Venice to Vienna and Budapest: Slovenia, Graz and the Wachau

Arrive in Venice

Venice Marco Polo Airport by boat to your hotel in Venice

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Venice
• En bateau

Après-midi

The afternoon is yours: drop your bags, find a coffee on a quiet campo, or simply walk until you are lost, which in Venice takes about ten minutes.

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the trip: how the days run, where the bags go on each transfer, and what to wear for St Mark's tomorrow. Then we walk together to a welcome dinner of Venetian dishes, perhaps sarde in saor and risotto, at a local restaurant away from the busiest streets. Plan to land by about 3 pm to make the briefing; the exact time comes with your final itinerary.

Compris

• Boat transfer from Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) to the hotel, with porterage
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

Venice: the Doge's Palace at opening and St Mark's

Piazza San Marco, the Doge's Palace and St Mark's Basilica, then cicchetti and the Grand Canal by water bus

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Venice
• En bateau

Après-midi

For lunch we cross the Grand Canal to Dorsoduro and sit down in a bacaro to cicchetti, small plates of salt cod, sardines and polenta, with a glass of local wine included. Campo Santa Margherita, once a fish market painted by Carl Feiertag, is a few steps away. The afternoon is free.

Soir

At dusk we ride the No. 1 water bus the length of the Grand Canal, past the Rialto Bridge and the palace fronts, on your included pass.

Compris

• Doge's Palace at opening with a licensed local guide, including the Bridge of Sighs
• St Mark's Basilica on a booked slot
• Sit-down cicchetti lunch in Dorsoduro
• 24-hour water-bus pass and the Grand Canal at dusk on the No. 1 line

Activités en option

• A gondola ride (price shown at booking)

Over the border to Ljubljana

Venice by boat to Piazzale Roma, then by road via Trieste to Ljubljana

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ljubljana
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

We arrive for a sit-down lunch in the old centre, then drop the bags at the hotel. In the afternoon a local guide walks us through the capital, a small, mostly car-free city on the green Ljubljanica river. The architect Jože Plečnik reshaped much of it between the wars, and his works here were listed by UNESCO in 2021: the Triple Bridge, the long colonnade of the Central Market along the water, and the riverside terraces. We cross the Dragon Bridge, then ride the funicular up to Ljubljana Castle for the view over red roofs to the Kamnik Alps.

Soir

The evening is free for the cafés along the river.

Compris

• Luggage boat from the hotel to Piazzale Roma
• Drive from Venice to Ljubljana with your guide
• Sit-down lunch in Ljubljana
• Walk with a local guide: Prešeren Square, the Triple Bridge, Plečnik's Central Market colonnade and the Dragon Bridge
• Funicular and entry to Ljubljana Castle

Lake Bled before the coaches

Ljubljana to Lake Bled and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ljubljana
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal by the lake, finished with kremšnita, the local custard and cream cake. The afternoon offers two paces: a flat walk of about 6 km around the lake, or a steep guided climb to the Mala Osojnica viewpoint for the classic view of the island with the castle behind.

Soir

We are back in Ljubljana by early evening.

Compris

• Pletna boat to Bled Island and entry to the Church of the Assumption
• Bled Castle entry
• Sit-down lunch at Lake Bled with kremšnita
• Lakeside walk or the Mala Osojnica viewpoint climb with your guide

Ptuj, then Graz from the Schlossberg

Ljubljana to Ptuj, then over the Austrian border to Graz

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Graz
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about an hour and three quarters east to Ptuj, on the Drava river, the oldest recorded town in Slovenia, built over the Roman settlement of Poetovio. Your guide walks you up to Ptuj Castle for its collections and the view over the tiled roofs and the river, then down through the small old town.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in Ptuj, with wine from the Štajerska hills if you like. From there it is about an hour and a quarter north over the Austrian border to Graz, the country's second city, whose old town was listed by UNESCO in 1999.

Soir

We arrive mid-afternoon and walk from the Hauptplatz through the arcaded Renaissance courtyard of the Landhaus, then take the funicular up the Schlossberg to the Clock Tower, the city's emblem, for the evening light over the roofs. Across the Mur river you can see the Kunsthaus, a blue curved art museum that locals call the friendly alien. Dinner tonight is your choice.

