Depart your gateway city on an overnight flight to Budapest

Upon your arrival in Budapest, you will be met by your tour leader and be taken by private coach to your hotel. Prior to 1873, Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was actually two cities located on either bank of the Danube River. Buda, with its wooded hills, lies on the right bank while Pest occupies the flatter left bank. The city is a veritable melting pot of cultures, each of which have left permanent traces. It is the city of pubic baths, reminiscent of the Roman period and the Turkish occupation.

In the afternoon, take a city orientation tour of Budapest with an emphasis on the highlights of the Hapsburg’s legacy. You will see the Parliament buildings, Matthias Church, and the Bridge of Chains. The Liberation Monument, erected in 1947, stands on the top of a hill from which there is a splendid view of the city.

In the evening enjoy a welcoming cocktail before sitting down to a Hungarian dinner at a local restaurant (included).

This morning you will drive to Buda to take a walking tour with a local guide. In addition to the picturesque streets, highlights will include the Fishermen’s Bastion, medieval houses and Baroque mansions. In the afternoon there will be a tour of the Hungarian National Museum that is housed in a neo-classical palace. Among the crown jewels on display is the Crown of Saint Stephen that the United States returned to Hungary in 1978.

The rest of the afternoon is free for individual sightseeing or shopping. Tours to the Parliament, the Jewish Quarter, the Museum of Visual Arts or the Museum of Ethnography can be arranged.

Dinner is on your own tonight.

In the morning you will travel to Gödöllo (30 km) to see the Royal Castle. This is a major historical site linked to the memory of Emperor Franz-Joseph and Empress Elizabeth (better remembered as "Sissy"). The royal family came here in the spring and autumn for a respite from the protocol and formality of the Vienna court. Sissy particularly loved this place for the opportunity to ride in the surrounding woods. She was an excellent horsewoman.

After lunch (included) you will travel to Szentrendre, an artist colony village 20 kilometers away, located on the right bank of the Danube. Its sloping narrow cobbled streets are lined with brightly colored homes. The local museum holds a collection of ceramic sculptures inspired by Hungarian folklore (visit included).

Continuing on along the Danube you will come to Visegrad with its 13^th Century Castle and Palace. The palace was buried in a mudslide 300 years later. Excavation of the palace began in 1934 by the architect Frigyes Schulek, creator of the Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest.

Dinner is on your own tonight.

In the morning an authoritative guide will take you on a city tour concentrating on the Jugendstill. This style of architecture attempted to integrate art into the urban building context and it preceded the more widely known Bauhaus movement. Budapest has numerous examples of this new expression such as 15 Váci utca built by Odon Lechner in 1889 and number 15 built by Geza Majorossy and Elek Hofhauser in 1901. Also noteworthy is West Station influenced by Gustave Eiffel, builder of the Eiffel Tower.

After lunch (included) you will visit the National Opera House and then have a cocktail at Cafe New York, a magical interior space of twisted faux marble columns, chandeliers, mirrored walls, hangings and comfortable seating. At the start of the 20^th Century this establishment was one of the most highly prized meeting places for journalists, writers and poets.

You are on your own until we depart for the evening performance (opera or concert).

Today you will travel to Vienna by way of Bratislava (formerly known as Pressburg), the capital of Slovakia. Three major landmarks dominate Bratislava, a castle high upon a rock, a futuristic bridge commemorating the Slovak National Uprising and Saint Martin‘s Cathedralon the edge of the old town. A local guide will take you on a city tour to acquaint you with the charm of the city and the splendid Baroque palaces, churches and delightful squares built along the former city walls. You will visit both a palace and the cathedral.

Lunch will be served at a local restaurant.

You then continue on to Vienna, the site of the Hapsburg Imperial Court for six centuries. While the Hapsburg’s reigned for many years, perhaps one of the most notable individual monarchs was Empress Maria Theresa (1740-1780). Her strength of character and political steadfastness made her famous during the Age of Enlightenment. Her enemy, Friedrich II of Prussia, was forced to admit, "When at last the Hapsburgs get a great man, it is a woman"

After checking into your hotel, your tour leader will take you on an orientation walk of Vienna.

Dinner will be at a local restaurant (included).

The first order of the day is a tour of the Hofburg, the Hapsburg’s Imperial Palace. It was continuously enlarged over the centuries and the tour includes visits to the palace chapel, Maria Theresa’s state apartments, the famous Spanish riding school, the treasury where you will see the 10th century imperial crown, the great audience hall, the conference rooms in which the council of ministers and the crown council met and the private rooms of Emperor Francis Joseph. In the Amalia Wing there are the private apartments of Empress Elisabeth, Francis Joseph’s wife, the Alexander apartments and the dining room of the imperial family.

Lunch is on your own.

