Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany (Jon Arnold/JAI/Corbis) [enlarge photo]

When Oct. 27-Dec. 14, 2008.

Romerberg Square, Frankfurt, Germany (MedioImages/Corbis) [enlarge photo]

The Fine Print Includes all taxes. The rental car is a two-door manual transmission (most likely a VW Polo). Upgrade to an automatic for $30 per day. Unlimited mileage and third-party insurance are included. Based on double occupancy; single supplement is $179. Package can only be booked by phone. U.S. citizens will need a valid passport for travel to Germany; a visa is not necessary. Read these guidelines before you book any Real Deal.

Book By No deadline; based on availability.

Contact Nordique Tours, 800/995-7997, nordiquetours.com

Why It's a Deal You can go to Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, or Munich to take advantage of this deal (all cities are the same price). For the sake of simplicity, we tried pricing out the package in Munich. You'll stay at the Hotel Ludwig. A four-night stay will normally cost you €198 per person ($271 at press time). We also priced out rental cars in Munich on Kayak (for mid-November) and found a Ford Ka from Thrifty for $102 per person for a four-night rental. That total adds up to $373 if you booked the hotel and the car on your own—so you'll save $58 by booking through Nordique. Plus, Nordique's package price includes all taxes. If you want to road trip across Germany, Nordique can book a few of these cities for you, which is a time-saver.

Trip Details With the Four-Night Stay With Car in Germany, you decide how to divide your four nights among the following cities: Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, and Munich. For instance, you could spend a night in Munich and then make the five-hour drive to Berlin for the remaining three nights.

If you'd like to pack more cities into the trip, a good itinerary might be Düsseldorf to Cologne (a 30-minute drive), then Cologne to Frankfurt (about a two-hour drive).

Or, make Berlin your base city, and drive out to Düsseldorf (about five hours) to stay for two nights, and drive back to Berlin for your flight home.

In Berlin, you'll stay at A&O Friedrichshain Ostkreuz, a hostel in Friedrichshain, a hip urban area, mostly populated by students and artists and known for Die Busche, a gay and lesbian disco.

Choose between hotels in Cologne: the Holiday Inn Cologne-Bonn Airport or Express By Holiday Inn Cologne-Troisdorf. There's plenty to keep you busy in Cologne, such as Roman ruins, medieval churches, a cathedral, and a botanical garden and zoo.

In Düsseldorf, a major commercial center, accommodations will be at the 30-room Batavia Hotel. Just a five-minute walk from this hotel and you'll be in the shopping area of Königsallee. The parks and green areas that line the Rhine River are another great place to stroll.