Grand Tour of Central Europe

Fly from London; check in to your hotel and join a welcome dinner.

Meals: dinner

Take a half-day tour, tracing Berlin’s modern history and civic life through its landmarks: the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Gendarmenmarkt and Alexanderplatz. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure, and perhaps consider a visit to Museum Island, a centrally located complex of world-class museums set on an island in the Spree and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Meals: breakfast

Enjoy a morning in Potsdam, touring the interior and gardens of Sanssouci Palace, passing the New Palace and the 18th-century houses of the Dutch Quarter, and taking in the Old Market Square. The afternoon continues to Lutherstadt Wittenberg, where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church; St Mary’s Church, where he preached, and the Luther and Melanchthon houses.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

Travel from Berlin to Warsaw, breaking the journey in Poznan, a university city whose Old Market Square is ringed with Renaissance facades.

Meals: breakfast, dinner

Warsaw’s old town unfolds on foot: Castle Square beneath Sigismund’s Column and the Royal Castle; St John’s Archcathedral, reached along Swietojanska Street, with its Gothic interior; the Old Town Market Square, its coloured facades gathered around the Warsaw Mermaid; the Barbican, once the boundary between the Old and New Towns; and the quiet, triangular Kanonia Courtyard behind the cathedral. The walk ends at the Gnojna Góra lookout, with views over the Vistula. The rest of the day is free.

Meals: breakfast

Drive south to Krakow, stopping at Jasna Góra in Czestochowa, the “Luminous Mountain”, Poland’s most visited shrine, drawing some four million pilgrims each year. An audio-guided tour of the monastery is included.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner

A walking tour covers the Barbican and St Florian’s Gate, the Main Market Square, St Mary’s Basilica, the Cloth Hall, the Royal Route and the exterior of Wawel Castle and Cathedral. In the afternoon, an optional visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau can be arranged; the self-guided visit requires a scheduled coach transfer and should be booked well ahead.

Meals: breakfast

The drive to Budapest allows a photo stop for the Basilica of Esztergom, seen to particular advantage from the Slovak side of the Danube against its hill, and a Slovak lunch in Banská Bystrica.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

A morning tour is split between the two halves of the city: the Buda side of the capital, taking in the Castle District and Matthias Church, and the Pest side, including St Stephen’s Basilica. The afternoon is free.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

Drive on to Vienna via the Pannonhalma Archabbey, an important medieval abbey, and the ancient town of Sopron.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Take a walking tour of the Austrian capital taking in the neo-Renaissance facade of the State Opera on the Ringstraße; the courtyards of the Hofburg Palace and the Spanish Riding School; St Stephen’s Cathedral; and the rose garden of the Volksgarten and Josefsplatz. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure.

Meals: breakfast

Enjoy a day at leisure in Vienna, with an optional (pre-bookable) rail excursion to Bratislava, where a short walking tour can also be arranged.

Meals: breakfast

Travel to Prague by rail.

Meals: breakfast, dinner

Rise early for a visit on foot to the Old Town and Charles Bridge, taking in the Castle District for a walk and entry to its associated buildings. After time and lunch at leisure, visit Konopište Castle.

Meals: breakfast

Take in two beloved Bohemian spa towns. Begin in Pilsen with a private morning tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery, followed by time and lunch at leisure in Mariánské Lázne, taking in the Colonnades, the mineral springs and the Singing Fountain, with a spring-water tasting included. End the day with a farewell dinner at your hotel.

Meals: breakfast, dinner

Transfer to the airport and fly home.