The middle class hotels, guesthouses and apartments for our tours are selected by our tour guides. As a general rule, accommodation will be in the form of double and, in rare cases, triple bedrooms.
Daily breakfast and a full meal are included in the travel price. Usually, the group comes together for dinner in charming hotspots of local cuisine. Not included in the tour fees are any additional drinks (water is always included as well as drinks on the breakfast buffet like coffee and juices).
Alsharq tours usually start off at the location of their first accommodation (if not further specified). Upon your request, we are however happy to book your flights for you and deliver a non-binding first offer. In many cases we are able to offer special tour operator fares with a lower price than comparable flight offers on common online booking websites. For everyone booking their flight via Alsharq, we can offer special Rail & Fly tickets (limited to Germany) for EUR 31 per person and way. Please find more information on this here. Naturally, participants are free to arrive ahead of the official tour start or stay longer after its end. We are happy to provide tips regarding accommodation and activities. Moreover, we can assist in organizing any transfer from the airport to the tour’s starting accommodation and back, after having received your entire arrival and departure flight dates. In the case of individually requested tours, arrival and departure will be arranged in consultation with Alsharq Reise.
To register for an Alsharq tour, please use our online booking form found within the respective tour announcement. The booking is binding once the form is sent and the down payment of EUR 200 per person has been transferred (see „Payment“). As long as registration for the tour is not enabled yet, it is usually possible to make a pre-reservation. Every party that has made a pre-reservation will be informed before official registration opens. In any case, we suggest to get a travel cancellation insurance, which can be booked through Alsharq either online or via email.
Under certain circumstances, Alsharq tours can be accredited as educational leaves. We are happy to provide a document underlining our tour’s educational purposes.
Auf unseren Reisen gibt es gelegentlich Besuchs- und Programmpunkte, die nur zu Fuß oder mit sicherer physischer Mobilität zu erreichen sind. Solltest du in deiner Mobilität eingeschränkt sein, melde dich bitte bei uns, sodass wir gemeinsam eine Lösung finden können.
If not further specified, flight costs are not included in the tour price. However, flights can be booked by Alsharq Travel and added to the tour package: Upon request, we individually book the cheapest connections available. Dates and times are flexible, as they are subject to prior consultation with Alsharq. More information can be found here.
All necessary information can be found in the tour announcements on our website. Additional information regarding the destination can be found on the website’s respective country pages. For any further questions, you are welcome to contact us anytime and we will be happy to answer your questions. As our team, naturally, is travelling very frequently, sending an email to [email protected] will be the easiest way to reach us. Usually, one of our team members will however be available by phone under the following numbers:
Christoph Dinkelaker: +49 (0) 157 78337361
Simon Welte: +49 (0) 151 20689781 (also WhatsApp)
A travel cancellation insurance as well as additional insurances can be booked via Alsharq and are not included in the original travel price. The insurance can be booked online or via email. Please note that a travel cancellation insurance will only cover the cancellation fees as agreed upon in the contract. All further information can be found here. Alsharq Travel is a tour operator according to the German Civil Code (BGB) §§ 651a ff.
The travel costs will be invoiced by Alsharq and shall be transferred to the Alsharq bank account. With the initial booking, a down payment of EUR 200 per person must be transferred. The remaining costs shall be transferred until five weeks before the start of the tour. Our general terms & conditions apply, which you can find here. In individual cases and after prior agreement, payment by installments is possible. Feel free to contact us.
In case of a change of booking or a cancellation, our general terms & conditions apply. Here, it has to be distinguished between the flight (if booked separately) and the tour itself. The change of booking to another date and the cancellation of regular flights are usually handled very restrictively. After having booked the flight, we will inform you about each of the respective conditions. Once the ticket is issued, in most cases, it is not possible to change the name again.
As our tour schedule is very irregular, a change of booking to a different tour needs to be agreed upon with us. Changing the participant’s name is possible against a fee of EUR 25 and until seven days before the tour start (this usually doesn't apply for the flight). In case of a tour cancellation, the cancellation rates as laid out in our general terms & conditions will be applied:
haben den Anspruch, differenzierte und multiperspektivische Einblicke in die bereisten Länder oder Regionen zu bieten – insbesondere durch unmittelbare Begegnungen mit Menschen vor Ort, die ihre eigenen Geschichten und Sichtweisen mit den Gruppen teilen. Begleitet werden die Teilnehmenden dabei von unseren Reiseleiter*innen, die in der Regel über ein weit verzweigtes Netzwerk sowie fundierte Kenntnisse zu Geschichte, Politik und Kultur der Destination verfügen. Sie können daher die Teilnehmenden sowohl mit Hintergrundwissen als auch mit praktischen Tipps unterstützen, und Informationen, Erlebnisse und Gespräche in die dazugehörigen politischen, historischen und kulturellen Kontexte einordnen.
