Chasing Magyar Kings, Bohemian Dukes and Holy Roman Emperors: The Best of Vienna, Budapest and Prague 11 DAYS / 10 NIGHTS — GROUP TRAVEL

SUGGESTED ITINERARY — CAN BE CUSTOMIZED

INCLUSIONS While Vienna, Prague and Budapest have undoubtedly been influenced by their former Austrian Habsburg rulers, this Central European itinerary will show you that each is  Accommodations: absolutely distinct and unique! Vienna oozes classical elegance and houses some of the Vienna 4 nights, Budapest 3 nights, best museums and classical music venues in Europe. Budapest, a true melting pot of Prague 3 nights Western and Eastern cultures, is undeniably charming and home to geothermal baths,  Meals: Continental beautiful architecture and amazing views of the Danube. Prague, with its timeless Old breakfast daily. Lunch Town and ancient Castle District, possesses an ambience unlike anywhere else in the world. and dinner as noted in Spend a week and a half getting to know three of Europe’s most beautiful capital cities. itinerary  Air-conditioned, private coaching DAY 1 ~ ARRIVAL TO DAY 2 ~ DAY TOUR  English-speaking VIENNA OF OLD TOWN assistants and guides  Admission tickets and Welcome to Austria! Upon After breakfast in the hotel, sightseeing excursions arrival an assistant will a local guide will meet your as outlined in the meet your group in the terminal’s arrivals group and take it on a full-day guided itinerary hall and accompany it by private coach to sightseeing tour of Vienna’s Innere Stadt HIGHLIGHTS the hotel in Vienna. As this is the arrival (1st District), which contains its Old Town.  Tour Schönbrunn, the day, we have not scheduled any activities This entire area has been classified as an Habsburg’s Winter until dinnertime. Please note that if your official UNESCO World Heritage Site. Being Palace and a UNESCO group arrives before the hotel’s official a political and cultural capital for the House World Heritage Site check-in time (generally 3:00 pm) you are of Habsburg, Vienna served as a capital of  Dinner in a traditional more than welcome to store baggage with the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian wine tavern in the the reception staff so that you can set out Empire, and later the Austro-Hungarian Vienna Woods  Wachau Valley day trip and begin to explore Austria’s elegant, Empire. The dynasty’s patronage long featuring Melk Abbey riverside capital. encouraged art, music and science, and as a and a Danube River result, the city of Vienna today is truly a The ancient city of Vienna was once home Cruise treasure-trove of cultural attractions. to some of Europe’s most powerful rulers,  Free days at leisure in Today’s tour will take place inside of and their patronage is still evident today in Budapest and Prague Vienna’s famed Ring. Your guide will show  Walking tours in Győr, this cultural mecca’s grand boulevards, your group Stephansplatz, which is home to Hungary; Komárno, superb museums, splendid palaces, and Vienna’s iconic St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Slovakia; and unrivaled classical musical scene. This Szentendre, Hungary You’ll stroll down Kärntnerstrasse, Vienna’s afternoon consider paying a visit to one of  Inside visits to Hofburg most-famous shopping avenue and see the Vienna’s impressive museums, or as Palace, Prague Castle, nearby Vienna State Opera House. Austria’s capital is world-famous for its Buda Castle and coffee houses, why not pop into one for a Most of your time today will be spent Křivoklát Castle! café and a Viennese pastry (or two)? touring the imperial Hofburg Palace, which was the winter residence of the Habsburg This evening your group will dine in the kings and emperors. Today it is the official hotel’s restaurant. residence of the President of Austria. This Maria Theresa, and the private apartments enormous palace complex plays host to of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Sisi, many residences, offices and museums your group will return to the hotel in including the Spanish Riding School, the Vienna. There is nothing scheduled this National Library, the Burgtheater, the evening. However, as Vienna has such a Natural History Museum, the Museum of wonderful classical music scene, your group Fine Arts, and the Imperial Chapel, where might consider attending a performance at the famed Vienna Boys Choir performs on the symphony or opera. Sunday mornings from September to June. DAY 4 ~ WACHAU Your group will specifically go inside the VALLEY EXCURSION Imperial State Apartments (Kaiserappartements) to see what home After breakfast in the hotel, was like for the Habsburg emperors and today your group will set their families. You will then continue to the out on an exciting sightseeing excursion to Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer), which is the Wachau Valley. This extremely arguably the world’s greatest treasury. picturesque area, which is found along the Danube River, is another UNESCO World The tour will finish up back at the hotel, Heritage Site. Today’s excursion will take and the remainder of the day is at leisure. you west through the Vienna Woods to a For information on Vienna’s nightlife and fairytale land of vineyards, castles, sleepy excellent restaurant scene, please feel free villages and historic abbeys. to ask your guide. As part of today’s tour, your group will DAY 3 ~ SIGHTSEEING leisurely cruise the Danube from the pretty IN VIENNA wine town of Spitz to the ancient town of After breakfast in the hotel, Melk, which is home to the famed your group will dive straight Benedictine Melk Abbey. This baroque back