DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Vienna.

DAY    2            ARRIVE VIENNA (4 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our tour manager/guide and transfer into the historic capital city of Vienna. This afternoon 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.

DAY    3            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 specatacular views of the city. After dinner we will explore Prater Park, the city's classic amusement park, complete with wonderful foods and the world-famous Ferris wheel.

DAY    4            VIENNA WOODS & SCHONBRUNN PALACE
This morning we will a Vienna Woods-Mayerling Tour, outside of Vienna, which will offer an interesting look into small Austrian towns and villages. Our tour will include: the towns of Perchtoldsdorf and Modling; the Abbey of Heiligenkreuz, a center of Christian culture since medieval times; the village of Mayerling, forever linked to the tragic suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf, only son of Emperor Franz Joseph; and Baden, a spa that was once a favorite summer resort of the aristocracy. This afternoon we will stop just outside the city center for a visit to the 1,441-room Schönbrunn Palace, which was designed for the Habsburgs before becoming the imperial summer palace during Maria Theresa's 40-year reign. 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, a stroll through the Imperial Gardens, 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. We continue to Vienna.

DAY    5            VIENNA (THE BELVEDERE QUARTER)
Our morning commences in Karlsplatz, where we will visit Karlskirche, dedicated to St Charles Borromeo, patron saint of the plague. This richly eclectic Baroque masterpiece is dominated on the outside by a massive Dome and two columns, which were inspired by Trajan's Column in Rome. Our morning continues to the Palaces and Gardens of the Belvedere, the former summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Beleveder consists of two palaces linked by a formal garden layed out in the French style. Our specialist-guided tour begins at the Upper Belevedere, featuring an impressive façade designed to reflect Prince Eugene's glory. In addition to the impressive interiors of the Sala Terrena, with its sweeping staircase, the chapel and and the Marble Hall, the building also houses collections of 19th and 20th century paintings, including the Gustav Klimt Collection, belonging to the Austrian Gallery. After a stroll through the spectaclur Gardens, we will continue our tour through the Lower Belvedere. The Museum of Austrian Baroque Art is housed in the elegant rooms of the Lower Belvedere. Works of art by the artists and sculptors who shaped the city during Vienna's Golden Age are on display. Our final visit will be the Orangery, which houses the Museum of Austrian Medeival Art, including Gothic and Early Renaissance paintings and sculpture. The remainder of the day will be free to do any last minute exploring or shopping in Vienna. After dinner, we will spend our final evening in Vienna at the brand 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.

DAY    6            VIENNA - THE WACHAU VALLEY & MELK - LINZ (1 NIGHT)
This morning we travel to the historic town of Melk, where we will visit Melk Abbey, one of the finest baroque buildings in the world. Our tour of the Abbey will include: the Marble Hall, which contains pilasters coated in red marble, and a richly painted allegorical picture on the ceiling; the Library with some 80,000 original volumes; and the Kaisergang (Emperors' Gallery), which is decorated with portraits of Austrian rulers. Our day continues as we board a Danube Cruise Ship for a scenic cruise through the Wachau Valley. The relaxing cruise will take us past some of Austria's most breathtaking castles, abbeys and river towns. Our cruise will conclude in Krems, where we will meet our coach and continue to Linz, a charming and historic Danube port city. Upon our arrival, we will stroll along Landstrasse, which is filled with a variety of boutiques.

DAY    7            LINZ - SALZBURG (3 NIGHTS)
This morning we will take a Walking Tour through the Old Quarter, which highlights the city's main attractions. Highlights of our walk will include: Hauptplatz, the original marketplace, which is now one of Europe's biggest and most beautiful squares, with baroque and rococo facades surrounding it; the Rathaus (Town Hall); the Trinity Column (Dreifaltigkeitssaule) built in 1723 to mark the city's deliverance from plague, fire, and Turkish invasions; and the Brucknerhaus, a beautiful concert hall, named in honor of Anton Bruckner, the Linz-born composer, which has an elliptical facade of glass and steel with a wooden interior. We continue to Salzburg. Our afternoon begins with a 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, while sipping our favorite coffee or drink. We continue with a visit to the Residenz, Salzburg's opulent palace, which was 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 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    8            THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR & DACHSTEIN ICE CAVES
This morning we will take a "Sound of Music Tour," including sights in Salzburg associated with the film, and an excursion outside the city to visit places where the 1965 film with Julie Andrews was shot. Our tour will provide highlights from the film, as well as historical and architectural landmarks in Salzburg and parts of the Salzkammergut countryside. A highlight of the tour will be the baroque Mirabell Gardens, the finest in Salzburg with statues and reflecting pools. For our best view of the gardens, we will pause at the top of the steps where Julie Andrews and her seven charges showed off their singing voices in The Sound of Music. Our tour concludes at Hellbrunn Palace, a palace from the early 17th century, which was built as a hunting lodge and summer residence for Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus. We will have time to explore the Palace Gardens, one of the oldest baroque formal gardens in all Europe, which are renowned for their Trick Fountains. Set to organ music, some 265 figures in a mechanical theater are set in motion hydraulically. Those that choose can walk to the natural gorge which forms the Stone Theater, where the first opera in the German-speaking world was presented in 1617. This afternoon we visit the Dachstein Ice Caves, among the most spectacular sights in Austria. Highlights of our tour will include: the Giant Ice Cave, where even in summer the temperature is about 30°F, the Frozen Waterfalls, King Arthur's Cave and the Great Ice Chapel. We return to Salzburg.

DAY    9            THE CASTLES OF SALZBURG
This morning we begin with a visit to Hohensalzburg Fortress, the former stronghold of the ruling prince-archbishops, which towers 400 feet above the Salzach River on a rocky dolomite ledge. We will take a Funicular to the fortress, the largest completely preserved castle left in central Europe, where we will visit the elegant State Apartments, once the dwellings of the prince-archbishops and their courts; the Burgmuseum, with a magnificent collection of medieval art, instruments of torture and many Gothic artifacts; the Rainermuseum, which exhibits arms and armor; and the beautiful late Gothic St. George's Chapel, with intricate marble reliefs of the Apostles. From the Watchtower we will get a panoramic sweep of the Alps, and from the Kuenberg Bastion, a fine view of the domes and towers of Salzburg. This afternoon we will journey south of the city of Salzburg for a visit to Hohenwerfen Castle, which towers above the Salzach Valley as a strategic bulwark built atop a 155-meter rock. The castle is majestically surrounded by the mighty Tennengau and Hagen mountain ranges, and is a "sister" of Hohensalzburg Fortress. In addition to our tour of the castle, we will view a Falconry Show by professional falconers, where they will demonstrate techniques of classical falconry. Our afternoon will conclude with a visit to the Austrian Falconry Museum and a stroll along the Birds of Prey Nature Trail. This evening we will enjoy the Knights' Feast at the Castle Hohenwerfen as we travel back to the middle-ages and enjoy an historic feast with plenty of food, drink, music and entertainment.

DAY    10          DEPARTURE FROM MUNICH
Our enjoyable and rewarding trip will come to an end as our guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.