DAY    3            LEIPZIG
Leipzig is the city of Trade Fairs, books and music.  Our tour of the city will begin at the Thomaskirche where Johann Sebastian Bach was a cantor for 27 years, where Mozart and Mendelssohn performed, and where Richard Wagner was christened.  We will view the largest collection of Bach archives in Germany at the Bach Museum before ending the day with a gentle walk around the swan lake to view the Opera House.
 

· Your First Concert Performance will be today

DAY    4            LEIPZIG AREA - BAYREUTH - NURNBERG AREA
Leaving Leipzig this morning we make our way to Bayreuth, the town in which the great opera composer Richard Wagner lived.  We will visit the Wagner Museum, view his burial site following his death in Venice and see where he built his opera house.  We continue on to Nuremberg where we begin with a Walking Tour of the Altstadt, featuring the ruins of the ramparts that once surrounded the city.  We will view: the Justice Palace, where the War Crimes Tribunal sat in 1946; Bergstrasse; the Dürer Monument; St. Sebald Church; Hauptmarkt; the Albrect Durer House; Handwerkerhof; and Marktplatz.  We continue with a visit to the Kaiserburg, the official residence of the German kings and emperors from 1050 to 1571.  Our visit will include the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle), the Burgraves' Castle, the Municipal Buildings of the Free City, and the new Kaiserburg Museum, which contains antique weaponry, armor, paintings, and details the history of the castle.  We will also be afforded magnificent views of the roofs and towers of Nuremberg from its terraces.

DAY    5            NURNBERG AREA – SALZBURG AREA
Today we leave Nuremberg and journey to Salzburg, one of the most beautiful European historic cities and the birthplace of Mozart.   The town itself, squeezed between the River Salzach and the mighty rock of the Hohensalzburg, delights the stroller with its narrow streets, onion spires, sculptured fountains, and wrought-iron shop signs.  After checking into our hotel we will take an introductory Walking Tour through the Old City, a maze of meandering lanes, curious steeples, cobbled streets and spacious squares.  Here we will view Mozart's Birthplace, the Old Square, the Cathedral, and the Residenz.  A highlight of our walk will be the Glockenspiel, an early 18th century carillon with 35 bells, which we can hear from one of the cafes lining the edges of the Mozartplatz.  We will conclude our afternoon on Salzburg’s most famous street, the Getreidegasse, which is lined with small shops, interesting houses and wrought-iron signs.

DAY    6            SALZBURG AND MOZART
The city owes its rich artistic heritage to its prince-archbishops, who once ruled Salzburg as a semi-independent city state. Their magnificent Residenz, was once the seat of the Salzburg prince-archbishops.  The child prodigy Mozart often played in the Conference Room for guests, and in 1867, Emperor Franz Joseph received Napoléon III in the palace.  We will enjoy a tour of the richly decorated State Rooms, and the Residenzgalerie Salzburg, an art gallery that contains European paintings from the 16th to the 19th century, displayed in 15 historic rooms. We continue with a visit Mozart’s Birth House and the Festival Houses.

DAY    7            SALZBURG AREA – VIENNA (3 NIGHTS)
We leave Salzburg this morning and travel to Vienna, capital of Austria and for 600 years the glittering capital of the Hapsburg Empire.  Vienna has an incomparable musical heritage and is the city of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Hayden, Brahms and Johann Strauss.   On arrival at our hotel your guide will take you on some introductory sightseeing including a visit to Mozart’s Figarohaus Apartment and Museum.   We will then visit the Pasqualati House where Beethoven lived between 1804 and 1815 and composed many of his greatest works including Symphonies 4, 5, 7 and 8; the opera Fidelio, the 4th Piano Concerto and several string quartets.  In the evening, we certainly suggest you sample some of the magnificent strudels and pastries as you relax in one of the beautiful cafes absorbing the atmosphere of Old Vienna.

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DAY    8           VIENNA’S MUSICAL HERITAGE I
Our day begins with a visit to the interactive discovery museum Haus der Musik (House of Music).  You can conduct the Vienna Philharmonic from a virtual conductor’s podium, and the musicians on the screen will tell you if you are up to par, journey back in time to see the great classical composers, or compose your own waltz and have it played.  A total of 5,000 square meters has been set aside exclusively for areas dedicated to a wide array of approaches to music, and to the experience of music.  This afternoon we will visit Haydn’s House and museum with the Brahms room, which contains many memorabilia and artifacts owned by the composer.   The remainder of the day is yours to spend at leisure.

DAY    9            VIENNA’S MUSICAL HERITAGE II
This morning we visit the historic Kunsthistorisches Museum in the Neue Burg area of Vienna.  Amongst the exhibits are instruments owned or played by Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Liszt, Schubert, Haydn, and Clara Schumann together with the history of the composers.   We will then visit the Central Cemetery where we will find Beethoven's Tomb, Mozart's monument and Schubert's Tomb.

DAY    10            DEPARTURE FROM VIENNA
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your tour manager/guide accompanies you to the airport for the return flight home.