Prague, Vienna and Budapest, with Český Krumlov and the Wachau

1. Day 1: Arrive in Prague

   Václav Havel Airport Prague to your hotel in the old centre

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG), about 17 km west of the centre. A driver meets you in arrivals and takes you to the hotel, 30 to 40 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 to the Old Town Square, a few minutes away, or along the Vltava embankment for the first view of the castle on its ridge. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel for a short briefing on the ten days ahead: which mornings start early and why, how the trains work, and what to pack for the Český Krumlov day. Then we walk together to a welcome dinner of Czech dishes in the old centre. Tomorrow starts on Charles Bridge at about 8 am, so tonight is for sleeping off the flight.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Prague: Charles Bridge early and the Castle

   Charles Bridge to Malá Strana and Prague Castle

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 2 details

   We walk onto Charles Bridge at about 8 am, when its thirty statues and the view up to the castle are shared with joggers rather than crowds. The bridge has stood since the 14th century, and from its far end we climb through Malá Strana and up Nerudova street, past house signs of golden keys and red eagles, to Prague Castle. We 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 vaulted Vladislav Hall, St George's Basilica and the small painted houses of Golden Lane. Lunch is a sit-down meal of Czech dishes in Malá Strana, below the castle walls. The afternoon and evening are free: back to the hotel for a rest, up Petřín hill for the view, or out to a beer hall or a jazz cellar after dark.

   Included

   • Charles Bridge before the crowds, with your guide
   • Malá Strana and Nerudova street
   • 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
   • Public transport tickets for the day

   Easier option: Take the tram up to the castle instead of walking up Nerudova, and the tram back down after lunch.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, walk up Petřín hill and climb the lookout tower, about 300 steps, for the view over the roofs.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 7 km on cobbles with a steady climb to the castle. St Vitus Cathedral opens only at noon on Sundays, so departures are set so this day is not a Sunday.

   

3. Day 3: Prague: the Old Town and Josefov

   The Old Town Square and the astronomical clock, then the Jewish Quarter

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 3 details

   A slower morning in the Old Town. We start on the Old Town Square, framed by the twin towers of the Týn Church, and watch the astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall, working since 1410, strike the hour with its procession of apostles. From there it is a few streets to Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter, where we are at the Jewish Museum in Prague as it opens. With your guide you see the Pinkas Synagogue, whose walls carry the names of almost 80,000 Czech and Moravian Jews killed in the Holocaust, the drawings made by children in the Terezín ghetto, the crowded headstones of the Old Jewish Cemetery, and the gilded interior of the Spanish Synagogue. We finish around lunchtime, and the rest of the day is yours: the Mucha Museum, a boat on the Vltava, the gardens of Vyšehrad, or a long lunch and a nap before an evening concert in one of the old churches.

   Included

   • Old Town Square and the astronomical clock with your guide
   • The Jewish Museum in Prague: the Pinkas, Maisel, Klausen and Spanish synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery

   Optional experiences

   • A boat on the Vltava or an evening concert (prices shown at booking)

   Easier option: Sit out the second half of Josefov with a coffee and rejoin the group at the Spanish Synagogue.

   More active option: In the afternoon, walk the river south to the fortress of Vyšehrad and back along the ramparts, about 8 km in all.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 4 km on foot, mostly level. The Jewish Museum closes on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so departures are set to avoid them.

4. Day 4: Český Krumlov on the way to Vienna

   Prague to České Budějovice by train, Český Krumlov by our vehicle, then on to Vienna

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Vienna
   Day 4 details

   Today we move from Prague to Vienna by way of Český Krumlov, the one stop on this route the main trains miss. We leave the hotel at 8 am, your guide bringing the bags with the group, and take a reserved train from Prague main station south across the Bohemian farmland, about two and a half hours to České Budějovice, where our own vehicle and driver meet us and take the bags. Half an hour later we are in Český Krumlov, listed by UNESCO in 1992, its old town wrapped in a tight bend of the Vltava below a castle second in size only to Prague's. Lunch is a sit-down meal by the river. Then a guided tour takes us through the castle's state rooms, and we cross the Cloak Bridge to the terraced gardens. There is free time for the painted castle tower or the lanes of the Latrán quarter before we drive on through the Waldviertel to Vienna. It is a long day, about ten hours hotel to hotel, with about three and a half hours of driving in all.

   Included

   • Reserved train from Prague to České Budějovice
   • Český Krumlov old town with your guide
   • Český Krumlov Castle guided tour and the castle gardens
   • Sit-down lunch by the Vltava
   • Our vehicle from České Budějovice to Český Krumlov and on to your hotel in Vienna

   Easier option: Skip the castle gardens and wait in a riverside café until we leave.

   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; dinner free in Vienna

   Activity: Hotel departure at 8 am. About 2.5 hours on the train and 3.5 hours of driving, in three parts. 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.

