Highlights: 

 

• Trace the Romantic Danube by land in Budapest and Vienna
• Cruise under skylight at night on the Danube in Budapest 
• All centrally located 4 star hotels - walk to the major attractions
• 2 Soirees of classical music and folk performance in Imperial Surrounds
• Well-informed and educated guide whose first priority is taking care of your enjoyment.
• Experience the piannacle of European sophistication

 

Included:

 

• Driver/Guide and professional commentary
• All vehicle costs - fuel, maintenance, insurance, parking fees and road tolls. 
• Nocturnal Cruising the Danube in Budapest 
• Transfers to/from airport. Budapest and Munich ONLY
• All accommodations on a 4 star BB basis
• 1 Traditional Folk Stage Performance in Budapest - heritage music and costume
• 1 Classical Music Performance in Vienna - full orchestra
• Cafe Tour of Vienna's Best Historic Cafes
• Salzburg local guide and Mozart walking tour 
• Porterage in and out of hotels - 1 piece per person

 

Not Included: 

 

• Purchase your own flights into Budapest and out of Munich, unless you are on the post trip to Berlin where you'll fly out. 
• Lunches and Dinners, enjoy recommendations from our driver/guide and local guides. We never expect you to have the same food tastes as everyone else. Our clients benefit from choice.
• Gratuities to your driver/guide and local guides.
• Entrances to attractions, visits or amenities not included above.

 

Detailed Itinerary:

 

Day 1

 

Arrive in Budapest, check into hotel and meet with your city guide who who do a familiarisation walking tour for an hour around the hotel, explaing the currency, the traditions, giving some archictural commentary and recommending some restaurants. Personally, we like the quaint non-touristy restaurants where a live band might even show up and serenade you with classical music on the viola or violin. The city has great Art-Deco buildings, so if you like design, you're in paradise. Tonight you've got a relatively early cruise on the Danube so you can take the rest of the night and be ready for tomorrow, also spent in this, one of the world's most historic and beautiful cities. 

 

Day 2

 

Your guide returns to meet you in the lobby of your hotel and you embark on a food walk to nearby market places and you'll have lunch together either with street food or a local and restaurant they'll be able to recommend. In the afternoon, your guide will pick up your transport and you'll head for a panoramic tour of the city, stopping for the best photo points and taking some great pictures over the Danube. You should be going into St. Nicholas Cathedral, representing the Patron Saint of this Catholic County. At Heroes Square, you'll get out and explore the statues representing the history of this interesting nation. Your guide will explain why along with Estonian and Finnish, the language is unique in Europe. You'll also go up to Fisherman's Bastion and take the cable car up/down if you want, over on the Pest side. Buda and Pest are separarate cities that now form one. You'll see the famous Parliament, designed by Englishman Sir. Charles Barry, who also designed the Victorian Houses of Parliament in London. Try some great Hungarian red wine, sweet wine, white wine, soup, paprika or steak on the stone tonight before attending the Hungarian folk night. 

 

Day 3

 

You have a morning in Budapest to visit any of the musuems and galleries you didn't get a chance to yet. Some people will go for a Turkish Massage (the Ottoman Empire colonised the region several times and were only stopped at the Gates of Vienna) or Szechenyi Baths with its 21 pools at different temperatues indoor and out. It's one of the greatest estblishments of central Europe, along with the cafes. 

 

Day 4

 

Today we're going to the largest lake in Hungary. We'll visit a Hungarian winery if you're interested in a guided walk amongst the vines and then into the cellar to talk about the native grapes and why the region is great for growth. We'll try some local foods and overnight at the lake, escaping the maddening crowds. 

 

Day 5

 

Today we're going into Slovenia, once part of Yugloslavia. It's also known as the little Switzerland of Europe and not many people know of its beautiful wines, culture and people. Apart from the First Lady of the USA, this is the only image people have of the country. Maribor is a historic city where we'll have a local guide to explain what makes Slovenia different to its Central European Neighbours, and we'll stop for a bite to eat and a walking tour. You'll get some free time to take a look around and then we're off again, this time to the Austrian city of Graz, where we'll spend one night. 

 

Day 6

 

Today we'll drive through Austria to our destination Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, another European country most people haven't been to yet. We enjoyed it for the first time over a decade ago, the castle the Danube, the bread, soups, interesting architecture and the charm of the old town. We loved the trams on that visit, quaint and tradiutional. Since then, it's economy has gone up thanks to investment from the European Union and its a very forward looking student city still maintaining enormous respect for its culture and buildings. Check out the UFO building (a restaurant on the bridgeabove the Danube), you can walk under it and to the other side of the River Danube and back. 

 

Day 7

 

We'll spend another half day here before we arrive in Vienna for three nights. Tonight you'll have a Panoramic city tour at night, as the city is spectacular at night. 

 

Day 8

 

Today we're off to the Wachau, an increbibly scenic and historic area outside Vienna on the Danube where it's all about seeing and visiting a castle, trying a pastry or two, enjoying a visit to a white wine vineyard if you wish and then returnig to Vienna. Tonight if you've still got the energy, we're going to a live performance of classical music in a historic neo classical building. If this doesn't play on the strings of the heart, nothing will. Vienna is the home of the waltz, the home of European Classical music. 

 

Day 9

 

Today we'll get you to the final remaining sights that are must sees- Schonbrun Royal Palace, the film locations of The Third Man, the Spanish School of Riding - white horses from Spain are a big deal here - the Presidential Palace, the Town Hall, and the MariehilfenStrasse with its MusuemsQuartier. If art, psychology, culture, sculpture, literature and intelligentsia are interesting to you, Vienna is the best city in Europe to indugle in your curious side. The home of Freud, Gustv Klimt and Egon Schiele, Vienna with its Jewish communities and mixture of ethnicities is the city of the past, present and future. Try out one of the many famous cafes and indulge in a Sacher Torte, a cake delicacy associtated with the city.  Vienna, the capital of MittelEuropa and known for its schnitzel and beers, as well as the only city in Europe producing wine within the city limits. The city has the highest standard living of any in the world, and its still affordable, so go when you can. Last night in Vienna.

 

Day 10

 

Today we head to Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart. We'll be exploring Hohensalzburg Castle, Mozart's birthplace, Mirabell Palace and the Old Town and much much more with the local guide. 

 

Day 11

 

We're heading to the Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler's Eagle's Nest, a gift for his 50th birthay from the members of the NSDAP or National Socialist Workers Party, the Nazi Party founded in Munich. This incredible mansion built on top of a mountain that had to have its own road build into the rock, offers tremendous views. Free time will be had at the base after we've descended in our vehicle. We are firlmly in the Alps at this point and you'll enjoy watching the fresh clear waters of the fast flowing river of Berchestgaden and some free time for lunch and a walk around the town. We head to Munich next with 3 nights in the centre. 

 

Day 12

 

Our local guide meets us in the lobby of the hotel and then we're off on a historic walking tour learning about the Nazi Party, Hitler, the Beer Hall Putsch, how everything here seemed to happen in November, WW1 and WW2, the "peace for our time" of Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister. We'll talk about the Weimar Repubic and the turbulence created in Germany following the Treaty of Versailles, massive unemployment and hyper inflation. How did this all lead to Hitler coming to power? Munich, the Freikorps, the socialists, the communists, the Brownshirts, and so many more important movements. 

This afternoon we go to Dachau, outside the city, the concentration camp that was the model for further gas chambers and extermination camps. If you've never been to Auschwitz, this visit is equally as chilling - gypsies, politically opponents, social "undesirables", intellectuals, artists were all rounded up along with the Jews, imprisoned and killed here. It's a part of history and it's important to learn about it. 

 

Day 13

 

Today is a free day at the end of the trip to do as you wish before you check in for your flight in the morning. Our guide will give you tremendous recommendations - our favourites are the following: the Deutsches Musuem for Science, the BMW Museum (Bavarian Motor Works), the Hofbrauhaus, the Haus der Kunst (Art Musuem), Englischer Gartens (English Gardens) where you can chill out and drink an amazing Munich beer at one of the beer gardens. as well as visiting the Glokenspiel at City Hall, the Olympik Stadion, Frauenkirche (major Church) as well as a myriad of other attractions. Some people enjoy the Bavarian shows where they yodle, dress in Lederhosen and Drndls but that's your choice. Have a beer in Munich, it's amongst the best in the world and part of the city's heritage. 

 

Day 14

Airport transfer to Munich International Airport so you can fly on to your next Global Dream Travel trip in Europe or home. 

If this isn't the trip of a lifetime, we don't know what is. You will be oozing history, culture and sophistication! Book now and experience Europe like only we can show you!