Czech Republic/Poland/Hungary/Austria
The Best of Central Europe: Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Prague
Program No. 12259RJ
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The Best of Central Europe: Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Prague
The Best of Central Europe: Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Prague
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Program
At a Glance
Duration
18 days
Program Begins
Krakow
Program Concludes
Prague
Group Type
Small Group
Meals
36 (
16B, 9L, 11D
)
Activity Level
From
7,499From the elegance of a Chopin polonaise in Krakow to the grandeur of the Habsburg’s summer palace in Vienna, embark on an exquisite journey to learn about Central Europe’s most artistically rich cities and the great thinkers and creative geniuses who called them home. Private concerts, viewings of world-class art collections and in-depth discussion of some of Europe’s leading intellectuals create a detailed portrait of these royal capital cities.
Best of all, you'll...
- Enjoy a private concert at the Strahov Monastery and explore the library.
- Admire the illuminated city of Budapest on an evening river voyage along the Danube River, passing such important sights as parliament, Chain Bridge and Castle Hill.
- Explore Schönbrunn Palace, the former imperial summer residence and one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to 5 miles per day at a moderate pace of 2 mph over mixed terrain, including cobblestones, dirt paths, stairs, short uphill inclines, and uneven surfaces, often in crowded areas. Standing up to 5 hours per day. Program will require approximately 40 miles of walking over 17 days. Participants should be prepared to navigate uneven stairs with and without handrails and be comfortable getting on and off public transportation (tram, subway, motorcoach, taxi). Due to the pace of this program, use of public transportation, and some sites only being accessible on terrain inconducive to mobility devices, wheelchairs, walkers, quad canes, and scooters cannot be accommodated on this program. Must be physically capable of participating in all planned program activities.
General Notes
Those interested in a program intended exclusively for solo travelers may enjoy "Go Solo: The Best of Central Europe: Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Prague" (#25123)
Featured Expert
All Experts
Jana Pivonkova
Jana Pivonkova is a professional, licensed excursion leader who studied at the Hotel School in Prague. She specialized in arranging thematic excursions for foreign groups in the former Czechoslovakia. She has visited the U.S. twice and enjoys sharing her love of Prague and the Czech Republic with English- and German-speaking visitors. Jana is married with two daughters.
Please Note:
This expert may not be available for every date of the program
Please Note:
These experts may not be available for every date of the program
Jana Pivonkova
Jana Pivonkova is a professional, licensed excursion leader who studied at the Hotel School in Prague. She specialized in arranging thematic excursions for foreign groups in the former Czechoslovakia. She has visited the U.S. twice and enjoys sharing her love of Prague and the Czech Republic with English- and German-speaking visitors. Jana is married with two daughters.
Hana Kundratova
Hana Kundratova was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic. She graduated with a degree in education from Charles University and then moved permanently to Prague. Having formerly worked as a teacher, Hana has been an educational group leader and program coordinator throughout the Czech Republic and its neighboring countries since 1992.
Petra Bidlasová
Petra Bidlasová has been sharing her knowledge of Prague with lifelong learners from around the world since 1997. With an education in art history, she is currently working on her thesis on contemporary African art and post-colonial theory. For more than 10 years, she has been a lecturer in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery in Prague. In 2013, she became a professor of modern Czech art at CIEE Study Center for American students.
Dita Hradecká (Czech Music)
Dita studied piano and musicology and began her career in the musical journalism field, first at the magazine “Harmonie” and then at a classical music radio station. She was a music critic for the daily newspaper Lidove noviny and has taught courses at NYU Prague. She is currently the PR and Marketing Manager for the Prague Philharmonic. “I believe music is one of the most wonderful things in life and a deeper knowledge of it can only increase our pleasure of listening,” says Dita.
Monika Pazera
Monika Pazera was born in Nowa Huta, a district of Krakow. While growing up, she witnessed the degeneration and final years of the communist system in Poland. She studied journalism and Russian studies at Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland. A passionate traveler, she’s especially drawn to Eastern Europe and countries like Russia, Georgia and Armenia.
Anna Maria Orla-Bukowska (Krakow)
Annamaria Orla-Bukowska is a social anthropologist teaching at the Institute of Sociology at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where she earned a Ph.D. American born and raised, she has lived in Poland since 1985. Her general field of research is majority-minority relations, cultural pluralism, and collective identities. She has co-authored "Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future," as well as a chapter on Polish collective memory in "The Politics of Memory in Postwar Europe.”
Monika Murzyn-Kupisz (Krakow)
Monika Murzyn-Kupisz holds a doctorate in economic sciences and a master’s in European leisure studies. She is assistant professor at the Krakow University of Economics, and a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, Polish National Committee. Monika’s research interests include contemporary attitudes, cultural policy and management of historic cities.
Robert Siuta-Romanowski
Robert Siuta-Romanowski was born in Krakow, the cultural capital of Poland. Surrounded by art and history at a young age, he decided to study art, theology and public relations at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Robert is now finishing his Ph.D. in medieval symbolism and his research interests focus on the connections between science, faith, and art.
Ilona Somogyi
Ilona Somogyi graduated from the College of Foreign Trade and the College for Tourism and Commerce in Budapest. Fluent in English, German and Hungarian, Ilona has led educational explorations for 20 years in Hungary and abroad — more recently focusing on Central Europe. Ilona specializes in history, art history, literature and economics.
Ourania Menelaou (Prague Music)
Pianist and musicologist Ourania Menelaou was born in Nicosia, Cyprus. She graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1996, and continued her studies at the Charles University of Prague, receiving her master’s degree in musicology. Menelaou has been invited to participate in music festivals in the United States and performed in recitals around the world. As a musicologist, Ourania has been researching and studying piano music of the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, she is working in a research program on solo piano music.
Julia Lasek
Julia Lasek was born in Tarnobrzeg, a town in south-east Poland. Although the neighborhood she grew up in was modern, there was an old Jewish cemetery in its midst. She pursued a degree in Jewish studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, from which she graduated in 2004. During her studies, she learned Hebrew and Yiddish, wrote her thesis on Jewish architects in pre-war Krakow, and studied at the faculty of international studies and politics. In 2005, Julia became a professional city leader.
Lukas Husa
Dr. Lukas Husa was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, where he still lives. He studied history with a specialization in economic and social history at the University of Vienna, completing his master’s degree in 2014. He studied at both the University of Vienna and Chiang Mai University in Thailand for his PhD. While pursuing his academic studies, he also studied to be a travel leader in Vienna and Austria. Dr. Husa has greatly enjoyed showing people from all over the world his beautiful home.
Karl Husa (Austria)
Dr. Karl Husa studied at the University of Vienna and graduated in 1983 with a PhD on internal migration, residential mobility and suburbanization processes in the Vienna Region. Since 1996 he has been a professor for human geography at the Department of Geography and Regional Research of the University of Vienna. His research interests are the intersections of tourism and migration; population geography; spatial patterns of internal and international migration; and development studies, with a regional focus on Europe, Southeast Asia and the developing world.
Lisa Zeiler (Habsburg)
Born in 1966 in Vienna, Lisa Zeiler studied English and Art History at the University of Vienna and the University of Toronto, Canada. Since 2001 she has worked as a qualified Group Leader in Vienna, specializing in art and museum visits. She also organizes and teaches in Austria's most extensive guide training course. In addition, she works part time for an institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Lisa sees herself as an ambassador of Austrian culture, history and character.
Tímea Howard
Timea Howard was born in Budapest and has lived there for all her life. Timea pursued a degree in business management and worked in advertising for 20 successful years. Following a life-changing ski accident, she decided to pursue her love of Budapest, history and languages by becoming an official group leader. Since receiving her certification as a group leader in 2015 in English and Italian, Timea has shared her city with visitors from all over the world.
Gergo Agoston
Gergo "Greg" Agoston, a native of Budapest, is an experienced travel leader and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Manchester with a special focus on contemporary Hungarian politics and political history. He holds a B.A. in Chinese studies from ELTE University, and two M.A. degrees in politics and political economy from the University of Manchester. As an avid traveler, Greg lived in mainland China and the UK for over a decade, working in education and travel. After running his own company for several years, Greg decided to pursue his love of politics, culture, and history and started a Ph.D.
Dana Ertelová
Dana Ertelová was born and raised in Prague. In 1984, she earned her master’s degree from the University of Economics in Prague and went on to become a teacher of economics for the next ten years. Since 1994, she has been leading groups and giving historical lectures about her hometown. In her spare time, she likes to hike, learn about history and art history, take photographs, and travel. She speaks Czech, English, and German, and has traveled to almost all of Europe, the U.S.A., Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, and Thailand.
Ernst Felberbauer (Austria)
Ernst Felberbauer is a Colonel in the Austrian Armed Forces. He teaches geopolitics at the Austrian National Defence Academy and the Theresian Military Academy. He has published widely on international security and crisis and conflict management with a special focus on South East Europe and the South Caucasus. Since 2018, he is a lecturer on political geography and conflicts in the wider European Region, ranging from the Arctic to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean for the Universities of Vienna, Innsbruck and Krems.
Viktória Dorkó
Viktoria Dorko lives and works in Budapest, Hungary as a freelance travel leader and program director. She received her master's degree in pedagogy, tourism management, and later in marketing in Budapest. She has worked in travel in various roles since 2004, living for five years also in Bratislava, Slovakia, and traveling extensively around Europe. She is passionate about arts and history and enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience about this part of the world. Her hobbies and interests include photography, arts and crafts, painting, reading, and hiking. She lives with her young son and Italian husband. Viktoria speaks two foreign languages, English and Russian, and she is currently mastering Italian and German.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to 5 miles per day at a moderate pace of 2 mph over mixed terrain, including cobblestones, dirt paths, stairs, short uphill inclines, and uneven surfaces, often in crowded areas. Standing up to 5 hours per day. Program will require approximately 40 miles of walking over 17 days. Participants should be prepared to navigate uneven stairs with and without handrails and be comfortable getting on and off public transportation (tram, subway, motorcoach, taxi). Due to the pace of this program, use of public transportation, and some sites only being accessible on terrain inconducive to mobility devices, wheelchairs, walkers, quad canes, and scooters cannot be accommodated on this program. Must be physically capable of participating in all planned program activities.
Small Group
(13 to 24)
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Suggested Books and Resources
View Full List
You can also find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
We can help. Give us a call, and we can answer all of your questions!
Call
800-454-5768
Helpful Links
Enroll with Confidence
Peace of Mind
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. That’s why we go to the ends of the earth to give you peace of mind, from the moment you enroll until the day you return home.
Assurance Plan
Road Scholar is committed to the well-being of every participant, whether on a program in the United States or abroad. That’s why all participants are covered under our Road Scholar Assurance Plan, which provides 24-hour assistance in the event of an emergency during your program, as well as insurance for emergency medical evacuation.
Want to Protect Your Investment?
Road Scholar is pleased to offer its Trip Protection Plan as a way to protect your program investment. You may purchase this optional trip protection plan when enrolling in your program.
Sustainable Travel
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Read about our commitment to a more sustainable planet.
- Peace of Mind
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. That’s why we go to the ends of the earth to give you peace of mind, from the moment you enroll until the day you return home.
- Assurance Plan
Road Scholar is committed to the well-being of every participant, whether on a program in the United States or abroad. That’s why all participants are covered under our Road Scholar Assurance Plan, which provides 24-hour assistance in the event of an emergency during your program, as well as insurance for emergency medical evacuation.
- Want to Protect Your Investment?
Road Scholar is pleased to offer its Trip Protection Plan as a way to protect your program investment. You may purchase this optional trip protection plan when enrolling in your program.
- Sustainable Travel
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Read about our commitment to a more sustainable planet.
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