Tour Duration: 11 days
Day 1 – Depart USA
Overnight flight to Vienna.
Day 2 – Vienna at
Leisure
You are met on arrival and
transferred to your tour hotel. The rest
of the
day is at leisure. Later join your
Tour Director for a Welcome
Meeting. Hotel: Bosei.
Day 3 – Vienna –
Budapest
A guided tour shows you the
Imperial Winter
Palace, the Parliament and the imposing
baroque architecture of the Opera
House.The remainder of the day is yours
– perhaps
visit the fabulous State
Apartments of
Schonbrunn Palace, although not into all
of its 1400 rooms! Later, cross the
Hungarian border and continue
through farmland to the baroque
town of Gyor before arriving in
Budapest. Hotel: Budapest. (B,D)
Day 4 – Budapest at
Leisure
Sightseeing this morning takes you
both sides of the River Danube.
Ascend to hilltop Buda to explore the
cobbled streets of the Old Town; visit
the Matthias church and admire the
magnificent view down to the river
Danube. Move onto the commercial district
of Pest to see the Parliament
Building and
Heroes’ Square before using your
free time to
explore the city: take an excursion to
discover the
secret treasures of Budapest or, as
evening falls, enjoy a
Hungarian dinner with traditional
gypsy entertainment. (B)
Day 5 – Budapest –
Prague
Take a delightful scenic drive across
the Blue Danube to reach the Slovakian
border.
Visit the capital city of Bratislava
to see the dominating castle before
continuing
through the Czech countryside to the
beautifully preserved
‘golden’ city of Prague.
Hotel: Barcelo. (B,D)
Day 6 – Prague
Sightseeing
From the heights of Prague
Castle, a ‘city within a
city’ dominated by the
soaring spires of St Vitus’
Cathedral, look down on the Old Town
and the Vltava
River. Stroll the cobbled streets,
explore the ancient Jewish quarter and
the Old
Town Square – don’t miss
the Four Apostles above the Astronomical
Clock on
the hour. (B,D)
Day 7 – Prague –
Berlin
Leave Prague and cross the border to
Germany, arriving in historic Dresden in
time for a walking tour of the
courtyards of the glorious Zwinger
Palace and
the opulent Opera House. See the
colossal Castle of the Electors of Saxony,
including the unique Saxon Wall
overlaid with Meissen tiles and, finally,
the renovated Frauenkirche. Drive on
to the German capital, Berlin. Hotel:
Ellington. (B,D)
Day 8 – Berlin
Sightseeing
Join a local guide to see this
re–unified city.
Follow the Unter den Linden past the
Opera and Alexanderplatz, before
continuing on to the Brandenburg Gate,
the symbol of Berlin. See the Reichstag, a
massive Neo–Renaissance–style palace
inaugurated in 1894 which has recently
been crowned with a new dome. See
the Victory Column in the Tiergarten
Park before spending the rest of
the day at leisure – take in the
shops
or perhaps join an optional excursion
to Potsdam. (B)
Day 9 – Berlin –
Nuremberg
Head south to the musical city of
Leipzig, where Mendelssohn and Bach
lived and played. See St Nikolai Church,
where the 1989 Peace Prayers led to the
fall of the Berlin Wall. Continue to
Nuremberg, once Germany’s
medieval centre
of culture and craftsmanship, now home
to the
country’s most famous Christmas
Market. See the
Zeppelinwiese, used for Hitler’s
rallies and tour the Old
Town to see Albrecht Durer’s
house, Beautiful Fountain, and
the massive town ramparts. Hotel: NH
Forsthaus. (B,D)
Day 10 – Nuremberg –
Vienna
Take a scenic drive past Regensburg
and on to the frontier town of Passau,
nestled
between Bavaria and Austria. Time is
set aside to stroll along the Danube and
admire the Baroque churches and
patrician houses of the Old Town
before
crossing the Austrian border. See the
Benedictine Melk Abbey at the very tip of
a rocky bluff overlooking the Danube
before arriving at the Bosei Hotel in
Vienna.
Consider celebrating with a farewell
dinner. Hotel: Bosei. (B)
Day 11 – Return to USA
Your tour ends this morning after
breakfast with transfers from your hotel to
Vienna Airport. (B)
