Tour Budapest’s Liszt Music Academy with a student and hear a recital by one of its emerging musicians. The visit offers a close-up view of the training behind Hungary’s celebrated musical life, with a live performance at its heart.

Founded in 1875 by pianist and composer Franz Liszt, the academy has long nurtured exceptional performers. Its richly decorated concert spaces provide a fitting setting for music heard where the next generation studies.

• 5 Dinner (D)
• 9 Breakfast (B)

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

• Budapest: Enjoy a tour of the Liszt Music Academy with a student, followed by an enchanting recital. Producing incredible musical talent, the university was founded by piano virtuoso and composer Franz Liszt in 1875.

Insight Vacations

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a welcome dinner in Budapest. Savour hearty Hungarian delicacies paired with selected wines in an elegant setting, with time to settle into the company of your group.

Hungary’s cooking draws on paprika, slow-cooked meats and other richly flavoured ingredients. Its wines offer another introduction to the country’s traditions, making this hosted dinner more than a routine evening meal.

Discover Budapest’s contrasting halves on a sightseeing drive along its elegant boulevards to Heroes’ Square, followed by a walk through Buda’s Castle District with a Local Expert. Look out across the Danube and the bridges linking the historic hills of Buda with Pest.

Heroes’ Square commemorates figures from Hungarian history, while the Castle District’s cobbled streets reveal a different side of the capital. Together, these sights frame a city shaped by royal heritage and life along the river.

Explore Schonbrunn Palace with a Local Expert on a private visit to the Habsburgs’ grand Viennese residence. See ceremonial rooms, including the Great Gallery and Hall of Mirrors, and learn about the court life of Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth.

The palace’s interiors reveal how power and personal taste shaped imperial Vienna. Outside, explore the formal gardens at your own pace, where ordered paths extend the grandeur of the residence into the landscape.

Travel along Vienna’s Ringstrasse for views of the Opera House, Hofburg Imperial Residence, Parliament Building and Karlskirche. This sightseeing drive brings together some of the capital’s most recognisable architecture, from imperial landmarks to civic institutions.

The broad boulevard follows the line of Vienna’s former city walls. Developed during the 19th century, it became a showcase for the city’s ambitions, with monumental buildings that still give central Vienna its stately appearance.

Visit a traditional Viennese coffeehouse to enjoy coffee and a slice of Sachertorte as one of two included Insight Choice activities. Take in the unhurried atmosphere that has made these cafés a lasting part of the city’s social life.

Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with a layer of apricot jam, is closely associated with Vienna. Paired with coffee in a classic café setting, it offers a taste of a tradition built around conversation and lingering at the table.

Learn the Viennese waltz in Dancing without Barriers, an inclusive workshop held in a specially designed sensory studio. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities in Vienna, created to engage the senses while building understanding of visual impairment.

The waltz is part of Vienna’s cultural identity, from its ballrooms to its musical heritage. This workshop gives that tradition a different perspective through an organisation whose foundation supports disadvantaged children and children with visual impairments.

Enjoy a progressive dinner across several venues in Prague’s Malá Strana district, sampling the atmosphere of this historic neighbourhood rather than dining in a single restaurant. The experience also includes a visit to the Charles Bridge.

Set beneath Prague Castle, Malá Strana is known for its old streets and Baroque buildings. Charles Bridge has connected it with the Old Town since the medieval era; its statues and views across the Vltava make a fitting close to an evening in the Golden City.

Explore Prague with a Local Expert, walking through the courtyards of Prague Castle and visiting St Vitus Cathedral. Within the castle complex, see how royal, religious and civic history meet above the city’s red-tiled rooftops.

The cathedral’s Gothic architecture reflects centuries of Czech history, while the castle has been a seat of power for generations. A local perspective helps bring meaning to the landmarks of a city renowned for its many spires.

Pause in Gyor, Hungary’s Baroque riverside city, to take in its historic setting. The town sits where the Danube, Rába and Rábca rivers meet, giving its streets and waterfront a character distinct from the larger capitals on this journey.

Gyor’s old centre is known for pastel-coloured buildings, churches and squares shaped by its Baroque past. This stop offers a glimpse of a Hungarian city whose architecture and waterways reward a closer look.

Explore Ceský Krumlov with your Travel Director on a brief orientation through its medieval streets. See colourful houses and cobbled, traffic-free lanes in a town curled around the Vltava River, with its castle rising above the rooftops.

Ceský Krumlov’s preserved historic centre gives a vivid sense of old Bohemia. The orientation helps you find your bearings among its winding streets and appreciate the relationship between the riverside town and its imposing castle.

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays