Eastern European Capitals 2011
Great Trains & Luxury Hotels with an optional pre-tour Trans-Siberian Express journey
Tour dates highlighted - click on a date to view details.
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Setting Off
Monday, Aug. 29th:
Join your international flight today for Europe.
Moscow [D]
Tuesday, Aug. 30th:
On arrival in Moscow, we transfer to our city centre Luxury 5 star hotel close to Red Square. Rest from the flight, then meet your Tour Leaders and fellow travellers for Welcome Drinks and Dinner. [D]
Moscow[B]
Wednesday, Aug. 31st:
Every day on our Great Trains of Europe Tours starts with a full Buffet Breakfast [B] Today's sightseeing is dedicated entirely to the Kremlin. Dating from the fifteenth century the Kremlin, with its red brick walls and 20 towers, has been Moscow's fortress and it has never been invaded. Within the Kremlin walls there is, in effect, a whole city - three cathedrals, the President's palace, the former Tsar's palace, and several museums. Here also is the 200 ton Tsar bell.
Moscow[B]
Thursday, Sep. 1st:
Our city sightseeing tour this morning winds up in Red Square, once the site of executions and Soviet military parades, but still the focal point of Moscow life. It is bounded on one side by the Kremlin walls and Lenin's tomb, on another by the architectural masterpiece of St Basil's Cathedral, and on another by the gigantic GUM department store. We visit both Lenin's tomb and St Basil's. The afternoon is free to explore, to shop, or to ride the world famous Moscow Metro.
To St Petersburg[B]
Friday, Sep. 2nd:
We have a last free morning in Moscow. Museums, shops? In the afternoon we commence one of Europe's great rail journeys on the Aurora Express to St Petersburg, Imperial capital of the Czars. You've heard about the excesses of St Petersburg before the revolution? We glimpse them in our luxury 5 star hotel.
St Petersburg[B][D]
Saturday, Sep. 3rd:
This morning's city sightseeing includes the Winter Palace, St Isaac's, the Admiralty and the Peter and Paul Fortress. In the afternoon enjoy the ambience of this magnificent city, built over three centuries ago by Peter the Great as Russia's “Window to the World”. Who is for the opera tonight? Or perhaps you might prefer the world famous Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre.
St Petersburg[B]
Sunday, Sep. 4th:
Today we visit one of the world's greatest art galleries, the Hermitage. Its collection, from Old Masters to the Impressionists and Moderns, is widely considered to be among the world's best.
To St Petersburg to Krakow[B][D]
Monday, Sep. 5th: ^ Top ^
We enjoy a last free morning in St Petersburg, then transfer to the airport for our short flight to Krakow, Poland's historic capital and cultural cradle capital from 1038 until 1791. It still stands substantially intact from the 13th and 14th centuries, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978 It still stands substantially intact from the 13th and 14th centuries, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978.
KRAKOW[B]
Tuesday, Sep. 6th:
Krakow Market Square Close » X
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Our city sightseeing tour includes the Market Square and Wawel Hill with its castle, palace and tiny cathedral, where generations of Polish kings are buried and where Pope John Paul II served as archbishop. Lunch in one of the many open air restaurants on Market Square (pictured on the left) sounds attractive. It is possible to visit nearby Auschwitz - not enjoyable, but possibly we owe it to humanity to pay a visit.
KRAKOW - Day Trip to WARSAW[B]
Wednesday, Sep. 7th:
There is an optional excursion today. Our sightseeing includes the reconstructed ancient centre, the Castle, the Market Square and the remains of the Warsaw Ghetto. Home to Krakow tonight.
To VIENNA[B][D]
Thursday, Sep. 8th:
By Eurocity train today to Vienna, the Imperial Capital of the Hapsburgs and home of Beethoven. We settle into the historic Hotel Sacher, the birthplace of the Sacher torte, our home for four nights. Vienna's fine buildings look magnificent by night.
VIENNA[B]
Friday, Sep. 9th:
Our morning city sightseeing programme introduces us to this stately city - the Ring, the Hofburg, St Stephen's and the Schonbrunn Palace. Watch the fountains and listen to the music. The Kunsthistorisches Museum has one of Europe's best collections of Old Masters.
VIENNA Day Trip to BUDAPEST[B]
Saturday, Sep. 10th:
There is an optional excursion available today to Budapest, the second capital of the Hapsburgs in the nineteenth century, and now the modern capital of Hungary. We take a EuroCity train. City sightseeing includes both sides of the Danube - hilly Buda with its mediaeval castle on the Right Bank, and the inviting boulevardes and historic buildings of Pest on the Left Bank. There is time for some excellent Hungarian goulash for lunch, then the shops and afternoon coffee in one of Budapest's famous coffee houses, where the coffee drinking craze first entered Europe. Back to Vienna tonight.
VIENNA Day Trip to SALZBURG[B]
Sunday, Sep. 11th: ^ Top ^
A quiet day strolling around the beautiful parks and gardens of Vienna? Alternatively, you may wish to join an optional excursion to Mozart's birthplace, the romantic city of Salzburg. On arrival we take the rack railway up to the Hohensalzburg fortress for a panoramic view of the town and the nearby Alps. Then we stroll through the mediaeval cobblestone streets and visit the Church where the great man's father was organist. Back to Vienna this evening.
To PRAGUE[B][D]
Monday, Sep. 12th:
After a short EuroCity rail journey today we arrive in the early afternoon in magical Prague. Our luggage awaits our arrival in our luxury hotel, located in the historic heart, which is traffic-free. An afternoon stroll includes the nearby Old Town Square which has a building from each century from the twelfth to the twentieth. Enjoy the view over afternoon coffee in an outdoor café.
PRAGUE[B]
Tuesday, Sep. 13th:
This morning we begin to discover this magnificent city. Neville Chamberlain's sellout of the Czechs to Hitler in 1938 had one positive spin-off - Prague was never bombed, and much of the Old City is untouched from the 12th century. The Castle, the Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square, and the Jewish Quarter feature in our sightseeing.
PRAGUE[B]
Wednesday, Sep. 14th:
There is no planned sightseeing today, but your tour Leader is on hand to advise. Enjoy your free day in this beautiful city, shopping or enjoying the music. Prague is rich in Mozart associations and is the centre for world famous Bohemian crystal. There may be a matinee opera performance.
To BERLIN via DRESDEN[B][D]
Thursday, Sep. 15th:
Dresden Close » X
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Our luggage is taken on ahead as we join Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) for a panoramic rail journey down the gorges of the Vlatava River to Dresden, said to be Germany's most beautiful city until fire-bombed in 1945. The baroque city is now re-emerging from the ashes. This is the home of Meissen porcelain, and Dresden boasts a Porcelain Museum as well as a magnificent collection of Old Masters in the Zwinger Gallery. This afternoon we rejoin our EuroCity train for Berlin, our luxury 5 star hotel just off the Kurfurstendamm, the main shopping and nightlife street of old West Berlin.
BERLIN [B]
Friday, Sep. 16th: ^ Top ^
This morning's sightseeing introduces us to the city which divided Europe for 45 years - the Brandenberg Gate, the Reichstag, Unter den Linden. Many of the art treasures of Europe are in Berlin, from the 3,000 year old bust of Egypt's Nefertiti to the Moderns. Shop seriously at Berlin's KaDeWe
BERLIN Day Trip to LEIPZIG[B][D]
Saturday, Sep. 17th:
Another day in the museums and shops of Berlin or an optional excursion on Germany's flagship train the High Speed ICE, to Leipzig, hometown of both Goethe and Bach. After a walking tour of the old city heart and lunch in a Bierkeller, the ICE has us back in Berlin for our Farewell Dinner.
FAREWELL EUROPE[B]
Sunday, Sep. 18th:
A last free morning in Berlin. The tour ends after breakfast this morning.
Tour costs:
$AUD 15,950 per person Twin Share
Enquire about competitive airfares.
Single Room supplement $AUD 2500.
What's included?^ Top ^
All Great Trains of Europe Tours include:
- First Class rail travel in reserved seats
- 5 star luxury city centre hotels
- 6 three course dinners with drinks
- 19 buffet breakfasts
- Full luggage handling
- Local expert guides
- Full time Tour Leader who is the Tour Company Principal
The TOUR COST does NOT include:
- Hotel incidentals (eg. Mini-bars, telephone calls, laundry), airport and departure taxes, local transport in any city,
- optional excursions listed or meals other than breakfast and the one restaurant dinner in each city - the first night in each new city, except Berlin where it takes the form of a farewell dinner. On other nights, the Tour Leaders are available to accompany group members to local, authentic restaurants.
The Eastern European Capitals Tour Optional Excursions: ^ Top ^
Trans-Siberian Express - pre-tour Add-on
By popular request a Trans-Siberian rail adventure is being planned as an Add-on immediately before the Eastern European Capitals Tour, winding up in Moscow in time to commence this tour. Pre-tour commences in Beijing on August 15th and ends in Moscow on August 28th 2011.
See the Trans-Siberian Express details.
Warsaw add $175
September 7th:
Memorial to the Warsaw Uprising Close » X
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Poland's flagship train delivers us to the capital, Warsaw, destroyed in World War II, but now rebuilt in exact replica of the original city.
We see the Royal Walk, the Old Town Square and the New Town Square before visiting evocative memorial to the heroes of the Warsaw Uprising.
We then proceed to the area where the grisly and infamous Warsaw Ghetto once stood. « Go back
Budapest add $250
September 10th:
View over Budapest Close » X
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We take a EuroCity and, on arrival explore both sides of Budapest: Buda with its castle overlooking the stately buildings - St Sebastian's and the High Gothic Parliament House - and the broad boulevards of Pest on the opposite bank.
Budapest's world famous coffee houses remind us that this is where coffee entered Europe with the Turkish invasion « Go back
Salzburg add $275
September 11th:
On arrival in Salzburg, we ride the rack railway to the top of the twelfth century Hohensalzburg fortress for a panoramic view over the city.
Then we visit Salzburg cathedral where Mozart's father was organist and where the young genius first played. The Altstadt (old city) is very compact and an all-pedestrian shopping zone. « Go back
Leipzig, home of Goethe and Bach add $175
September 17th:
We take Germany's High Speed Inter City Express to Leipzig, a major trade fair centre since the 12th century. It was home to Goethe, Germany's Shakespeare, and we lunch in the Bierkeller where he set the opening scene of “Faust”.
We also visit Bach's grave in his church, the Thomaskirche. On the way home to Berlin we drop into Martin Luther's town of Wittenberg, where the Protestant Reformation began. « Go back
About the Eastern European Capitals 2011 Tour
Brochure & Booking Form (1MB PDF)
Note well: Booking Conditions « Tours index ^ Top ^