into the world of Habsburg splendor. masterpiece, which dates back to the 11th Today’s first visit will be to the century, is a true symbol of Austria and one Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is of the most-important monastic sites in the Vienna’s Museum of Fine Arts. Many of the world. Your guide will lead your group on museum’s collections were amassed by the an interesting tour of the abbey before Habsburg rulers from their extensive returning to Vienna in the late-afternoon. territories. Quite simply, this is one of the (Please note that the Danube river cruises finest art museums in the world! generally only operate from April to October. In the event that your group is Afterwards your group will board its private vacationing in Austria outside of this time coach and travel southwest to Schönbrunn, period, this area is still well worth a visit! the Habsburg’s magnificent baroque Instead of the river cruise, we could summer palace. This UNESCO World arrange for your group to have a special Heritage Site, which has well over 1,000 lunch of regional specialties in Melk). rooms, is the location where a six-year-old Mozart wowed the Empress Maria Theresa After returning to the hotel in Vienna, (mother of Marie Antoinette) with his enjoy some time to relax and freshen up extraordinary musical talent in the late before tonight’s group dinner in Grinzing, 1700s. an area located on the outskirts of the Vienna Woods. Grinzing is best After touring the palace’s state rooms, 18th- characterized by its “heurigen” or century rooms associated with the Empress traditional wine taverns. Enjoy a Hungarian Empire. That being said don’t memorable last evening in Austria before make the mistake of thinking it too similar returning to the hotel (roundtrip to Austria. Having played host to Celtic transportation to Grinzing is included). tribes, Roman legions, nomadic Magyars, Tatar raiders and Ottoman invaders, DAY 5 ~ VIENNA – Hungary is nothing if not a fascinating GYŐR – KOMÁRNO - melting pot! BUDAPEST After breakfast and check- DAY 6 ~ SZENTENDRE out, your group will bid farewell to Austria AND BUDAPEST and head east by private coach to the SIGHTSEEING Hungarian capital of Budapest. En-route, After breakfast in the hotel, enjoy interesting sightseeing beginning today your group will set out on an exciting with a stop in the Hungarian town of Győr. day of sightseeing. Today’s tour will begin Nestled near Hungary’s northwestern with a short drive north to the pretty borders with Austria and Slovakia, the Hungarian town of Szentendre, a popular ancient city of Győr lies at the confluence excursion from Budapest. Szentendre is of three rivers: the Danube, Rábca and known for its Slavic influences (particularly Rába. This morning your group will enjoy a Serbian), baroque architecture and thriving one-hour walking tour of Győr before artist community, and during your visit this continuing east to the river port town of morning, you’ll find no shortage of galleries Komárno, Slovakia. or museums. After a guided walking tour, your group will return to central Budapest Upon arrival you and your fellow travelers to learn all about this strikingly-beautiful will have free time for lunch before setting city. out on a one-hour walking tour of Komárno. Prior to the conclusion of World Interestingly, Budapest didn’t exist prior to War I, Komárno was actually located in 1873 but instead was three distinct cities: Hungary. Today the city has retained Buda, Pest, and Óbuda. The city’s political something of its former Hungarian past, and cultural development led to its which you will see during your walking tour becoming the truly enchanting capital city of its Old Town. Afterwards your group will that you will visit today. You will not run proceed directly to the hotel in Budapest. out of things to do in Budapest as it is After check-in and time to freshen up, your home to gorgeous architecture, one of the group will feast on Hungarian specialties in largest synagogues in Europe, a wonderful the hotel’s restaurant, and tomorrow you café culture, terrific classical music venues will begin sightseeing in Hungary’s historic and geothermal baths where locals and capital. visitors alike can soak their troubles away. Its numerous UNESCO World Heritage After visiting Vienna, Budapest is a natural Sites, which include Andrássy Avenue, the follow-up as it was a culturally and Buda Castle District, the riverbanks, Heroes’ politically important city for the Austrian Square and the Millennium Underground Habsburg rulers; its location led to it being Railway, straddle both sides of the Danube. caught in a very frequent tug-of-war between the Holy Roman Empire to the During today’s sightseeing tour of Budapest west and the powerful Ottoman Empire to you will see its famed Parliament building the south. Budapest was also the official along with the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. second capital of the powerful Austro- Afterwards your group will visit the Buda Castle District including Matthias Church, sightseeing in the Czech Republic’s historic the Fisherman's Bastion and the Hungarian capital. National Gallery, which is located inside the Much of the fairytale-like beauty found in Royal Palace. The tour will finish back at the Prague can be credited to its 14th-century hotel, and your group has the evening at ruler: Charles IV. As both the King of leisure in Budapest. Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire, his DAY 7 ~ BUDAPEST patronage ushered in an era of art, culture, FREE DAY architecture, and scholarship in Bohemia; a true Golden Age. During his reign, Prague After breakfast in the hotel, became the imperial capital of the Holy enjoy a full day to visit Roman Empire. A second Golden Age in Budapest on your own. Despite the fact Prague took place in the late 16th century that this is one of Europe’s largest cities, during the reign of Emperor Rudolf II, who you will find that is surprisingly easy to visit despite being a Habsburg chose to rule from many of its main attractions on foot. Today Prague instead of Vienna. His fostering of consider checking out one of Budapest’s both science and art allowed Prague to lovely parks (Városliget “City Park” or the blossom even further. After his reign, the parks on Margaret Island are all good Austrian Habsburgs continued to rule over choices), visit Heroes’ Square, tour the Prague for the next three centuries; until the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Center, or end of World War I. Today, many of Prague’s relax at one of Budapest’s amazing thermal magnificent cultural and architectural springs spas. offerings date from their reigns. The city’s DAY 8 ~ BUDAPEST – heritage is so rich that its entire historic BRATISLAVA - center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. PRAGUE DAY 9 ~ PRAGUE After breakfast and check- CASTLES TOUR out, your group will travel north by private coach to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. After breakfast in the hotel, Located on the banks of the Danube only your group will set out by 40 miles east of Vienna, Bratislava was the private coach on a full-day royal castles capital of the Austrian-led Kingdom of sightseeing tour featuring Křivoklát Castle th Hungary for almost 250 years. Its iconic and Prague Castle. Dating back to the 12 castle was a major cultural center under century, Křivoklát Castle was the home of the patronage of Austrian Empress Maria Bohemian kings and princes for centuries (as Theresa. The chief charm however of well as political prisoners during the Middle Bratislava is simply its Old Town, which is Ages). The castle’s interiors are absolutely home to truly beautiful medieval and stunning; its library and royal chapel in baroque architecture. While there your particular. After touring the castle and free group will have a 2-hour guided walking time for lunch, your castle sightseeing tour tour followed by time for lunch before re- will continue with a visit to the Prague Castle boarding the coach and traveling northwest complex, which is composed of many to Prague. structures including towers, houses and churches. One can easily spend an entire day Upon arrival to the hotel in Prague, check there and still not see everything. During in and take some time to freshen up before your tour this afternoon your group will tour tonight’s group dinner in the hotel’s St. Vitus Cathedral, St. George's Basilica, the restaurant. Tomorrow you will begin your Old Royal Palace, Golden Lane and Daliborka Tower, all of which form part of a UNESCO WHY TRAVEL WITH US? World Heritage Site. Whether it is taking a family trip to Paris, The sightseeing tour will finish up back at your an educational group to Barcelona, or a hotel, and the evening is at leisure for you to church group to Rome we can build an enjoy Prague. affordable, European trip tailored to your DAY 10 ~ PRAGUE FREE interests. From single city itineraries to DAY multiple cities and countries, your travel After breakfast in the hotel, agent will work with us to create custom enjoy a full day at leisure to tours for groups of 10 to 500 people. visit Prague on your own. As most of We Make It Easy - We provide a quick yesterday’s sightseeing in Prague took place turnaround on custom quotes. Multi-city up in Hradčany, the Castle District, today we and multi-country itineraries are our Why Should You recommend you explore Prague’s medieval specialty. In addition, we can help organize Encourage Your Old Town, which in Czech is known as “Staré signup deadlines, travel documents and Travel Agent to Město.” There you will find a multitude of payments. interesting sights, some of which; like the 13th- Book Your Group Experience - Europe Express has managed century Old New Synagogue; are located in Through Us? over 6,000 custom group trips since 1990. Josefov, Prague’s Jewish Quarter. Another We provide expert guides and high quality must see is Prague’s magnificent Old Town travel products. Square, which is home to the city’s 15th- Ease of Use century Astronomical Clock. For postcard-like Flexibility - We work with your travel agent views of the Vltava River, we suggest you to create a tailor-made trip to Experience stroll across the city’s iconic Charles Bridge. accommodate your interests, booking Lastly, if you are a fan of the Czech Art whatever combination of travel services fit Nouveau artist, Alphonse Mucha, you must your plans and budget, including airfare, Flexibility pay a visit to the Mucha Museum, which is hotel, rail, transfers, sightseeing and more. housed inside the baroque Kaunický Palace. Peace Of Mind - Dedicated local ground This evening your group will dine in a local support means that there is always Peace of Mind restaurant on its last evening in Central someone available to help you. Relax Europe. knowing that your trip is backed by our commitment to offer world-class quality of DAY 11 ~ DEPARTURE service. FROM PRAGUE After breakfast and check-out, Contact your travel agent today for a your group will transfer by customized itinerary and group quote. private coach to Prague Václav Havel Airport for its return flight to the USA or Canada.