstadt, Büdingen (Germany)
Prague and Kutna Hora (Czech Republic)

Itinerary 2023

Girona/Barcelona (Spain)
Arles (France)
Asti/Milan (Italy)
Bellinzona (Switzerland)
Constance (Germany)
Bregenz (Austria)
Nuremberg (Germany

Itinerary 2019

Padua, Venice, Verona, Ravenna (Italy)
Schwaz and Innsbruck (Austria)
Regensburg (Germany)
Lübeck (Germany)
Leuven (Belgium)

Itinerary 2018

Ghent (Belgium)
Zutphen (The Netherlands)
Deventer (The Netherlands)
Lübeck (Germany)
Ribe (Denmark)
Wismar (Germany)
Schleswig (Germany)
Stralsund (Germany)
Gdansk (Poland)
Gizycko (Poland)
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Riga (Latvia)
Talinn (Estonia)

Itinerary 2017

Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo – Bulgaria
Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu, Bucharest – Romania
Vienna, Golling, Innsbruck, Bregenz- Austria
Liechtenstein (day trip)
Saint Gall, Waltenburg and Chur – Switzerland
Ulm, Marburg, Frankfurt – Germany
Sighisoara, Romania:

Itinerary 2016

Toledo, Burgos, Zaragoza – Spain
Toulouse, Le Puy – France
Murten – Switzerland
Freiburg, Heidelberg, Bamberg – Germany
Prague – Czech Republic
Erfurt – Germany)

Itinerary 2015

Madrid (Spain, only fly-in)
Toledo
Pamplona
Huesca
Carcassone (France)
Albi
Le Rocamandour (stop over only)
Le-Puy
Vezelay
Fribourg (Switzerland)
Freiburg (Germany)
Rothenburg o.d.T.
Amberg
Prague (Czech Republic)
Kutna Hora
Wroclaw (Poland)
Berlin (Germany)

Prior to 2015

Itinerary for 2004:
Paris (France)
Strasbourg
Lausanne (Switzerland)
Padua/Venice (Italy)
Bamberg (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Krakow (Poland)
Gdansk
Warsaw

Itinerary for 2005 (United Kingdom):
Inverness (Scotland)
Stirling
Durham (England)
York
Bangor (Wales)
Bath (England)
Oxford
Cambridge
Canterbury
London

Itinerary for 2006:
Brussels (Belgium)
Ghent/Bruges
Strasbourg (France)
Colmar
Padua/Venice (Italy)
Bamberg (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Wroclaw (Poland)
Torun
Warsaw

Itinerary for 2007:
Lisbon (Portugal)
Sintra
Santiago de Compostella (Spain)
Valladolid
Pamplona
Carcassonne (France)
Avignon
Asti (Italy)
Padua/Venice
Friesach (Austria)
Regensburg (Germany)
Freising

Itinerary for 2008:
Marburg (Germany)
Trier
Luxemburg
Bruges (Belgium)
Rouen (France)
St. Malo
Poitiers
Moissac
Andorra del Vella (Andorra)
Barcelona (Spain)
Girona
Arles (Fance)
Le Thionet
Antibes
Genoa (Italy)
Pisa
Lugano (Switzerland)
Como (Italy)
Milan

Itinerary for 2009
Avila (Spain)
Salamanca
Leon
Zamora
Castro Urdiales
Orolon de St. Marie
Carcassonne
Autun/Vezelay
Schaffhausen (Switzerland)
Brugg
Bern
Aosta (Italy)
Asti
Volterra
Ferrara
Friesach (Austria)
Burghausen (Germany)
Landshut

Itinerary for 2010:
Rome (Italy)
Orvieto
Assisi/San Leon/San Marino
Padua/Venice
Brixen
Innsbruck (Austria)
Bamberg (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Wroclaw (Poland)
Torun
Gdansk
Marlborg
Warsaw

Itinerary for 2011:
Lisbon (Portugal)
Sintra
Sevilla (Spain)
Granada
Toledo
Huesca (Castillo de Loarre)
Barcelona and Girona
Perpignan (France)
Annecy
Gruyere (Switzerland)
Ulm (Germany)
Rothenburg o. d. T.
Wurzburg
Rudesheim
Cologne
Ghent
Bruges

Itinerary 2012: hiatus

Itinerary 2013
Landshut near Munich (Germany)
Regensburg
Golling near Salzburg (Austria)
Friesach
Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Krik (Croatia)
Pazin and Porec
Cavallino and Venice (Italy)
Verona
Aosta
Orleans (France)
Chartres
Poitiers
Caen and Bayeux

Itinerary for 2014:
Rome (Italy, only fly-in)
Orvieto
Assisi
Lucca
Venice
Graz (Austria)
Krems
Prague (Czech Republic)
Nuremberg (Germany)
Bacharach
Gent (Belgium)
Bruges
Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Itinerary for 2004:
Paris (France)
Strasbourg
Lausanne (Switzerland)
Padua/Venice (Italy)
Bamberg (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Krakow (Poland)
Gdansk
Warsaw

Itinerary for 2005 (United Kingdom):
Inverness (Scotland)
Stirling
Durham (England)
York
Bangor (Wales)
Bath (England)
Oxford
Cambridge
Canterbury
London

Itinerary for 2006:
Brussels (Belgium)
Ghent/Bruges
Strasbourg (France)
Colmar
Padua/Venice (Italy)
Bamberg (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Wroclaw (Poland)
Torun
Warsaw

Itinerary for 2010:
Rome (Italy)
Orvieto
Assisi/San Leon/San Marino
Padua/Venice
Brixen
Innsbruck (Austria)
Bamberg (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Wroclaw (Poland)
Torun
Gdansk
Marlborg
Warsaw

Itinerary 2012: hiatus

Itinerary for 2015:
Madrid (Spain, only fly-in)
Toledo
Pamplona
Huesca
Carcassone (France)
Albi
Le Rocamandour (stop over only)
Le-Puy
Vezelay
Fribourg (Switzerland)
Freiburg (Germany)
Rothenburg o.d.T.
Amberg
Prague (Czech Republic)
Kutna Hora
Wroclaw (Poland)
Berlin (Germany)

Itinerary for 2016
Toledo, Burgos, Zaragoza – Spain
Toulouse, Le Puy – France
Murten – Switzerland
Freiburg, Heidelberg, Bamberg – Germany
Prague – Czech Republic
Erfurt – Germany)

Itinerary for 2017
Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo – Bulgaria
Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu, Bucharest – Romania
Vienna, Golling, Innsbruck, Bregenz- Austria
Liechtenstein (day trip)
Saint Gall, Waltenburg and Chur – Switzerland
Ulm, Marburg, Frankfurt – Germany
Sighisoara, Romania:

Itinerary for 2018:
Ghent (Belgium)
Zutphen (The Netherlands)
Deventer (The Netherlands)
Lübeck (Germany)
Ribe (Denmark)
Wismar (Germany)
Schleswig (Germany)
Stralsund (Germany)
Gdansk (Poland)
Gizycko (Poland)
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Riga (Latvia)
Talinn (Estonia)

Itinerary for 2019:
Padua, Venice, Verona, Ravenna (Italy)
Schwaz and Innsbruck (Austria)
Regensburg (Germany)
Lübeck (Germany)
Leuven (Belgium)

Itinerary 2023
Girona/Barcelona (Spain)
Arles (France)
Asti/Milan (Italy)
Bellinzona (Switzerland)
Constance (Germany)
Bregenz (Austria)
Nuremberg (Germany

Itinerary 2024
Fly into Madrid, go to Avila (Spain)
Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Burgos and vicinity (Spain)
Bordeaux (France)
Lyon (France)
Yvoire and Gruyere (Switzerland)
Michelstadt, Büdingen (Germany)
Prague and Kutna Hora (Czech Republic)

Everyone of our study tours has been a most positive, life-changing experience, but there could also be problems; hence, please note:

General alert: Grounds for dismissal from program:

theft from anyone
violent behavior (physical and /or mental)
chronic and deliberate non-attendance of class and/or excursions
chronic and excessive tardiness
disregard of the code of conduct of the University of Arizona

Process:

1. Verbal warning 2. Written warning 3. Dismisal if problem continues

Dr. Albrecht Classen

Department of German Studies