BY RAIL
MAJESTIC CITIES OF AUSTRIA AND BUDAPEST RAIL TOUR
11 nights / 12 days From £ 2,170 per person
Salzburg
ZURICH • INNSBRUCK • SALZBURG • VIENNA • BUDAPEST • MUNICH
Visit the three world-renowned Austrian cities of Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna, as well as a stunning scenic train journey from Zurich to Innsbruck through the Swiss and Austrian Alps. End your rail holiday in Budapest, one of the great cities of Central Europe poised culturally and geographically between East and West.
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 Travel from Zurich to Innsbruck along the Arlberg Pass After breakfast at your hotel in Zurich, travel by train to Innsbruck. The journey will take around 3 hours 30 minutes and offers spectacular scenery. First the train hugs the southern shore of Lake Zurich, and its bathing places and little harbours with the Gold Coast gleaming on the other side of the lake. Suddenly entering Feldkirch, you are in Austria and after Bludenz the train climbs up along the Arlberg. After the descent into the Inn valley, it is definitely the Austrian Tirol: traditional haystacks, onion-domed churches, wayside chapels. The Olympic ski jump at Igls to the right of the train indicates the imminent arrival in Innsbruck. Arrive in Innsbruck in the afternoon. You have the rest of the day and the evening to explore the city and its array of architectural gems from the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-Classical period.
DAY THREE Innsbruck to Salzburg by train Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and board a direct train to Salzburg where you will arrive in under two hours. As you leave Innsbruck, ski slopes are visible in the distance, but at Kufstein the train crosses into Germany and the landscape flattens slightly with fields and forests yet the Chiemgau Alps are in the near distance. 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. Check in to your hotel for a stay of two nights.
DAY FOUR In Salzburg You have a full day in Salzburg to discover this compact and very attractive city. Famous for being the birthplace of Mozart and the location for“ The Sound of Music,” there are also numerous gardens and intricate architecture to enjoy, notably striking Baroque churches and buildings designed by Fischer von Erlach. Other places of interest include the Mirabell Palace Gardens – a UNESCO World Heritage Site- and Mozart’ s birthplace, a museum which tells the compelling story of his life, relationships and musical inspirations.
DAY FIVE Travel to Salzburg to Vienna by train After a leisurely breakfast in Salzburg, board a direct rail service to Vienna, where you will arrive in under 2 and a half hours. After Salzburg, the countryside becomes a patchwork of arable fields and large farmhouses before the more built-up stretch between Wels and Linz. 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. Check into your hotel in Vienna for three nights.
DAYS SIX AND SEVEN In Vienna You have two full days to explore Vienna at leisure.‘ 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. 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
96 To speak to our specialist rail holidays team telephone 01392 441250 or see www. expressionsholidays. co. uk