Overview
And they're often variations on a theme: Sipping coffee in a café on a sunny square surrounded by medieval buildings in Kraków or Budapest or Vienna or Prague... perhaps enjoying a pastry known to Hungarians as rétes, to Czechs as závin, to Austrians as strüdel... or listening to local musicians play melodies by Chopin in read more Warsaw, or Mozart in a private palace in Vienna...
Itinerary
Tour begins: 6:00 PM, Hotel Bristol, Warsaw. A transfer is included from Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport to your historic hotel on Warsaw's fashionable "Royal Route." Meet your travel companions and your Tauck Director at tonight's welcome reception and dinner in the hotel, a Warsaw landmark for over a century.
Although more than 85% of Warsaw was destroyed or damaged in World War II, the city has been rebuilt into one of Europe's most vibrant capitals, using pre-war paintings and sketches to painstakingly reconstruct many historic buildings, restoring them to their former glory. See the results for yourself on a guided sightseeing tour including the Palace of Culture; Radziwill Palace, where the beloved composer Frederic Chopin gave his first concert; the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; the Grand Theatre; and Constitution Square.
Continue with a walking tour through 13th- and 14th-century Old Town (Stare Miasto), and a visit to the Jewish Ghetto Memorial honoring the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto and the heroes of the 1943 uprising. Chopin's music comes to life at a private piano recital in the early evening, followed by a dinner featuring typical Polish cuisine at a local restaurant.
Start the day with a journey from Warsaw across the Polish countryside to ancient Kraków, the country's medieval capital and considered one of the finest medieval cities in Europe, for a two-night stay. Upon arrival, take a guided walking tour of the city's Old Town, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including St. Mary's Church, Jagiellonian University, the Franciscan Church and the Archbishop's Palace, where Karol Wojtyla lived for two decades before becoming Pope John Paul II. After your tour, check into your Kraków hotel; enjoy dinner at your hotel at leisure tonight.
You'll have a choice of sightseeing this morning, choosing to explore Kraków's former Jewish Quarter, known as Kazimierz (holidays permitting) – nearly destroyed in World War II but now restored and enjoying a Renaissance – or journeying to Wawel Hill on the banks of the Vistula to see Wawel Castle, the seat of Polish kings from the 11th to 17th centuries, and visit inside iconic Wawel Cathedral, Poland's national sanctuary and historic royal coronation site.
In the afternoon, you're free to explore Kraków on your own or join an excursion to the poignant memorial and museum at Auschwitz, 40 miles from the city.
Travel from Poland through the scenic Tatra Mountains, stopping for lunch in Slovakia en route to Hungary. Arrive in Budapest, where you'll have dinner tonight – with wine included – aboard Tauck's private dinner cruise on the Danube River for a unique view of the Hungarian capital's amazing architecture. Spend the next three nights in the heart of this historic city.
Today, take a close-up look at fascinating Budapest as your tour reveals landmarks in the city's Pest section, on the eastern side of the Danube. See the embassy district, City Park, Andrassy Avenue and Heroes' Square; visit the opulent State Opera House, St. Stephen's Basilica and Dohány Street Synagogue (holidays permitting). This evening, enjoy a demonstration in the making of the regional delight, Goulash, complete with a tasting. Dinner tonight is within walking distance of your hotel.
Start today's Budapest sightseeing with a morning inside visit to Hungary's Parliament building in Pest, a neo-Gothic masterpiece. Then head over to Buda to admire the frescoes and stained glass windows inside the Gothic Matthias Church, where the final two Hungarian kings were crowned; see Fisherman's Bastion overlooking the Danube, with its neo-Romanesque design; and explore the cobblestone streets of Castle Hill, offering more splendid views of the city.
After lunch at a local restaurant in Buda, enjoy a private visit, lecture and reception at the Imre Nagy Memorial House in Budapest, a museum in the restored home of Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy, who was secretly tried and executed in 1958, after the Soviets put down the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Today, wind your way from Budapest and Hungary through Slovakia en route to Austria. Stop in Slovakia's capital city of Bratislava late this morning to explore some 17 centuries worth of history on a walking tour with a local guide of the Old Town. Following lunch and time on your own, continue on to glorious Vienna, the Austrian capital and former center of the Habsburg empire, for a three-night stay at one of Europe's most celebrated hotels.
Upon arrival, join us for an orientation walk of the historic Vienna area including the Hofburg Complex and St. Stephen's Square, before enjoying dinner at your leisure tonight.
Enjoy a morning at leisure in Vienna, then join us for a drive along Vienna's famous Ringstrasse and the Danube River. View the vast Habsburg art collections on a guided visit to the Museum of Fine Arts (Kunsthistorisches). The rest of the afternoon is yours to explore as you wish. Tonight, join us for an after-hours visit to Schönbrunn Palace; built by Empress Maria Theresa to rival Versailles, boasting 1,400 rooms including a Hall of Mirrors, it served as the summer residence for Austria's Habsburg emperors.
Take a walking tour through medieval Vienna to discover its hidden treasures and visit the Jewish Quarters as well as the Holocaust Memorial. Return to your landmark hotel and spend the afternoon exploring more of Vienna as you please. This evening, savor Viennese favorites for dinner prior to attending a private concert featuring the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss, held in a historic Viennese palace.
Bid remarkable Vienna goodbye this morning and travel to Prague, the ancient capital of today's Czech Republic, where you'll spend the next three luxurious nights in the heart of the city at Four Seasons Hotel Prague, overlooking the Vltava River, Prague Castle and Charles Bridge. After lunch, enjoy an orientation tour of the city by bus before arriving at Prague Castle for a guided walking tour that includes a visit to St. Vitus Cathedral and the Old Royal Palace; a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tonight, dinner is at leisure at your hotel.
Explore Prague today on sightseeing excursions to the city's many landmark sites and must-see places including Prague's Hradcany (Castle District), before enjoying a privately guided tour of the opulent Baroque libraries of Strahov Monastery, viewing the treasures not available to the general public, before spending the rest of the afternoon and evening as you please.
Continue your exploration of Prague – which seems to grow more beautiful each day – with a visit to the historic Estates Theatre, followed by a choice – an architectural tour of Prague highlighting its grand blend of styles from the medieval Town Hall to the Art Nouveau Municipal House; or an exploration of the Jewish Quarter (Josefov), including the Old-New Synagogue, founded in the 13th century, and the Pinkus and Maisel synagogues (holidays permitting). Join us for a farewell reception and dinner this evening enhanced by the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Tour ends: Prague, Czech Republic. A transfer is included from Four Seasons Hotel Prague to Prague's Václav Havel International Airport. Please allow a minimum of 3 hours for flight check-in.
Trip Inclusions
- Tauck's Yellow Roads - Authentic cultural discoveries as you travel from Poland to Hungary, from a visit to Wawel Hill to lunch in a Slovakian village in the Tatra Mountains
- Tauck Exclusive - Private after-hours visit with lecture and reception at Imre Nagy Memorial House in Budapest
- Private tour of the Baroque libraries of Strahov Monastery in Prague
- Private piano recital in Warsaw celebrating the music of Frederic Chopin
- A private dinner cruise on the Danube River in Budapest
- 29 included meals (13 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 11 dinners)
- Itinerary and inclusions subject to change.
- Price is for land, cruise and specified internal flights. International flights not included.
Trip Reviews (1)
On a very positive note, the local tour guides were excellent, very knowledgeable, courteous and friendly. Our Tauck Tour Guide was also excellent with extensive experience in Eastern Europe. One final negative comment, unfortunately. Even though we realize that Tauck does not make hotel room assignments, we feel that they can do a much better job of influencing the hotels on our stay to provide rooms that are more comparable to the cost of our tour. We have not once during our Tauck tours been assigned a hotel room with a view of anything but rooftops of adjacent buildings or a view of another section of the hotel itself. That's not what we feel we deserve for the money we pay for these tours. On a closing note, we are booked on our next Tauck tour to Portugal in October and plan to book a follow-on Tauck tour to New Zealand on 2024.
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Tauck Global Journeys & Safaris (2026)
Dates & Pricing
Your Global Journeys Travel Advisor will check the availability of your departure date when you Enquire. Additional savings may apply. T&C’s apply.
Tour & cruises prices are per person. Prices shown have savings applied, are subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Pricing and trip details are correct at this point in time, however are subject to confirmation at the time of booking and are subject to change by Tauck. For cruise itineraries, cabin images are sourced from the cruise-line and should be treated as indicative only. Cabin inclusions, upholsteries and room layout may differ to the image(s) shown depending on the ship selected and your sailing dates.
