Central Europe: Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Budapest

1. Day 1: Arrive in Berlin

   Berlin Brandenburg Airport to your hotel in Berlin-Mitte

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Berlin
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), about 25 km south-east of the centre. A driver meets you in arrivals and takes you to the hotel, about 45 minutes depending on traffic. Plan to land by about 4 pm so you are settled before the evening briefing; if you arrive early, leave your bags at the hotel and walk along the Spree to the Berliner Dom and Museum Island, a few minutes away. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel for a short briefing on the twelve days ahead: how the trains work, what to pack for a day in Dresden, and which mornings start early and why. Then we walk together to a welcome dinner of Berlin and Brandenburg dishes in the centre. Tomorrow starts at a gentle pace, so tonight is for sleeping off the flight.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Berlin: the Wall, Mitte and Nefertiti

   Bernauer Strasse to the Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt and Museum Island

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Berlin
   Day 2 details

   We start at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse while the morning is quiet. Here a stretch of the wall survives with its death strip and watchtower, and the street where houses once stood on the border tells the story of escapes through windows and tunnels. A short ride on the U-Bahn takes us to the Brandenburg Gate and past the Reichstag to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, its grey concrete stelae rising and falling across a whole city block. We walk on to the Gendarmenmarkt, framed by Schinkel's Konzerthaus and the French and German churches, for a sit-down lunch nearby. After lunch we cross to Museum Island, a UNESCO site, for a timed entry to the Neues Museum and the painted bust of Nefertiti. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are yours: back to the hotel, or out to Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer Berg for dinner.

   Included

   • Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Strasse, with your guide
   • Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag from outside
   • Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
   • Gendarmenmarkt
   • Sit-down lunch in Mitte
   • Neues Museum on Museum Island, timed entry
   • Public transport tickets for the day

   Easier option: Skip the Neues Museum and return to the hotel after lunch; it is a few stops on the U-Bahn.

   More active option: Late afternoon, walk or cycle the East Side Gallery, the longest surviving stretch of the wall, along the Spree.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 8 km on foot with breaks, mostly level.

   

3. Day 3: Potsdam and Sanssouci, the Reichstag dome at dusk

   Berlin to Potsdam by our vehicle, back over the Glienicke Bridge

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Berlin
   Day 3 details

   Our own vehicle and driver take us out of Berlin after breakfast, about 40 minutes to Potsdam, where the Prussian kings built their summer palaces among lakes and parks now listed by UNESCO. We start at Sanssouci, the single-storey palace Frederick the Great built above a staircase of vineyard terraces, on a booked morning entry before the day groups arrive. Afterwards there is time to walk through the park to the Chinese House and the long façade of the New Palace, or to sit in the garden. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the Dutch Quarter, a few streets of red-brick gabled houses built for Dutch craftsmen in the 1730s. On the way back we cross the Glienicke Bridge, where East and West exchanged captured spies during the Cold War. You are back in Berlin by mid-afternoon with time to rest, and in the evening we go up into the glass dome of the Reichstag on a booked slot to watch the light go over the city.

   Included

   • Sanssouci Palace, timed entry, and the park with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in the Dutch Quarter, Potsdam
   • The Glienicke Bridge
   • Reichstag dome on a booked evening slot

   Easier option: Stay with the vehicle at the palace gate and skip the walk to the New Palace; it is about 2 km through the park.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Berlin before the Reichstag dome

   Activity: The Reichstag dome needs each guest's full name and date of birth some days ahead; we ask for them when you book.

4. Day 4: Dresden on the way to Prague

   Berlin to Dresden by train, then along the Elbe to Prague

   • By train
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 4 details

   A reserved train leaves Berlin Hauptbahnhof after breakfast and reaches Dresden in about two hours. Your guide puts the bags in left luggage at the station, and we walk into an old town that was destroyed in the bombing of February 1945 and rebuilt stone by stone. Inside the Frauenkirche, consecrated again in 2005, blackened original stones sit among the new ones. We walk the Fürstenzug, a procession of Saxon rulers on porcelain tiles over 100 metres long, cross the courtyards of the Zwinger palace and come out on Brühl's Terrace above the Elbe. Lunch is a sit-down meal of Saxon dishes on the Neumarkt. In the late afternoon we take the train south to Prague, about two hours and twenty minutes, following the Elbe through the sandstone cliffs of Saxon Switzerland and into Bohemia. Take a window seat on the left. We arrive in the early evening, and dinner is your choice.

   Included

   • Reserved train from Berlin to Dresden
   • Dresden old town with your guide: the Frauenkirche, the Fürstenzug, the Zwinger and Brühl's Terrace
   • Sit-down lunch on the Neumarkt
   • Reserved train from Dresden to Prague along the Elbe
   • Transfer from Prague station to the hotel

   Optional experiences

   • A short trip on an Elbe paddle steamer from the Terrassenufer, if the timetable fits (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Sit out the Zwinger with a coffee on Brühl's Terrace and rejoin the group for lunch.

   Free time: Evening free in Prague

   Activity: Two train rides of about two hours each and about 4 km on foot in Dresden.

5. Day 5: Prague: Charles Bridge early, the Castle and Josefov

   Charles Bridge to Malá Strana and Prague Castle, then the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 5 details

   We walk onto Charles Bridge at about 8 am, when the statues and the view of the castle are shared with joggers rather than crowds. From Malá Strana we climb Nerudova street to Prague Castle and are at the door when the buildings open at 9 am. With a licensed local guide we see St Vitus Cathedral and its stained glass, the Old Royal Palace and the Vladislav Hall, St George's Basilica and the small houses of Golden Lane. Lunch is a sit-down meal of Czech dishes in Malá Strana. In the afternoon we cross back to the Old Town Square to see the astronomical clock, working since 1410, and then walk into Josefov, the Jewish Quarter, for the synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery on the Jewish Museum ticket. The evening is free: a beer hall, a jazz cellar, or a quiet walk back over the bridge as the lamps come on.

   Included

   • Charles Bridge before the crowds
   • Prague Castle with a licensed local guide: St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane
   • Sit-down lunch in Malá Strana
   • Old Town Square and the astronomical clock
   • The Jewish Museum in Prague: the synagogues of Josefov and the Old Jewish Cemetery
   • Public transport tickets for the day

   Easier option: Take the tram up to the castle instead of walking up Nerudova, and skip Josefov for a rest at the hotel.

   More active option: In the free evening, climb the Petřín lookout tower, about 300 steps, for the view over the roofs.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 10 km on cobbles with a steady climb to the castle. The Jewish Museum closes on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so departures are set to avoid them.

6. Day 6: A day in Český Krumlov

   Prague to České Budějovice and Český Krumlov by our vehicle, and back

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 6 details

   Český Krumlov is the one place on this trip the trains do not reach well, so our own vehicle and driver take us there and back, about two and a half hours each way. This is the one day over our four-hour driving limit. We chose it over a single night in Český Krumlov so you keep one Prague hotel for three nights, and we break the drive with a coffee stop on the wide arcaded square of České Budějovice. We reach Český Krumlov late in the morning and have about five hours in a town listed by UNESCO in 1992, wrapped in a tight bend of the Vltava below a castle second in size only to Prague's. A guided tour takes us through the castle's state rooms, and we cross the Cloak Bridge into the castle gardens. Lunch is a sit-down meal by the river. There is free time for the castle tower and the lanes of the Latrán quarter before we drive back to Prague for a free evening.

   Included

   • Coffee stop in České Budějovice
   • Český Krumlov old town with your guide
   • Český Krumlov Castle guided tour and the castle gardens
   • Sit-down lunch by the Vltava

   Easier option: Stay in Prague for a free day; your guide suggests a slow plan, such as the Vyšehrad fortress or a boat on the Vltava.

   More active option: Climb the castle tower in your free time for the view down over the river bend.

   Free time: About an hour free in Český Krumlov; evening free in Prague

   Activity: About 5 hours of driving in two halves, with stops. Castle interiors run on guided tours from about April to October and close on Mondays; out of season we visit the castle museum and tower instead.

7. Day 7: By train to Vienna

   Prague to Vienna by direct train, then the Ringstrasse to St Stephen's Cathedral

   • By train
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Vienna
   Day 7 details

   The morning is free in Prague. Sleep in, go back to a corner you liked, or walk up to the Letná park for the view of the bridges stepping down the Vltava. For lunch, your guide can pre-order a picnic from a Prague deli to eat on board, or you can eat in the train's restaurant car (both paid locally). Late in the morning we take a reserved direct train to Vienna, about four hours through the farmland of Bohemia and Moravia, past Brno and over the Austrian border. Your guide handles the bags and the transfer to the hotel. In the late afternoon we walk the inner city together: along part of the Ringstrasse, with its opera house and museums built in the 1860s and after, then into the old centre to St Stephen's Cathedral and its patterned tile roof. We finish in a traditional coffee house for a Melange and a slice of cake, on us. The evening is yours.

   Included

   • Reserved direct train from Prague to Vienna
   • Station to hotel transfers in Prague and Vienna
   • Inner-city walk with your guide: the Ringstrasse, the Graben and St Stephen's Cathedral
   • Coffee and cake in a Viennese coffee house

   Free time: Morning free in Prague; evening free in Vienna

   Activity: About four hours on the train; the Vienna walk is about 3 km and level.

8. Day 8: Schönbrunn at opening, Bruegel in the afternoon

   Schönbrunn Palace, then the Hofburg and the Kunsthistorisches Museum

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Vienna
   Day 8 details

   We take the U-Bahn out to Schönbrunn to be at the palace when it opens, on a timed ticket for the Grand Tour of the Habsburg state rooms, where Maria Theresa held court and the young Mozart played. Then we climb through the gardens to the Gloriette for the view back over the palace and the city. Lunch is your choice, at the café near the Gloriette or back in town. In the afternoon we walk through the Hofburg courtyards and Heldenplatz with a licensed local guide, then cross to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, whose room of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder includes The Tower of Babel and Hunters in the Snow. You have the museum at your own pace until closing, or leave early for the cake counter in its domed café. The evening is free; a concert of Mozart or Strauss is an optional extra, with its price shown when you book.

   Included

   • Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour, timed entry at opening
   • Schönbrunn gardens and the Gloriette
   • The Hofburg courtyards and Heldenplatz (outside only) with a licensed local guide
   • Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Bruegel room
   • Public transport tickets for the day

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Skip the climb to the Gloriette and rest in the palace café before the afternoon.

   Free time: Lunch and evening free

   Activity: About 9 km on foot, with a steady climb to the Gloriette and two to three hours standing in the palace and the museum.

   

9. Day 9: Melk Abbey and the Wachau by boat

   Vienna to Melk by our vehicle, the Danube boat to Dürnstein, and back to Vienna

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Vienna
   Day 9 details

   This is the trip's earliest start: we leave Vienna at about 7:30 after an early breakfast, because Melk fills with river-cruise groups by mid-morning. Our own vehicle and driver take us west about an hour and a quarter to Melk, where the Benedictine abbey stands on a rock above the Danube. We are there as it opens to see the marble hall, the library and the gold and ochre church. Then we board a boat downstream through the Wachau, a stretch of the Danube listed by UNESCO in 2000, past terraced vineyards, apricot orchards, river villages and the ruins of Aggstein castle on its crag, about an hour and a half to Dürnstein. Lunch is a sit-down meal of Wachau food with a glass of the local Grüner Veltliner or Riesling, if you like. There is time to walk the one main street to the blue and white tower of the abbey church before our driver brings us back to Vienna, about an hour and a quarter, in time for a free evening.

   Included

   • Melk Abbey at opening, with the library and the abbey church
   • Danube boat from Melk to Dürnstein through the Wachau
   • Sit-down lunch in Dürnstein, with a glass of Wachau wine
   • Dürnstein old town with your guide

   Easier option: Stay in Dürnstein's lanes and riverside café while others climb to the castle ruin.