In the afternoon you will visit the Upper Belvedere with its two palaces. One, the Unteres Belvedere, was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. The other, the Oberes Belvedere, was for the festivities given by the Prince. There are beautiful Baroque terraced gardens, from which there is a pleasant view of Vienna. After that visit you will have tea and pastries at Demel, where the Empress Elisabeth was an habitue. It has become Vienna’s mecca for lovers of sweets.

This morning you will have a city tour, partly by coach and partly walking. In addition to providing an opportunity to gain an impression of the city, the tour will include visits to Saint Stephan’s Dom, the State Opera, the Strauss monument, the Ringstrasse and the Vienna cemetery where you will see the gravesites of Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss as well as the Mozart Memorial.

After lunch (included) there will be a Lecture by a local guide who will provide unique insights concerning the Hapsburgs. The remainder of the afternoon will be free for additional individual sightseeing. Suggestions would include a visit to the Mozart House, the Albertina Museum or the Kapuziner Church with its catacombs where 140 members of the Hapsburg family are buried (including 12 emperors and 15 empresses). Also consider the Freud Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. (Scheduled visits, tickets and guides can be arranged.)

In the evening there will be a classical music performance (included).

In the morning there will be an opportunity for shopping or a visit to one of the sites not included on the itinerary such as the Museum of Natural History, the Military Museum or the Imperial Furniture Collection. (Tickets and guides can be prearranged).

The afternoon features a visit to Schönbrunn, the baroque summer residence of the Hapsburgs. During a guided tour you will visit the different apartments (a total 46 rooms out of the palaces 1440 are open to visitors). The Palace is a triumph of the Rococo style of the 18^th Century. The detailed elegance of the plasterwork, the crystal chandeliers, the richly ornamented faïence stoves and the priceless tapestries make these apartments a luxurious and moving link with the past.

Dinner will be served at a heuriger (a country inn) in a pretty village in the Vienna Woods

Today you will leave Austria for Prague stopping en route at Ceske Krumlov, an exquisite little medieval town. A great castle on a rocky ridge that rises abruptly from the river encircling the town dominates the area. A local guide will give you a city walk and will tell you about the history of the Bohemian Vitek, Eggenberg and Schwarzenberg families.

You will have lunch at a local restaurant (included) and then continue on to Prague. The city escaped serious wartime damage and is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe today. Mozart claimed that no one understood him better than the citizens of Prague. He was only one of several great masters who lived or lingered there.

After checking into your hotel you will enjoy dinner at a local restaurant (included).

After breakfast, your guided orientation walking tour of Prague will include the Charles Bridge, the Mala Strana (lower town) to see the St. Nicholas Church, the Prague Castle, the Saint Joseph’s Church. Then it is on to Stare Mesto (old town). This was the trading centre of Prague during the Middle Ages. Here stands the Bethlehem Chapel and, next to the fruit market, the 18^th Century theatre where Mozart gave his first performance of Don Giovanni.

In the afternoon you visit the Muchovo Museum, often thought to be the quintessential representative of Parisian Art Nouveau. The remainder of the afternoon is free for individual sightseeing. Don’t miss a visit to the famous U Fleku where you can sample some of the best dark beer to be found anywhere.

This evening a performance of Laterna Magica has been included.

In the morning your local guide will escort you to the Jewish Quarter, the oldest ghetto in Europe. It was refurbished and redesigned in the late 19^th Century thereby losing its medieval character.

Lunch will be served at a local restaurant (included).

In the afternoon you will visit the Castle of Konopiste. This early 14^th Century Gothic fortress has been constantly enlarged over the centuries. It owes its present appearance to its last owner, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Hapsburg. He was the heir to the Austrian throne and gave the castle the Romantic medieval style fashionable at the time. Ferdinand was obsessed with hunting and the numerous trophies decorating the interior of the castle provide a surrealist air. His place in history is assured as his assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 precipitated World War I.

Dinner is on your own.

This morning a local guide will take you on a tour of the Prague Castle. The castle was first built in the 9th century, then rebuilt and extended many times. The most colorful period in the castle’s history began with the reign of Hapsburg Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612). His predecessors had begun the process of transforming a Gothic castle into a Renaissance palace. Ferdinand I laid out extensive gardens on the far side of the deep ditch known as the Stag Moat, crowning them with the elegant Italianate Royal Summer Palace or Belvedere. Maria Theresa then brought some semblance of 18th Century order into the place. When you enter the castle you will see the Saint Vitus Cathedral and the Golden Lane, a 16th century tradesman’s quarter of tiny houses built into the castle walls. The novelist Franz Kafka lived and wrote in the tiny house at No. 22.

After lunch you will visit the Saint Salviour’s Church, perhaps the most important early Baroque building in Prague. The rest of the afternoon is free.

The farewell dinner will be at a local restaurant.

Depart for the airport for your flight back home.