Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Berlin: 150th Anniversary Tour

Siegfried awakens Brunhild, a scene from Wagner's Ring and Norse mythology engraved by R Bong from Otto Donner von Richter, 1892

public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Photograph of the Rhinemaidens in the first Bayreuth production of Wagner's Ring cycle in 1876

Royal Ballet and Opera / CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
Deutsche Oper Berlin

Manfred Brückels / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Richard Wagner, 1861

Pierre Petit / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The Alte Nationalgalerie, Museum Island
Berlin Musical Instrument Museum

Andreas Praefcke / CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

Itinerary

Fitness / Practicalities

Tour Director

Attend Stefan Herheim’s magnificent production at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, conducted by Donald Runnicles and featuring Clay Hilley and Ya‑Chung Huang
Explore the significance and meaning of the text, music and history of its composition in the company of expert musicologist and broadcaster Sandy Burnett
Discover Berlin’s rich cultural heritage, from the Museum of Musical Instruments to historical Spandau

“The cultural content of the tour was excellent. The talks and informal discussions were of a very high calibre and added to our enjoyment of the operas. While intellectually stimulating, the presentations and discussions were also warm, friendly and enjoyable… We were very impressed with ACE from start to finish”

- ACE customer on a previous Ring Cycle tour

2026 will mark 150 years since the first full performance of Wagner’s monumental Ring Cycle, which occupied him for over 26 years and involved the extensive development of the work’s text and music, resulting in one of the most iconic operatic masterpieces in the world. The first complete performance, which took place in 1876, opened the inaugural Bayreuth Festival and set the stage for a myriad of subsequent performances that have influenced everything from classical music to film, cartoons and popular music.

“To have Berlin as our backdrop will be the icing on the cake: a city which from the cultural and historical points of view are endlessly fascinating”

– Tour Director Sandy Burnett

To mark this event, opera houses around the world will open their doors to all four operatic works, which together tell of an epic struggle between gods, heroes and mythological beings over the eponymous, all-powerful magic ring. We are very pleased to have secured tickets to multi-award-winning Norwegian director Stefan Herheim’s Deutsche Opera production – lauded for its detailed, thought-provoking staging – which also marks the final farewell of renowned General Music Director and conductor Sir Donald Runnicles.

“(Hilley) sounds as fresh when bantering with the third-act Rhinemaidens of Götterdämmerung as he does when bullying Mime in the first act of Siegfried…”

– ACE customer on Tour

Supported by richly textured orchestration and performed by a range of excellent soloists – including Clay Hilley as Siegfried and Ya-Chung Huang as Mime, both highly praised – each opera will lead us deeper into the worlds conjured by the mythology of Germany and Scandinavia, expressed through Wagner’s famous score.

“Ya‑Chung Huang’s Mime is an astonishing feat of characterisation, as lyrical as any would-be Papageno.”

– Gramophone

The tour will feature all four performances across several days, interspersed with illuminating lectures courtesy of expert musicologist, lecturer and broadcaster Sandy Burnett. In addition, we will also delve into some of Berlin’s cultural highlights, carefully selected to offer a complimentary and balanced experience around our operas. A visit to the Museum of Musical Instruments will acquaint us with one of the largest collections of its kind in Germany, spanning five centuries, including the mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ, a fortepiano owned by Carl Maria von Weber and a harpsichord possibly owned by J S Bach. The Jewish Museum charts Jewish life in Germany’s capital from the Middle Ages to the present; while an excursion to nearby Spandau will introduce us to one of Berlin’s leafier, less discovered districts, home to a medieval citadel and one of the city’s oldest surviving townhouses.

We will stay at the comfortable three-star Martas Hotel Albrechtshof in Berlin, chosen for its convenient location to museums and galleries, making it particularly for independent exploration.

Sandy Burnett

Sandy is one of the UK’s most versatile musicians and music commentators, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. Since 2013 he has devised and led cultural holidays all over the world; he runs an online classical music appreciation Listening Club and is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music.

Tour Director Sandy Burnett, MA, is one of the UK’s most versatile musicians and music commentators, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. He has directed a complete performing cycle of Bach’s sacred cantatas, the other major sacred works and the Brandenburg Concertos, and has conducted the Southbank Sinfonia and student orchestras at the RAM and Guildhall School of Music in immersive educational projects. Placing great music in the context of its time, both for performers and audiences, is a central part of his practice. After studying at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and working as a leading theatre music director, Sandy Burnett spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on the UK’s classical music station BBC Radio 3. Unusually co-inhabiting the worlds of both classical and improvising music, Sandy is also a first-call jazz double bass player. Since 2013 he has devised and led cultural holidays all over the world; he is an accredited Arts Society lecturer, runs an online classical music appreciation Listening Club and is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music.

“I’m delighted to be guiding another ACE group through the joys and intricacies of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, this time in the Deutsche Opera production by Stefan Herheim. And to have Berlin as our backdrop will be the icing on the cake: a city which from the cultural and historical points of view are endlessly fascinating.”

– Tour Director Sandy Burnett

Days
8

Cost
£5295

Tour Code
WRBL-26

This tour has now departed

Fitness & Practicalities

The majority of ACE Cultural Tours are active in nature. To make the most of our time in a destination and provide excellent value for money, they are busy – there are often several visits included each day. As such, our tours require a certain minimum level of physical and mental fitness, mobility and stamina.

Many visits will involve navigating several steps, uneven ground, steep ascents and descents, and could involve embarking and disembarking aircraft, coaches, trains and cruise vessels. Plenty of walking, punctuated by lengthy periods of standing, is the norm. Some tours may involve long coach journeys.

It is essential that all customers are sufficiently fit and able enough to fully participate. Furthermore, every tour comprises a group of guests. We cannot allow the entire group to be negatively impacted by one participant, either holding up the pace we reasonably need to maintain or disproportionately requiring the attention and support of the tour staff.

We carefully consider the intensity, fitness and other requirements of each itinerary and describe them on the tour pages of our brochures and website. Please study these descriptions closely. When you call to book, we will reiterate those requirements and ask you to confirm that all group members are indeed fit enough and otherwise able to meet the criteria. It is your responsibility to answer fully and honestly. If it transpires that you are not able to keep pace with the tour and/or it reasonably appears you are negatively impacting (or are reasonably likely to negatively impact) the enjoyment of the rest of the group (including their ability to complete all scheduled visits), we may ask you to sit out certain days/visits, take a taxi at your own expense (if available in the location), or even, if we consider there is no other reasonable alternative, ask you to leave the tour and make your own way home.

Tour specific fitness information

While this tour is not particularly strenuous, participants should have a good level of overall fitness, as we will be exploring Berlin on foot as well as traversing uneven ground and steps. This tour involves a fair amount of city walking, although participants do have the option to opt out of visits if wished. Performances will finish late, so we have incorporated later starts and some free time in the afternoons to ensure a balanced experience. We will travel to and from the Deutsche Oper by coach. Performances will be in German with German and English surtitles.

Minimum fitness requirements

As a minimum, participants should be able to successfully complete the following self- assessment tests:

Walk for one hour at a reasonable pace and without needing to take a break to rest
Climb at least two flights of stairs at a reasonable pace
Stand unaided for at least 30 minutes
Stand up and sit down ten times in one minute
Carry or otherwise move your own luggage

Please ensure you have read and understand our full fitness requirements as described in our terms and conditions.

Click to read our terms and conditions

Flights

For customers who wish to make their own travel arrangements, ACE is pleased to be able to offer a flight reduction of £200.

UK Government Travel Advice

For additional travel information from the UK government please consult the following pages.

Days
8

Cost
£5295

Tour Code
WRBL-26

This tour has now departed

Day 1

Depart London Heathrow 1115 on British Airways, arriving Berlin 1410, and transfer to Martas Hotel Albrechtshof for seven nights. Welcome and introduction.

Day 2

Morning lecture introducing Das Rheingold followed by guided architectural tour by coach, to include Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Friedrichstrasse, Nikolaiviertel, Unter den Linden, the Reichstag, new Parliament buildings and the Brandenburg Gate (exteriors). Some free time. Evening performance at the Deutsche Oper: Das Rheingold.

Day 3

Morning lecture introducing Die Walküre followed by a guided tour of the Museum of Musical Instruments (one of the largest collections of its kind in Germany, spanning five centuries, including the mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ, a fortepiano owned by Carl Maria von Weber, a glass harmonica and a harpsichord possibly owned by J S Bach). Evening performance at the Deutsche Oper: Die Walküre.

Day 4

Morning visit to the Jewish Museum (charting Jewish life in Germany’s capital from the Middle Ages to the present, alongside special exhibitions) for guided tour and free time to explore. Optional afternoon visit to Museum Island (Altes Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum and Bode Museum) for free time to explore.

Day 5

Morning lecture introducing Siegfried. Some free time to explore Berlin independently, followed by evening performance at the Deutsche Oper: Siegfried.

Day 6

Morning excursion to Spandau (leafy district known for its old town and citadel), exploring the medieval Kolkviertel and one of the oldest surviving townhouses in Berlin. Free evening.

Day 7

Morning lecture introducing Götterdämmerung. Visit to the Parliamentary Historical exhibition of the German Bundestag (fascinating displays tracing the evolution of Germany’s parliamentary system), housed in the Deutscher Dom. evening performance at the Deutsche Oper: Götterdämmerung.

Day 8

Depart Berlin 1505, arriving Heathrow 1605.

Please note that the itinerary represents a guide to what we hope to offer, and some elements may be subject to change or confirmation nearer the time. We cannot confirm all the artists mentioned and the Deutsche Oper reserves the right to make updates to the cast list.

Days
8

Cost
£5295

Tour Code
WRBL-26

This tour has now departed

Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Berlin: 150th Anniversary Tour | May 2026

A unique opportunity to experience WAGNER'S RING CYCLE as part of a small group.

Sandy Burnett

Sandy Burnett

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