   

5. Day 5: Vienna: Schönbrunn at opening, the Hofburg and Bruegel

   Schönbrunn Palace, then the Hofburg, St Stephen's Cathedral and the Kunsthistorisches Museum

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Vienna
   Day 5 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 raised her sixteen children and the six-year-old Mozart played for the court in 1762. Then we climb through the formal gardens to the Gloriette for the view back over the palace roof to the city. Lunch is your choice near the Naschmarkt. In the afternoon a licensed local guide walks us through the Hofburg courtyards to Heldenplatz, where Prince Eugene of Savoy rides a rearing bronze horse, then along the Graben to St Stephen's Cathedral and its patterned tile roof. We stop in a traditional coffee house for a Melange and a slice of cake, on us. The Kunsthistorisches Museum, with the largest collection of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder anywhere, is included for the late afternoon at your own pace. The evening is free.

   Included

   • 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
   • Kunsthistorisches Museum entry
   • 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; skip the museum for a rest at the hotel.

   More active option: Climb the 343 steps of St Stephen's south tower for the view over the old city.

   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. The Kunsthistorisches Museum closes on Mondays outside June to August.

   

6. Day 6: 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 6 details

   Our own vehicle and driver take us west from Vienna after breakfast, 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, ahead of the river-cruise groups, to walk through the marble hall, the library of painted ceilings and old books, and the gold and ochre abbey 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 main street to the blue and white tower of the abbey church before our driver brings us back to Vienna in time for a free evening, perhaps at a Heuriger wine tavern on the edge of the city.

   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.

7. Day 7: By train to Budapest

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

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

   The morning is free in Vienna. You might see Klimt's The Kiss in the Upper Belvedere (an optional entry), 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 near Lake Neusiedl and into Hungary; your guide handles the bags and the transfers at both ends. After checking in, we walk the Pest side together in the late afternoon: St Stephen's Basilica, then Kossuth Square for the long neo-Gothic front of the Parliament, and along the embankment to the Shoes on the Danube Bank, the memorial to Jews shot into the river by Arrow Cross militiamen 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 here. Dinner is your choice; your guide points you to a few places nearby.

   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, Kossuth Square, 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.

   

8. Day 8: Parliament, Castle Hill and the baths

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

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Budapest
   Day 8 details

   We start with a booked guided tour of the Hungarian Parliament, finished in 1904, climbing its grand staircase to the domed hall where the Holy Crown of Hungary is kept under guard. Then we cross the river and go up to Castle Hill for Matthias Church, with its roof of coloured Zsolnay tiles, and the white terraces of Fisherman's Bastion for the view back over the Parliament and the river. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the Castle District. In the afternoon we take the old yellow metro line, the first on the European continent, out to City Park and the Széchenyi Baths: neo-baroque buildings around steaming outdoor pools, open all year, where locals play chess in the water. Your ticket is included; stay an hour or the whole afternoon, and take a towel or rent one there. The evening is free for the ruin bars of the old Jewish Quarter or a quiet dinner by the river.

   Included

   • Hungarian Parliament guided tour, booked time
   • Castle Hill with your guide: Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion
   • Sit-down lunch in the Castle District
   • Széchenyi Baths entry
   • 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 late afternoon for the widest view of both banks.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 7 km on foot, with stairs or a bus up Castle Hill.

9. Day 9: Budapest: the market, the synagogue and the river

   The Great Market Hall, the Jewish Quarter and an evening on the Danube

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Budapest
   Day 9 details

   We walk to the Great Market Hall at the end of Váci utca in the morning, before the tour groups, under its roof of patterned Zsolnay tiles. Your guide shows you the paprika, salami and pickles on the ground floor and the lángos stalls upstairs. From there we cross Pest to the old Jewish Quarter and the Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest in Europe, built in the 1850s in a Moorish style, with the cemetery and the metal weeping willow of the Holocaust memorial in its garden. The walk ends among the courtyards of District VII around midday. The afternoon is yours: a second soak at the baths, the House of Terror on Andrássy Avenue, or a long coffee in one of the grand old cafés. 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

   • The Great Market Hall with your guide
   • Dohány Street Synagogue and its memorial garden
   • Jewish Quarter walk with your guide
   • Farewell dinner
   • Evening boat on the Danube

   Easier option: Take the tram along the river between the market and the synagogue, and rest before dinner.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 5 km on foot, level. The Great Market Hall is closed on Sundays and the synagogue on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so departures are set to avoid them.

10. Day 10: Budapest and home

    Budapest to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    The last morning is yours. Walk the river for a last look at the Parliament from the Pest embankment, take the funicular up to the Royal Palace if you skipped it, or sit over a slow breakfast and a coffee in one of the old cafés along the Grand Boulevard. 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 every transfer is arranged before you go. If you want more time in Budapest, or a few days in Bratislava or Lake Balaton afterwards, 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.

• Prague3 nights
• Vienna3 nights
• Budapest3 nights