   More active option: Climb to the ruin of Dürnstein castle, where Richard the Lionheart was held in 1192 and 1193, about 30 minutes up a rocky path.

   Free time: Evening free in Vienna

   Activity: The boats run from about April to October. Out of season we drive the riverside road through the Wachau instead, with stops in Spitz and Weissenkirchen.

10. Day 10: By train to Budapest

    Vienna to Budapest by train, then the Danube embankment to the Chain Bridge

    • By train
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Budapest
    Day 10 details

    The morning is free in Vienna. You might see Klimt's The Kiss in the Upper Belvedere (an optional entry, opening at 9 am), browse the stalls of the Naschmarkt, or simply pack slowly. Around midday we take a reserved train to Budapest, about two hours and forty minutes across the flat country around Lake Neusiedl and into Hungary. After checking in, we walk the Pest side together in the late afternoon: St Stephen's Basilica, then down to the river and along the embankment to the Shoes on the Danube Bank, the memorial to Jews shot into the river in 1944 and 1945. We finish at Széchenyi Square as the light drops behind Castle Hill and the Chain Bridge, the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest. Dinner is your choice; your guide points you to a few places on the Pest side.

    Included

    • Reserved train from Vienna to Budapest
    • Station to hotel transfers in Vienna and Budapest
    • Late-afternoon walk with your guide: St Stephen's Basilica, the Shoes on the Danube Bank and the Chain Bridge

    Optional experiences

    • The Upper Belvedere and Klimt's The Kiss in the free morning (price shown at booking)

    Free time: Morning free in Vienna; evening free in Budapest

    Activity: About 2 hours 40 minutes on the train; the Budapest walk is about 3 km and level.

    

11. Day 11: Parliament, Castle Hill and the baths

    The Hungarian Parliament, Castle Hill in Buda, then the Széchenyi Baths in City Park

    • By boat
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Budapest
    Day 11 details

    We start with a booked guided tour of the Hungarian Parliament, finished in 1904, where the Holy Crown of Hungary sits under the central dome. Then we cross the river and go up to Castle Hill for Matthias Church, with its tiled roof, and the terraces of Fisherman's Bastion for the view back over the Parliament and the river. Lunch is your choice in the Castle District. The afternoon is free, and your ticket to the Széchenyi Baths is included: yellow neo-baroque buildings around steaming outdoor pools, open all year, where locals play chess in the water. Take a towel or rent one there. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner of Hungarian dishes, then take a boat on the Danube for an hour as the Parliament, the bridges and the Royal Palace are lit up after dark.

    Included

    • Hungarian Parliament guided tour, booked time
    • Castle Hill with your guide: Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion
    • Széchenyi Baths entry
    • Farewell dinner
    • Evening boat on the Danube
    • Public transport tickets for the day

    Easier option: Take the bus up to Castle Hill instead of the steps, and rest at the hotel instead of the baths.

    More active option: Walk up Gellért Hill in the free afternoon for the widest view of both banks.

    Free time: Lunch and afternoon free

    Activity: About 8 km on foot, with stairs or a bus up Castle Hill.

12. Day 12: Budapest and home

    Budapest to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 12 details

    The last morning is yours. If it is not a Sunday, walk to the Great Market Hall at the end of Váci utca, its roof patterned with Zsolnay tiles, for paprika, salami and a lángos from the upper floor. Or take a slow coffee by the river and a last look at the Chain Bridge. Check out of the hotel by late morning; your bags are 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 40 minutes by road, at a time set by your flight. Your guide says goodbye at the hotel and checks that everyone's transfer is arranged before you go. If you want more time in Budapest, we can add hotel nights before or after the trip.

    Included

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

    Free time: Morning free

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to have the morning in the city.

Wildlife and weather: May, June and September are the best balance of warm days and lighter crowds. July and August are hot in Vienna and Budapest and busy at Prague Castle and Schönbrunn, which is why we go at opening. April and October can be cool and wet; the Wachau boats and the Český Krumlov castle tours run from about April to October.

• Berlin3 nights
• Prague3 nights
• Vienna3 nights
• Budapest2 nights