In Transit: Depart US/Canada on international overnight flight.

Morning: Arrival in Krakow's John Paul II Balice International airport (KRK). Meet group outside of customs and transfer to hotel.

Afternoon: 5:00 PM Welcome to Krakow, a cradle of Polish culture, a truly romantic city with a labyrinth of charming restaurants, coffee-shops, and museums. Orientation through the Old Market Square often called "Krakow's saloon." Its surroundings have remained unchanged for almost 700 years.

Dinner: Welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: A field trip to Wawel Castle and Cathedral, the political and cultural center of Poland until the early 17th century. Admire medieval treasures as well as an unparalleled collection of the once great European art of weaving. Experience magnificent painting-like pictures, some designed by Michael van Coxcie, “the Flemish Raphael."

Lunch: Light lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Visual arts have always been Krakow's forte. Over the centuries the city has bred outstanding painters and sculptors, and has also lured them in to settle within its walls. The world's greatest Gothic sculptor, Veit Stoss, lived and worked in Krakow for nearly 20 years, during which he was devoted to creating the magnificent 42-foot high altarpiece in the Basilica of the Virgin Mary, our first stop this afternoon. Next explore the Collegium Maius, one of Europe's first universities where astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus is counted among its alumni. See the room Copernicus stayed in while attending school, with facsimiles of the Italian doctorate he earned. This museum is a sort of cultural repository; famous Poles donate their awards to be displayed here.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Enjoy an excursion to the Renaissance Sukiennice, also known as the Cloth Hall, one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the Main Market Square. Explore the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art in the Sukiennice, a division of the National Museum. The gallery consists of four rooms: The Bacciarelli Room (Enlightenment), The Michalowski Room (Romanticism, Towards National Art), The Siemiradzki Room (Around the Academy), and The Chelmonski Room (Realism, Polish Impressionism, Beginnings of Symbolism).

Lunch: Light lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Free time to explore the area on your own.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: A key time period that is fundamental to understanding the Polish mentality is the years of WWII. The tragedy of the Holocaust appears in Polish art to this day; an ever-present point of reference and eternal memento. Visit the Gallery of Polish Art of the 20th-Century, an exhibition that is provocative and challenging at times, and very traditional at others. The core of the exhibition is made up of works by Wyspianski, Malczewski, Pankiewicz, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz and Kantor.

Lunch: Light lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: This afternoon we will get acquainted with Josef Mehoffer, an artist during the Art Nouveau (Secession) Period and one of the leading Modernist artists in Poland. Explore the Mehoffer House Museum, the former artist's home, where everyday memorabilia, paintings, prints, designs of stained glass windows, textiles and furniture are on display.

Dinner: Dinner in the hotel dining room.

Evening: An evening concert: “Frederic Chopin, a Poet of the Piano.” Chopin is the very symbol of Polish music. In the art of sound, the beauty of his music is an exceptional phenomenon - something bordering on the miraculous. The style, rich in lyricism, moods, emotions and their nuances, earned F. Chopin admiration all over the world.

Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: We travel by coach from Krakow to Budapest.

Lunch: Picnic lunch en route.

Afternoon: Arrive in Budapest. Transfer to hotel for check-in and get settled. Meet at 5:00 PM in the hotel dining room for dinner and orientation.

Dinner: Welcome dinner in the hotel dining room.

Evening: Orientation walk around the area.

Lodging: Hotel Corvin

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in hotel dining room.

Morning: One of our celebrated lecturers presents a talk: "History and Present Day Life of Hungary."

Lunch: Lunch in the hotel dining room.

Afternoon: An afternoon excursion through the city to enjoy such sights as; Andrássy Street, Heroe’s Square, City Park, the Zoo, Széchenyi Spa, Opera House, House of Parliament, and St. Stephan's Basilica. Finally, we will reach the Castle District via the Chain Bridge.

Dinner: Dinner cruise on the Danube.

Lodging: Hotel Corvin

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: A guided field trip to The Royal Palace of Gödöllö, one of the largest Baroque palaces in Hungary. It is unparalleled for its colorful historical past, and renowned for its style-setting architectural value. Empress Sissy, the wife of Franz Joseph, spent a lot of time here. We will also visit the recently reconstructed Baroque theater, which is the oldest operating stone theater in the country.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Free time to explore the area on your own.

Dinner: Dinner in the hotel dining room.

Evening: If you wish, you will have the opportunity to attend an evening performance of opera, ballet or symphony.

Lodging: Hotel Corvin

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: An all day excursion to the Danube Bend by coach. Esztergom was the capital of the Medieval Hungarian State for centuries. Esztergom has also been the center of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary and today it is the residence of the Archbishop of Hungary. We will visit the largest Roman Catholic Church in the country. Visegrád, a former royal seat, is a small village today with about 2000 inhabitants. Szentendre, a small, picturesque baroque-rococo town, is the center of the Danube Bend. It is the Episcopal seat of the Eastern Church in Hungary. Szentendre is famous for its museums and art galleries.

Lunch: Lunch in a hunting lodge with beautiful view over the Danube Bend.

Afternoon: Continue the morning's field trip.

Dinner: We will enjoy our final dinner in Budapest in the hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel Corvin

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: We travel by coach from Budapest to Vienna. Late morning arrival in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Check in at the hotel.

Lunch: Lunch in the hotel dining room.

Afternoon: We convene for a general orientation meeting, followed by a first acquaintance with the Inner City. Guided excursion by bus along the Vienna Ring Boulevard. It was back in the 19th century when Emperor Franz Joseph decreed the demolition of Vienna's medieval fortifications and ramparts to make room for the city's expansion. This 'Boulevard of Splendor' is lined with many of the most important political and cultural institutions such as Parliament and Town Hall, Royal Palace, the prestigious State Opera and Burgtheater, University and - of course - the Museum Quarter. We will then explore the winding streets and spacious squares of the old town around St. Stephen's Cathedral, the ancient core of Vienna - from the medieval lanes and alleys to the steel and glass Haas House in front of the Cathedral that dates back to the 13th century.

Dinner: Welcome dinner in the hotel dining room.

Evening: Attend an evening concert of the Mozart Ensemble in the Sala Terrena. Works by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven. The "Sala Terrena" is the oldest concert hall in Vienna, where Mozart himself performed many concerts. It is decorated with beautiful frescos in the style of the late Venetian Renaissance. It is also the perfect setting for performances of Viennese classic chamber music of the 18th century.

Lodging: Austria Trend Hotel Lassalle

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: A morning lecture gives us an introduction to Cultural Vienna and its historical background. This cosmopolitan center, which incorporates Eastern European, Oriental and Western modes of thinking, has been a melting pot for cultural identities throughout the centuries. The Habsburg dynasty created Vienna's major cultural institutions. One of them is the Kunsthistorisches Museum - Museum of Fine Art, which we will visit after the introductory lecture. The Museum houses one of the greatest art collections in the world revealing the royal taste of the Habsburg rulers. Over the centuries they brought together the most precious and important paintings of the celebrated Old Masters.

Lunch: Get a taste of fashionable Vienna in the city’s most famous coffeehouse, the splendid Café Central, part of the Palais Ferstel, which once housed the Vienna Stock Exchange and the Austro-Hungarian central bank. The Café was a meeting point for Europe’s intellectuals and artists.

Afternoon: Enjoy a guided bus excursion of the Jugendstil landmarks of Vienna. The turn of the 20th century was a period of intellectual ferment; it was the time of Freud, writer Arthur Schnitzler, of Secession and Jugendstil with such artists as Gustav Klimt and architects as Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner. They created revolutionary new styles. We will leave the city center and drive to the Vienna suburb Penzing, where Otto Wagner created a jewel of Vienna Jugendstil Art Nouveau; the astonishing Steinhof Church which occupies a fantastic site on the Baumgartner heights.

Dinner: Dinner in the hotel dining room.

Lodging: Austria Trend Hotel Lassalle

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Explore the very diverse lives of three of Vienna's most famous composers during this morning's lecture. While Mozart initially enjoyed great success as a freelance composer and then struggled, Franz Schubert led a rather introverted life, only known for his renowned "Lieder" to his contemporaries. Johann Strauß, however, was one of the first global superstars of music. All three composers were contributors to the most Viennese of musical forms - the Viennese waltz. Listen to a delightful selection of works by these composers. Later in the morning, you will have a guided field trip to Schönbrunn Palace, glamorous summer residence of the Habsburg family. Schönbrunn Palace together with its ancillary buildings and extensive park is by virtue of its long and colorful history one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. Scheduled as a listed monument, the whole ensemble, including the palace, the park with its numerous architectural features, fountains and statues and not least the zoo - the oldest of its kind in the world - was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Lunch: Explore local fare on your own. Enjoy lunch in one of the many Viennese cafés.

Afternoon: A free afternoon to discover Vienna on your own.

Dinner: We will enjoy our final dinner in Vienna at one of the traditional restaurants in the old town.

Lodging: Austria Trend Hotel Lassalle

Meals Included: Breakfast

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: We transfer from Vienna to Prague by coach. En route, we take an excursion to Trebon - a charming and perfectly preserved South Bohemian historical town with a rich history that goes back to the 12th century.

Lunch: Light lunch in a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Arrive in Prague. Check in at hotel and settle in. There will be a general information meeting.

Dinner: Welcome dinner in the hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel Petr

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: A morning discussion and lecture on the architecture of Prague, featuring all important Prague styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Classicism, Neo-styles, and particularly concentrating on architecture of the 20th century – Art Nouveau, Cubism, Functionalism.

Lunch: Lunch in the hotel dining room.

Afternoon: This afternoon we will explore Prague's breathtaking architectural treasures: Prague Castle, Lesser Town, and the Charles Bridge.

Dinner: Boat excursion with dinner.

Lodging: Hotel Petr

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Excursion to the Museum of Czech Music with a lecture focusing on such artists as Smetana, Dvorak, Martinu, Janacek, Mahler and others.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Field trip to the Old Town and Jewish Ghetto. Experience the very special atmosphere of Prague’s twisty narrow streets and alleys, first stone houses, churches, palaces and monasteries.

Dinner: Explore local fare on your own.

Lodging: Hotel Petr

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Excursion to the Strahov Monastery, a place where the knowledge of the Czech nation has been concentrated since 1140. We enjoy a private concert and have the opportunity to walk through the monastery gallery – one of the best fine arts collections in the Czech Republic.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Free time to explore the area on your own.

Dinner: Farewell dinner with a folklore performance.

Lodging: Hotel Petr

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Transfer to the Prague Ruzyne International airport (PRG) for departures.

Meals Included: Breakfast