Ansonsten unterscheiden sich die folgenden Kategorien:
sind Bildungsreisen, die tiefgreifende Einblicke in die politischen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Gegebenheiten eines Landes oder einer Region vermitteln sollen. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf Treffen und Begegnungen mit politischen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Akteur*innen und/oder auf dem Besuch politischer Institutionen. Das Rahmenprogramm umfasst Besuche wichtiger kultureller, religiöser und historischer Stätten oder von Naturräumen, da diese Orte oft die politischen oder identitätsstiftenden Erzählungen einer Gesellschaft prägen oder wiederum selbst von diesen Erzählungen geprägt werden.
sind ebenso Bildungsreisen, die Einblicke in die wichtigsten politischen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Themen eines Landes oder einer Region vermitteln, dabei aber verstärkt auf soziokulturelle Aspekte eingehen. Ein Fokus liegt auf Treffen mit Akteur*innen aus weniger klar politischen Bereichen (z.B. Kulturinstitutionen, Vertreter*innen religiöser oder ethnischer Gemeinschaften, Naturschutzorganisationen). Diese Reise finden häufig in Ländern statt, in denen eine offene politische Ausrichtung der Reise und Besuche politischer Institutionen oder Organisationen nicht oder nur sehr eindimensional möglich wären, oder unsere Partner vor Ort in Schwierigkeiten bringen könnte.
sind kurze politische Studienreisen, die in der Regel an einem Ort angeboten werden (u.U. mit Tagesausflügen oder optionaler Reiseverlängerung).
Der Hauptfokus unserer Wanderreisen liegt natürlich auf den Wanderungen: Das Wanderprogramm variiert dabei je nach Reise und kann unterschiedlich anspruchsvoll sein. Neben dem Wandern beinhalten die Reisen ggf. auch Programmpunkte zu wirtschaftlichen, politischen und gesellschaftlichen Themen, Treffen mit lokalen Organisationen sowie Begegnungen mit der lokalen Bevölkerung.
sind ganz neu in unserem Angebot und aktuell gibt es erst eine Fahrradreise durch Albanien. Ganz ähnlich der Wanderreise liegt der Fokus auf dem Erleben des Reiselandes per Fahrrad, mit passendem Rahmenprogramm an z.B. historischen und gesellschaftspolitischen Themen und Hintergründen.
Hier wird die überwiegende Zeit der Reise in Campingzelten in der freien Natur übernachtet. Das Programm besteht überwiegend aus Aktivitäten in der Natur (z.B. Wandern, Schwimmtrekking, Baden,…). Darüber hinaus sind Inputs zu Geschichte, Gesellschaft und Politik des Landes (überwiegend durch die Reiseleiter*innen), der Besuch wichtiger historischer, kultureller oder religiöser Sehenswürdigkeiten und formelle oder informelle Treffen mit der lokalen Bevölkerung Teil des Programms.
Alsharq Travel itself does not offer travel scholarships. For students that are already part of a scholarship system, it is usually possible to receive a travel grant from their scholarship organization. Participants will have to deal with this application on their own, however. If requested, we are happy to support this application by providing the necessary document stating the educative purpose of the travel. Feel free to contact us.
The question of security does play a role in our countries of destination and our tour guides are well aware of this. In planning our tours, we follow the guidelines provided by Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the tour programs might be subject to according changes. You can inform yourself about the current security situation on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
Being a young team from the Middle East project dis:orient e.V. (formerly Alsharq e.V. ), amongst our activities is supporting the leading German-speaking blog covering the region (https://www.disorient.de/) – we are very familiar with the region in both theoretical and practical terms. All our team members have lived, worked or studied for a longer time in our countries of destination. Our tour guides speak the country’s respective language and have an excellent network of civil society initiatives and international actors on the ground. We organize our tours with great enthusiasm and joy, driven by the desire to pass on some of our knowledge and experiences. Each travel group thus gets a unique experience of receiving detailed and diverse insights into the daily life in the country of destination.
The Alsharq Reise team is mostly German-speaking and communication within the travel group will usually happen in German. However, we do have more and more international tours we offer to English-speaking community. To know whether the tour language will be German or English you will find a remark on the tour overview page. Tours offered in German are marked with "DE" and tours offered in English are marked with "EN". Over the course of our tour program, the groups quite often meet with discussion partners giving their talks and presentations in English or in the respective local language. Our tour guides usually are fluent in the local language and thus not only provide a smooth proceeding of the tour, but can provide you with special insights into the country’s peculiarities. Moreover, bus rides with group provide a good opportunity for crash courses in Arabic, Persian or Hebrew.
The travel price is oriented along the costs of overnight stays, transportation and tour program, and calculated as fairly as possible and based on prior experiences. The reduced rate applies to students and trainees. Under special circumstances, other participants can be granted the exception of a reduced rate. We follow the principle of solidarity.
Included in the travel price usually are:
Not included:
Services that can be booked additionally:
The respective entry requirements vary for each country. Detailed information usually can be found on the website of your home country’s Foreign Ministry.
Participants are required to handle the visa application process by themselves. As part of our tour preparation, we provide the participants with extensive information about the respective entry requirements and peculiarities and are happy to help in case of any problems. In certain cases, we will handle the visa application process for you.
Alsharq Reise GmbH
Glogauer Str. 21
DE 10999 Berlin
Tel 0049 30403637210
Mon - Thu, 11:00 - 13:00
[email protected]
www.alsharq-reise.de
