Pricing
Departures: Throughout the year as a private journey.
Prices:
Per person sharing room from $6,990
For more information, to book, or to speak to an R. Crusoe & Son tour specialist, please call us at 800-585-8555.
What Makes This Journey Best?
- Private insider tour of Strahov Monastery Library.
- Top five-star hotels: Four Seasons in Budapest and Prague, the Imperial in Vienna.
- Nelahozeves Castle visit.
- Vienna: Take a strudel-making lesson.
- Bratislava and Cesky Krumlov visits.
- Cocktail cruise on the Danube in Budapest.
- Optional afternoon in the artists’ colony of Szentendre, outside Budapest
Local Flavor
Delve into the history of Eastern Europe, and you’ll come across some of the Western world’s most colorful characters.
The Romans, who took control of the Danube in the name of the empire. The Ottomans, who helped themselves to Budapest and left the place with a Near East spin.
The mighty Habsburgs, who threw their weight around for 300 years or so, leaving behind Baroque—and quite baroque—remnants. And, of course, the more predictable assortment of kings, emperors, musicians, painters, dictators, and dilettantes who also left their indelible marks.
Imperial Cities of Eastern Europe: Prague, Vienna, & Budapest. 11 Days.
It's virtually impossible to tour Eastern Europe without stumbling upon vestiges of the Habsburg Dynasty, that tentacled family that ruled this part of the world for 500 
years or so. Some families battle their way to power; others work the back routes. The Habsburgs preferred to marry their way to omnipotence, and the history they've left behind is quite interesting. Join us for a close look on a luxury customized tour fit for a king.
Begin in Prague. Ironically, this old city illustrates Eastern Europe's dynamic 21st-century personality perhaps better than any other. Get an eyeful (and earful) of its political and cultural rebirth. Tour the old Jewish Quarter, where Hitler himself established a museum to house the artifacts of the destroyed ghetto; he called it the “Exotic Museum of an Extinct Race.” Wasn't he surprised?
If Hradcany District looks familiar, perhaps you've seen Milos Forman’s film "Amadeus." Hradcany Square was used to represent Vienna. Stroll Prague Castle and its Gothic cathedral as well as the Royal Palace. We get you inside the otherwise off-limits Strahov Monastery Library with a curator, who explains all there is to see on an unusual private tour.
Day trip to nearby Nelahozeves, where a castle belonging to the same Czech family for five centuries houses art treasures you won't believe. Think Pieter Breugel the Elder, Canaletto, Rubens, Velazquez...
En route to Vienna, alight in Cesky Krumlov—medieval, slightly threadbare, and altogether authentic. Opt for a visit to the castle, if you like, from which the Rosenberg Dynasty ruled for some 300 years.
Vienna, Austria, glistens. Emperor Franz Josef (of the Habsburgs) had a vision when he ordered the old city walls torn down and the Ringstrasse built to replace it. Today this
uber-boulevard circumscribes much of what we’ve come to see—St. Stephan’s Cathedral, the Albertina Museum (on a private tour), the Liechtenstein Museum (ditto) to see the once-hidden Rubens collection as well as paintings by van Dyck, Rembrandt, and other masters. Visit Schönbrunn Palace, HQ of the Habsburgs in Vienna. (Mozart visited, too, as a six-year-old making his musical debut.) Take a lesson in strudel-making before we leave town.
Bratislava is on our route from Vienna to Budapest. Slovakia's pretty capital city once hosted Napoleon as well as the rather hefty Empress Maria Theresa, who had interior stairs built in the castle to accommodate her on horseback (apparently, climbing the stairs on foot was out of the question). Explore the charming Old Town.
Finally, Budapest, Hungary, favorite city of Sissi, wife of Austria's Emperor Franz Josef. Our favorite in the region, too. Explore the remains of the Jewish ghetto, a provocative mix of Moorish, Byzantine, romantic, and Gothic all rolled into one. At Doheny Street Synagogue, see the contemporary "Tree of Life" memorial sculpture dedicated to Holocaust victims and heroes. Meander through the Central Market, designed by Gustav Eiffel, and visit the Castle District's Matthias Church and beloved Chain Bridge. One of the top hotels in Europe stands on the banks of the Danube in this great city. Parliament, too. Cruise the Danube over drinks. Take a day trip to Szentendre, if you'd like, the nation’s prettiest village.
More? Consider heading on to Berlin, Germany's most dynamic city on a bespoke tour customized to your exacting specifications.
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