DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM RALEIGH DURHAM
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Budapest.

DAY    2            ARRIVE VIENNA (3 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our tour manager/guide and transfer into Vienna, Austria's magnificent capital city. Upon our arrival, we will take a Walking Tour through old Vienna, which will include the Hoher Markt, where we will see Virgin Mary's Wedding Fountain and an Art Nouveau clock, the Altes Rathaus, the former town hall, the old Chancellery of Bohemia, the Clock Museum, and St. Peter's Church. Dinner will be arranged for the group this evening.

DAY    3            VIENNA (VIENNA & THE HABSBURGS)
We commence the morning with a visit the Sigmund Freud Museum located on 19 Bergasse. Freud lived and worked here for 47 years and the museum still preserves an intimate domestic atmosphere as it was. This afternoon we visit to the 1,441-room Schönbrunn Palace, which was designed for the Habsburgs before being remodeled to its current form by Maria Theresa. Schönbrunn was the imperial summer palace during Maria Theresa's 40-year reign, and it was the scene of great ceremonial balls, lavish banquets, and fabulous receptions held during the Congress of Vienna, including a performance by a 6 year-old Mozart. Our tour will include the State Apartments, featuring magnificent ornamentation in the rococo style, with red, white, and gold predominating, and a brief visit to the Wagenburg or Carriage Museum, which contains a fine display of imperial coaches from the 17th through the 20th century. After dinner, we will spend time at the new Haus Der Musik. We will be invited to hear, see and feel music. Unexpected experiences of sound inside larger than life instruments await us, as well as the opportunity to take hold of the baton and conduct the Vienna Philharmonic, or to compose our own melody. Dinner is by your own arrangements this evening.

DAY    4            VIENNA (IMPERIAL VIENNA)
Our morning begins with a visit to the former winter palace of the Habsburgs, the vast and impressive Hofburg, which sits in the heart of Vienna. This complex of imperial edifices grew with the empire, so that today the palace is virtually a city within a city. Our visit will include the Imperial Apartments; the Imperial Treasury, featuring the crown jewels and an assortment of imperial riches; the Spanish Riding School, where we will marvel at the skill and beauty of the sleek Lippizaner stallions as their adept trainers put them through their paces in a show that hasn't changed for 4 centuries. (Subject to availability and performance schedule) We will also visit the Lippizaner Museum, a permanent exhibition, which depicts the historic inception of the Spanish Riding School. Our day concludes with a visit to St. Stephen's Cathedral, one of the greatest Gothic structures in Europe, rich in woodcarvings, altars, sculptures, and paintings. We will also have the opportunity to Ascend the Spire to the viewing platform for spectacular views of the city. Dinner is by your own arrangements this evening.

DAY    5            VIENNA - TELC - PRAGUE (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we travel to Prauge with a stop in Telc, which lies at the midpoint of the old King's route from Vienna to Prague. Telc is the best-preserved Renaissance town north of the Alps, and was added to the UNESCO list of international heritage sights in 1993. The town center will be a perfect place for lunch, followed by a bit of free time to shop or explore. We continue to Prague, one of Europe’s most beautiful and unique capital cities. This afternoon we follow the route of the coronation processions for the Bohemian kings and queens, linking two important royal seats, the Royal Court and Prague Castle. Our Walking Tour begins on the former site of the Royal Court, now the Municipal House. We pass under the Gothic Powder Gate and walk along one of Prague’s most historic streets, the Celetna. We continue down the Celetna until we reach Old Town Square, site of much of Prague’s colorful history. We have time to explore the square and its varied architecture, and around the corner from the Unicorn in Celetna, the house where the Kafka family lived, Number 3, "At the Three Kings," from 1896 to 1907 while Franz was attending gymnasium. We continue to the Old Town Hall. Established in 1338 after King John of Luxembourg agreed to set up a town council, the town hall became a site for executions and uprisings. In the Old Town Square, we will congregate in front of Old Town Hall's Astronomical Clock to watch the glockenspiel spectacle. In addition, we will have the opportunity to climb to the top of the Old Town Hall Tower for a panoramic view of the city. During our walk (based on the Literary aspect of Franz Kafka), we stop at the Little Square to see the House Minuta where he lived as a child. Dinner is by your own arrangements this evening.

DAY    6            PRAGUE
Our morning commences in the Little Quarter, where we begin with a visit to the Church of St. Nicholas, an 18th century Baroque masterpiece featuring statues, frescoes and paintings by the leading artists of the day. Our morning continues as we stroll across Charles Bridge on our way to the winding alleys of Old Town. Charles Bridge, Prague's most familiar monument, is a haven for crafts and trinket stalls and features spectacular statues of the Saints lining each side. Our tour of the Bridge concludes with a visit to Old Town Bridge Tower, where we can ascend to the viewing gallery for magnificent views of Prague Castle and the Little Quarter. We continue to the huge hilltop complex known collectively as Prague Castle, which encompasses dozens of houses, towers, churches, courtyards, and monuments. We begin with a visit to St. Vitus Cathedral, the dominant and the most historically important section of the castle complex. The massive Gothic cathedral features 21 chapels, with St. Wenceslas Chapel being the most important. During our walk through the complex, we will stroll along the Golden Lane, a picturesque street of tiny 16th-century houses built into the castle fortifications, and view Powder Tower, White Tower, Lobkowitz Palace, St. George's Convent and the Royal Palace. Dinner is by your own arrangements this evening.

DAY    7           PRAGUE (THE JEWISH QUARTER) - DRESDEN (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we begin in the Jewish Quarter, where we will begin our sight seeing at the Old Jewish Cemetery. Founded in 1478, this remarkable site was, for over 300 years, the only burial ground available to Jews. Due to a lack of space, people had to be buried on top of each other up to 12 layers deep. Today there are over 12,000 gravestones crammed into the tiny space, but an estimated 100,000 people are buried there. We continue with a tour of the Old-New Synagogue, built around 1270, it is the oldest synagogue in Europe and one of the earliest Gothic buildings in Prague. We arrive this afternoon in Dresden, once known as "Florence on the Elbe," and was celebrated throughout Europe for its architecture and art treasures. Then came the night of February 13, 1945, when Allied bombers rained down phosphorus and high-explosive bombs on the city, which had no military targets. By morning, the Dresden of legend was but a memory. No one knows for sure how many died, but the number is certainly in the tens of thousands, and perhaps more. The historical centre of Dresden is located on the left bank of the Elbe, at the peak of a graceful river bend. The most famous symbol of reconstruction in the city centre is the Dresden Frauenkirche Church, the magnificent baroque dome, which dominates the city centre and we see on our evening Walking Tour. Dinner is by your own arrangements this evening.

DAY    8            DRESDEN
We spend the day at the Zwinger collection of museums. Located in the grounds of a Castle modeled after Versailles, the damage caused by the British air raid in 1945 was so devastating that some locals feared the Zwinger would remain a ruin forever. Now you can visit the most important museum in the complex, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister for the art works. The Zwinger also houses the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, a world-famous collection of historical timepieces and scientific instruments. Dinner is by your own arrangements this evening.

DAY    9            DEPARTURE FROM PRAGUE
We make an early start back to Prague, as our enjoyable and rewarding trip will come to an end and our Tour manager/guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.