BY RAIL
VIENNA AND BUDAPEST BY TRAIN HOLIDAY
8 nights / 9 days From £ 2,220 per person
Budapest
ZURICH • VIENNA • BUDAPEST • COLOGNE
This luxury holiday by train focuses on the two major cities of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna and Budapest, travelling all the way from the UK and back by train, including a sleeper train from Vienna to Cologne. You witness some amazing scenery as the train crosses Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Germany.
DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY
DAY ONE Travel from London to Zurich Begin your holiday by travelling to Zurich by rail. Catch the Eurostar mid-morning to Paris. After changing stations in Paris, catch a direct train from Paris to Zurich arriving in the evening. Stay in Zurich for one night.
DAY TWO Zurich to Vienna by train The journey from Zurich to Vienna is on the Austrian Railway’ s fast and efficient Railjet service. Generally, it leaves at 12.40 and arrives in Vienna at 20.30. Food is served at your seat and can be ordered from the staff who pass through the carriages on a regular basis. The dining service stays open all the way to Vienna. The scenery is a delight from beginning to end. First the train hugs the southern shore of Lake Zurich, with its bathing places and little harbours with the Gold Coast gleaming on the other side of the lake. Then comes the Walensee with its turquoise waters and deep cliffs dropping into the lake. The landscape opens up as you approach the eastern edge of Switzerland, where Liechtenstein perches and the borders of Austria and Switzerland meet south of Lake Constance. Suddenly entering Feldkirch, you are in Austria and after Bludenz the train climbs up along the Arlberg. As the cars disappear into the road tunnel below, the train continues to climb, ducking in and out of tunnels for the last part of the climb, until you emerge at St Anton. After the descent into the Inn valley, you are definitely in the Austrian Tirol: traditional haystacks, onion-domed churches and wayside chapels. From the Oetztal station, the road heads south to Obergurgl and the Timmelsjoch high Alpine road into Italy. The Olympic ski jump at Igls to the right of the train indicates the imminent arrival in Innsbruck. The train travels to the south of the Chiemsee and then Austria approaches once more. There is a spectacular although fleeting moment as the train crosses the river Salzach and on the right you are dazzled by the spires and turrets of the old city of Salzburg and Festung Salzburg on the hill-top on the horizon. It is at Linz you meet the Danube and then you cross from Upper Austria into Lower Austria, leaving the trail of the Danube to meander further north, cutting its own gorge above the Wienerwald before it reaches Vienna. After St Poelten you are just under 30 minutes’ away. Stay for three nights in Vienna.
DAYS THREE AND FOUR In Vienna You have two full days to explore Vienna at leisure. Vienna, on the banks of the River Danube, has been at the heart of central European history since the Roman times. Vienna never fails to impress and satisfy the visitor eager for historical and cultural references.
‘ Dream and reality’ still resonate and your days in Vienna can be filled with a mixture of galleries, museums, opera, concerts or eating and drinking in a‘ Heuriger’ in the Vienna Woods. The history of Vienna can be witnessed in the Roman Museum, the Neidhart frescoes dating from the 1400s, the mediaeval Basiliskenhaus, the Imperial Palace and the numerous Jugendstil buildings, and of course in the City of Vienna museum. The Hofburg contains numerous national collections from the Crown Jewels to the Imperial armoury. Your second day in Vienna may be the best opportunity to explore the city’ s inextricaple relationship with music. Take time to listen to the Mozart Orchestra playing in the Musikverein, and to enjoy coffee and cake at Demel’ s. A fun way to see the sights of the city is to take a tram around the Ringstrasse, hopping off and on as you want.
DAY FIVE Vienna to Budapest by train Leave Vienna mid-morning to continue your rail holiday to Budapest. The journey takes under 3 hours, following the course of the River Danube. You arrive in the afternoon and check into your hotel for three nights.
DAYS SIX AND SEVEN In Budapest Enjoy two full days in Budapest exploring the treelined boulevards of Pest and the cobbled hilly streets of Buda. Visit the Castle District in Buda where you
90 To speak to our specialist rail holidays team telephone 01392 441250 or see www. expressionsholidays. co. uk