ITINERARY - Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
OCTOBER 2017 14’s TRIP
BERLIN, PRAGUE, VIENNA and BUDAPEST
October 12 – 23, 2017
Thursday, October 12:
Depart Boston on Swiss Air Flight 53 at 945pm arrive Zurich at 11am on October 13
Friday, October 13:
Depart Zurich on Swiss Air Flight 966 at 1250pm arrive Berlin at 215pm
You will be met at the airport and transferred to Hotel Regent
Saturday, October 14: Berlin
Full day private guided tour
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church & Schloss Charlottenburg in the morning with inside visit for both
12:00-1:00 Break for lunch – KaDeWe (great option: for shopping & a truly good food court)
1:30-5:00: Inside visits of the Brohan Museum (Art Noveau & Art Deco) & the Museum Berggruen (Paul Klee & Picasso) in the afternoon
5:00-6:30 go back to hotel to change
6:45 PM Leave hotel for The Reichstag - must to be at the Restaurant between 7:00-7:15 PM
7:30 Dinner at The Reichstag (Rooftop)
Please note passports are required to enter The Reichstag
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9:30 PM leave The Reichstag back to the hotel including the illumination tour driving by Siegessäule; and continues in Berlin Mitte with the well-known highlights such as the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamer Platz.
Sunday, October 15:
Private full day tour of Berlin
We concentrate on Berlin Mitte. We will visit the Berliner Dom & Museum Island (inside visit) (Pergamon (partly closed) & Neues Altes museums (all inside visits)
Our route will lead us over Checkpoint Charlie & the famous Friedrichstrasse to the Jewish Museum Berlin inside visit and a visit of the Berlin Wall at Bernauerstrasse on our way back to the Hotel.
Suggested restaurant
FISCHERS FRITZ (not included in the below price)
Charlottenstraße 49, 10117 Berlin (00 30 2033 6363; www.fischersfritzberlin.com). Located in Gendarmenmarkt in the Regent Berlin Hotel, Fischers Fritz has been awarded two Michelin stars for its seafood and fish specialities. Chef Christian Lohse's luxurious food, for example sauté of rabbit, snails and gambas with artichokes and tarragon jus and dôme from sole and lobster with crèpes jus, is served in sumptuous historic surroundings.
Monday, October 16: Prague
Depart Berlin to Prague by train – You will be met and transferred to Hotel Paris
Private afternoon Old Prague Walking tour
Your hotel is situated conveniently on the edge of the Old Town so everything there is walking distance. You will see the Wenceslas Square with the equestrian statue of our patron saint St. Wenceslas, the "the Church of our lady of the snows - the tallest church in the city, the Franciscan Garden, the oldest building of the Charles University "Karolinum", founded in 1348, the Old Town Square with the statue of Jan Hus - our religious reformer, the Astronomical Clock and go up the tower for a magnificent view - there is an elevator.All entrance fees included for inside visit.
Duration 3 hours
5:45 PM: Dinner reservation restaurant Pilsner Restaurant almost next door
Housed in Prague's beautiful Art Nouveau Municipal House, the Pilsner Restaurant offers traditional Czech cuisine and live entertainment. Enjoy a special night out with delicious food and typical Czech music.
The original wooden panelling and ceramic mosaic tiles by Czech artist Jakub Obrovský enhance the unique and traditional atmosphere of the restaurant.
Tickets for Don Giovanni at the Estates Theater (walking distance from the hotel Paris in Prague))
The Opera Don Giovanni at the Estates Theater starts at 7:00 pm and lasts 3:10 hours with a 20 minute intermission
Tuesday, October 17:
Full day Private tour of Prague with Prague Castle in the morning including Palace Gardens
Followed by Sternberg Palace Museum and Jewish tour of Prague
You will walk through this Hradčany district visiting the Loreta the church with the Casa Santa and the Black Madonna, the Strahov monastery with it's famous baroque library, walk past the Archbishops Palace and other interesting areas along the way to the castle. This area was first settled in the ninth century and was the home of our kings and queens for many years. Now it houses the office of the president of the Czech Republic, several museums, and more. You will go inside the St. Vitus Cathedral, view the resting places of our St. Wenceslas and St. John of Nepomuk and admire the beauty of this grandiose cathedral. Then we go inside the Royal Palace where the, for its time unusually large, Wladislav Hall is located. It is 62 m long (186 feet), 16 m wide (48 feet) and 13 m high (39 feet) without any center support!
Leaving the palace you walk past the remnants of the first church here, built by Bořivoj in 882, and down through the Little Quarter. Visit the Infant Jesus of Prague in the church of Our Lady the Victorious. Then it's on to the Charles Bridge, built in 1357 by Charles IV, our most beloved king. We will walk over the bridge.
Time for lunch
And guided inside visit of Sternberg Palace Museum.
The baroque Šternberg Palace is home to the National Gallery’s collection of European art from ancient Greece and Rome up to the 18th century, including works by Goya and Rembrandt. Fans of medieval altarpieces will be in heaven; there are also several Rubens, some Brueghels, and a large collection of Bohemian miniatures.
You will hear the stories concealed behind the house signs and statues on the Powder Tower, Municipal House, Clementinum, St. Nicholas Church, Old Town Hall with its famous astronomical clock. Then discover, in the Old Town, the old Jewish Ghetto, where the many synagogues and the Jewish Town Hall are placed around an Old Cemetery, creating the most well preserved Jewish monuments in Europe. The Jewish were among the first settlers and contributed to the colorful past of Prague. Listen to bizarre and tragic stories about their many habits and also to the funny tales about Rabi Low and his legendary monster Golem. Also pass by the places connected with the life and work of the most famous Jewish writer Franz Kafka.
Dinner cruise
Our private minibus will take you to the Vltava River, where you will then enjoy a cruise on an air conditioned boat while being surrounded by the amazing sights of the heart of Prague. Some of the views that you will never forget include the Prague Castle, the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, the National Theatre, Petrin hill and the green cupola (dome) of the St. Nicolas Church. Dinner on the boat is served buffet-style and you can admire the illuminated sights of Prague while passing under the Charles Bridge, through the Castle district (HradCany), past the National Theatre and the Vysehrad Castle, etc. The cruise itself lasts three hours. The minibus will then take you back to your hotel after the end of the cruise. Boat ticket, transports and dinner are included in the price.
Wednesday, October 18: Vienna
Depart Prague to Vienna by train – You will be met and transferred to Hotel Palais Hansen Kempinski
Private walking Tour and about a 40 minutes Horse Carriage tour (4 to a coach) in the afternoon
This 3-hours walking tour through Vienna's historic city center gives you a great first impression of what the city has to offer and lets you experience all the most important sites.
we will walk and see the famous Ring Street, built around the old city center, with its stunning public buildings, like the parliament.
A nice warm cup of Viennese coffee or tea is next on the list. Your guide will teach you all about the 100 different Viennese coffee variations.
We will continue our walk in the historic city center and possibly grab a Figlmüller Wiener Schnitzel to go.
Enjoy a ride through the beautiful old city of Vienna. Travel back in time on this exceptional horse-carriage ride. Sit back and relax while you pass by the most important sights in the center of Vienna such as the Graben, St. Peter's Church and St. Stephen's Cathedral. Exploring the city with 2 horsepower is a nice and relaxing alternative for visiting Vienna comfortably and without stress. Your coachman will tell you little anecdotes and give you interesting facts and information about the city and the sights that you will pass by.
Our tour concludes at St. Stephan's Cathedral with an inside visit. Then we visit the Mozart house (inside visit). The Mozarthaus Vienna was Mozart's residence from 1784 to 1787.
Suggested restaurant
GLACIS BEISL
Zugang Breitegasse 4, Museumplatz 1, Vienna (00 43 1 526 5660; www.glacisbeisl.at). An architectural makeover has turned 1960s inn Glacis Beisl into a modern gem frequented by Vienna's design crowd. Weekly menus feature Austrian cooking with a twist (Styrian-style stuffed cabbage with pasta) served in a warmly-lit wood-and-white interior or one of two gardens.
Thursday, October 19:
Full day private guided tour of Vienna
Hofburg palace/Sisi museum + Belvedere and Garden & Upper Belvedere (all inside visits)
For many centuries, the Vienna Hofburg was the centre of the Habsburg Empire. Three museum attractions provide historically accurate insights into the tradition and daily life at court: the authentically-furnished Imperial Apartments, the tasteful Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection as a comprehensive collection of Imperial utilitarian objects.
The Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection are amongst Vienna's top sights, attracting around 600,000 visitors each year.
Then, you will head to Belvedere and Garden & Upper Belvedere
The two Baroque palaces were built in the 18th century as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. They are known as the Upper Belvedere - full of huge rooms for entertaining - and the Lower Belvedere - the former living quarters - and are set in huge and magnificent gardens. They are considered to be the best Baroque palace in the world.
The Upper Belvedere is now a gallery showing Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present day, including the world's best collection of Gustav Klimt. Klimt's famous golden The Kiss is here. In The Orangery next to the Lower Belvedere houses changing exhibitions, and in the Lower Belvedere you can see the prince's living quarters and staterooms, plus the stables.
Suggested restaurant STEIRERECK
Stadtpark, Vienna (00 43 1 713 3168; www.steirereck.at). Located in the Stadtpark, the city's main park, this is the place to go for classic Viennese fine dining. Besides a bountiful wine cellar, there's also a well-stocked cheese cellar.
Friday, October 20:
Private tour of Vienna included the Opera House (inside visit) and Schoenbrunn palace (inside visit)
Take a glimpse behind the scenes of the world’s largest repertoire theatre and discover many things that remain hidden from the evening audience. On this approximately 40-minute tour, you will hear many interesting facts about the building’s history, its architecture and how an opera house is run. From the foyer, we take the grand staircase to the state rooms (Tea Salon, Marble Hall, Schwind Foyer, Gustav Mahler Hall) before we reach the auditorium (catching a look at the stage).
Then, visit the Schoenbrunn palace the famous summer residence of the Habsburgs with a visit of the state rooms and Museums quarter (inside visit of Leopold museum)
5:30 PM: ViP Tickets and round-trip transportation to Vienna Choir boys concert – always Friday at 05.30 pm
Suggested restaurant
GOLDMUND RESTAURANT
Zitterhofergasse 8, Vienna (00 43 1 522 5682). The art-filled Goldmund Restaurant offers an alternative take on the traditional Viennese tavern, with fresh Mediterranean food. Try the lamb lasagne with pumpkin seed oil, or the mozzarella-encrusted sweet potato crepes, and the extensive list of local wines.
Saturday, October 21:
Depart Vienna to Budapest by train – You will be met and transferred to Hotel Corinthia
I think the Corinthia hotel is too far away for a walking tour
As a result, I have included 24h pass for using unlimited the local transportation that they will use with the guide
Program:
Walking tour
(Pest side walking tour: Tram to Margaret bridge, walk on antiquities road to Parliament House, Liberty square, monuments of the revolution 1956, banks’ district, St. Stephen’s Cathedral with inside visit, tram to Main Market Hall.)
(Buda side walking tour: Metro to Deal square, bus to Castle district: courtyards, National Gallery, walk to Hold Trinity square, Matthias church with inside visit, Fisherman’ Bastion, Vienna Gate square, bus to Sz.K. square and metro to downtown or back to the hotel.
Sunday, October 22:
Full day private guided tour Royal Palace; Hungarian National Gallery and Royal Palace (inside visit)
The building of the National Gallery – located in several wings of the Buda Castle – is a stunning piece of art, as are the views over the city and the river Danube from the Dome terrace. See the masters of Hungarian fine arts offering insights into the history of Hungary, every-day life and rural landscapes through beautiful paintings.
The paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries are probably some of the most favoured items on display as they visualise the turbulent history of the Hungarian nation dramatically presenting the years of the Turkish occupation immediately followed by the Austrian occupation.
Art lovers can easily spend here half a day, some wishing to return, but the exhibitions are intriguing to lay persons too through the wonderful arts. You can take pictures in the Gallery with a photo permit (the permit is very cheap)
Your visit will begin by a tour of the castle. You will be taken to the main entrance by minibus. Accompanied by your English-speaking guide, you will learn all about the secrets and mysterious stories that permeate the walls of this 13th century castle. Your guide will describe the architecture of the various buildings and will tell you tales of the area’s former inhabitants.
Admire beautiful views of the city from the hills surrounding the Royal Palace and take some time to take pictures.
Eat dinner on your own before the Evening Lights tour of Budapest
Evening lights of Budapest
Drive around: Buda Castle gardens and courtyards, Pest side “Soho”, stop at a Ruin Pub, transfer to the river boat station for the 9pm river boat, (local guide ends his service here) for a 1h15’ nice boat tour.
Bus transfer them back to the hotel.
Monday, October 23:
Morning at leisure to enjoy the thermal bath at the hotel
11:45 AM pick up at the hotel to depart for airport.
Depart Budapest on Swiss Air flight 2255 at 240pm Arrive Zurich at 420pm
Depart Zurich on Swiss Air flight 52 at 530pm arrive Boston at 755pm