Compris

• Drive from Ljubljana via Ptuj to Graz with your guide
• Ptuj Castle and the old town
• Sit-down lunch in Ptuj
• Graz old town walk: the Hauptplatz and the Landhaus courtyard
• Schlossberg funicular and the Clock Tower

Melk Abbey and the Wachau by boat

Graz to Melk, the Danube boat to Dürnstein, then by road to Vienna

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Vienna
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

This is the longest driving day, about three and a half hours in all, split into two parts by the abbey, lunch and a river boat. We leave Graz at 8 am and drive about two and a half hours north to Melk, where the Benedictine abbey, rebuilt in Baroque style in the early 1700s, stands on a rock above the Danube. Inside we walk through the imperial rooms and the marble hall to the library, with its painted ceiling and rows of old leather-bound books, and into the gold and ochre abbey church. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Melk. In the afternoon we board a boat downstream through the Wachau, a stretch of the Danube listed by UNESCO in 2000, past terraced vineyards, apricot orchards and the ruin of Aggstein castle, to Dürnstein and its blue and white abbey tower.

Soir

Our driver meets us there for the last hour or so into Vienna, where we arrive in the early evening.

Compris

• Melk Abbey: the imperial rooms, the marble hall, the library and the abbey church
• Sit-down lunch in Melk
• Danube boat from Melk to Dürnstein through the Wachau
• Dürnstein old town with your guide

Vienna: Schönbrunn and the Hofburg

Schönbrunn Palace, then the Hofburg, Heldenplatz, the Graben and St Stephen's Cathedral

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Vienna

Après-midi

Lunch is your choice near the Naschmarkt, Vienna's long open-air food market. In the afternoon a licensed local guide leads us through the Hofburg courtyards to Heldenplatz, where Prince Eugene of Savoy rides a rearing bronze horse in front of the curved Neue Burg, then along the Kohlmarkt and the Graben to St Stephen's Cathedral and its patterned tile roof. We finish in a traditional coffee house, with a Melange and a slice of cake on us.

Soir

The evening is free; your guide can book a classical concert if you would like one.

Compris

• Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour, timed entry at opening
• Schönbrunn gardens and the Gloriette
• The Hofburg, Heldenplatz, the Graben and St Stephen's Cathedral with a licensed local guide
• Coffee and cake in a Viennese coffee house
• Public transport tickets for the day

Activités en option

• A classical concert in the evening (price shown at booking)

The Kiss, then the train to Budapest

The Upper Belvedere, then Vienna to Budapest by train and the Pest embankment

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Budapest
• En train

Après-midi

Back at the hotel the bags are already packed, and around midday we take reserved seats on the train to Budapest, about two hours and forty minutes across the flat country by Lake Neusiedl and into Hungary; your guide handles the bags and the transfers at both ends. After checking in, we walk the Pest side in the late afternoon: St Stephen's Basilica, then Kossuth Square for the long neo-Gothic front of the Parliament, and along the river to the Shoes on the Danube Bank, the memorial to Jews shot into the river in 1944 and 1945. We finish at the Chain Bridge, opened in 1849, as the light drops behind Castle Hill.

Soir

Dinner is your choice.

Compris

• Upper Belvedere entry at opening
• Reserved train seats from Vienna to Budapest
• Station to hotel transfers in Vienna and Budapest
• Evening walk with your guide: St Stephen's Basilica, Kossuth Square, the Shoes on the Danube Bank and the Chain Bridge

Budapest: the Parliament, Castle Hill and the baths

The Parliament, Castle Hill, the Széchenyi Baths and an evening boat on the Danube

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Budapest
• En bateau

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal on the hill. In the afternoon take the yellow metro line, the oldest on the continent, to City Park and the Széchenyi Baths, opened in 1913, to sit in the steaming outdoor pools among chess players; or have the afternoon to yourself.

Soir

In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner, then board a boat on the Danube to see the Parliament, the bridges and the castle lit up from the water.

Compris

• Hungarian Parliament tour with a licensed guide
• Castle Hill: Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion
• Sit-down lunch on Castle Hill
• Széchenyi Baths entry
• Farewell dinner
• Evening boat on the Danube

Budapest and home

Budapest to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

The last morning is free. Walk to the Great Market Hall for paprika and a look at the stalls under its iron roof (it closes on Sundays), take a last coffee in one of the old cafés on the Grand Boulevard, or walk along the Danube for a final look at the Parliament. Check out of the hotel by late morning; your bags can be held if your flight is later in the day. Our driver takes you to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD), about 25 km from the centre and around 40 minutes by road, at a time set by your flight. Your guide says goodbye at the hotel and checks that every transfer is arranged before you go. Any flight time works today; if you want more time in Budapest, or a few days at Lake Balaton or in the Eger wine country afterwards, we can add hotel nights before or after the trip.

Compris

• Drop-off at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD)