A Trip to the Austro-hungarian Empire
The Trip to the Habsburg Monarchy
Budapest and Vienna, the capitals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which almost ended up becoming a thousand-year empire, have also almost been forgotten today. The Habsburg regime, which ruled from 1282 to 1918, with its headquarters in Vienna, extended over enormous areas of Central Europe, the Netherlands, parts of Spain, France and Northern Italy.
Power and wealth followed. Prestige as well. Culture had ideal conditions as well, just look at where the greatest classical composers had their residence.
Our offered trip will take us to 19th-century Austria-Hungary with a focus on Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. It is also a direct extension of our stay in Vienna from 9th to 13th October 2026. The two trips are entirely independent; therefore, they can be combined if you are interested.
We will show you a Vienna and Budapest that not many have experienced, with exclusive access to 19th-century palaces and castles.
Travel plan
Get an overview of what you will experience on your trip.
Overall
Unlike a physical product, a trip is only complete when the trip is over.
Changes will therefore occur and this is also desirable. From the time our trips are offered on the website to the trip itself, it usually takes 6-9 months. It would be quite unusual if an offer did not appear during that period that would be a clear improvement to the overall travel experience. However, significant changes to the overview below will not occur.
All of our trips are based on our guests wanting to join us on new adventures. This is your guarantee that we will strive, to the best of our ability, to ensure that you get a once in a lifetime experience – every time.
Day 1: Vienna Museum to ourselves - piano concert - gala dinner
Monday afternoon we have the entire Wien museum to ourselves. Guided tours through Vienna’s heyday.
Early evening, private piano concert at the Technisches Gymnasium – Franz Schubert’s school. In the evening, gala dinner at Palais Coburg.
Day 2: prater District and musikverein
Day 3: We sail from Vienna to Bratislava
Day 4: Budapest city - dinner at restaurant gundel
Day 5: Own hop-on-hop-off bus in Budapest - own boat on the Danube River
Budapest is a city that lends itself to a lot of small visits. To make life easier, we have rented a Hop-on-Hop-off bus that stops wherever suits us.
In the evening, we have our own boat, where we are served dinner consisting of the best of the Hungarian folk cuisine.
Day 6: Lake Balaton, Esterhazy Castle, Vienna city center Saturday evening
Why make the journey home bland when you can make it exciting with a few extra hours? Our bus takes us to Vienna via Lake Balaton, on to the Esterhazy Castle in Papi, Hungary.
Saturday evening we are back in Vienna. The program ends with a nice dinner and a night cap.
Day 7: Return day
PRICE
14000 DKK / € 1,870
Deposit
2500 DKK / € 335
Location
Hotel Almanac Palais Vienna
Parkring 14, 1010 Vienna
Organizer
Parnassos.dk, Overgaden oven Vandet 58A, 2. 1415 Copenhagen
Phone
45 52736316
overtoner@parnassos.dk
Parnassos.dk ApS is a member of the Travel Guarantee Fund. It guarantees your money, while we guarantee your experiences.
Parnassos.dk ApS is a member of ‘the Vienna Experts Club’ and collaborates with the Scandinavian branch of the Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO).
Travel dates:
Budapest – Wien
- Start date:
- End date:
- Price:
The journey in detail:
- Monday Afternoon: Vienna Museum
- Monday Late Afternoon: Schubert Concert
- Monday Evening: Gala Dinner at Palais Coburg
- Tuesday Afternoon: Prater
- Tuesday Evening: Musikverein
- Wednesday Morning: Bratislava
- Wednesday Evening: Dinner in Budapest
- Thursday: Guided Tour and New York Café
- Thursday Evening: Restaurant Gundel
- Friday: Private Hop-on-Hop-off Bus
- Friday Evening: Private Boat on the Danube
- Saturday Morning: Lake Balaton
- Saturday Afternoon: Esterhazy Castle in Papa
- Saturday Evening: Vienna
- What exactly do You get for Your DKK 14,000/€ 1865?
- Austrian Airways
12.000 m2 Wien Museum
If you take the morning flight on Monday, October 12, 2026, at 09:55 from Copenhagen with Austrian Airways (see details further below), a bus will be waiting for you at Vienna airport.
After checking into the hotel, you have a few hours to get ready for the day’s extensive program.
On Monday, all of Vienna’s museums are closed. However, there is one museum that we absolutely must see, the recently opened and colossal 12,000 square meter Vienna Museum (the Louisiana Museum of Art north of Copenhagen is 11,500 square meters, so very comparable).
We have made an agreement with the museum that they will open their doors just for us Monday afternoon. The museum is divided into 13 “chapters”, from Vienna’s earliest days to the these days, from Roman times to the Habsburg regime, the Ottoman siege, the Nazi era, Red Vienna and up to the present day. A must-see.
We end our visit on the top floor with a drink in hand and a view of the magnificent Karlskirche before moving on to the next event.
Concert at Schubert's Gymnasium
A very short distance from the Vienna Museum – and halfway to tonight’s gala dinner – we find the Technisches Gymnasium. Here we are reminded of Vienna’s great importance for classical music. The giants of classical music lived here, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, (and Salieri!), Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Schønberg – the list continues.
The gymnasium has had many famous students in its classrooms, for example Erwin Schrödinger, and what is relevant to our visit, Franz Schubert himself.
The extraordinarily beautiful gymnasium has therefore built an equally beautiful concert hall. We have allied ourselves with the renowned concert pianist, Adela Liculescu, who played for us last year in Beethoven’s home in Heiligenstadt, with works that Beethoven had written in the very room where we were sitting.
We believe, just as we experienced in Heiligenstadt, that it will be a magical evening. It goes without saying that Schubert will be on the evening’s program. In February this year, Adela received “The Award of Excellence” from the city of Graz – Anton Bruckner’s hometown.
Dinner at Palais Coburg
Palais Coburg is a historic palace located in the city center of Vienna, a few hundred meters from the Technishes Gymnasium.
The palace was originally built in the mid-19th century, designed by the architect Joseph von Storck.
It was commissioned by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg. The palace then served as the residence of the prince and his family when they were in the city.
Palais Coburg is designed in the neo-Renaissance style, which is characterized by its splendor and elaborate architectural details. Incidentally, the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the great powers took place here in the years 2015 – 2016.
The palace is currently being renovated and will be completed in July 2026. We have seen the drawings for the final result. We think it will blow our guests away.
The hall we have rented for our dinner is the impressive Johann Strauss Hall. This is where we end our first day. We can’t think of a better way to start our trip.
The lively Prater district in Vienna
Prater District
Tuesday morning is yours. We live in the city center and it deserves to be explored. We are happy to advise you on what to do with your hours. After lunch, at approximately 1:00 p.m., we will go on our first excursion, to the Prater district a little east of Vienna.
The Prater was the hunting grounds and forests of the good old kings. Just like Dyrehaven in Denmark, and the Isle of the Dogs peninsula in London, across the Thames at Greenwich. Today, the Prater is… well, what is it? It is multifaceted and a very popular excursion destination for Viennese residents, young and old.
Its landmark, the Wiener Riesenrad, is a giant Ferris wheel that rises 65 meters and offers a formidable view of the city. It was inaugurated in 1897 in connection with the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph.
Our visit will focus on the Prater Museum, managed by Wien Museum, and to which we have also been granted exclusive access. It is a very charming little museum that tells the area’s 250-year-old history. Culture, nature and entertainment under one roof.
Musikverein Concert Hall
Tuesday evening, we will go to the Musikverein, one of the finest musical institutions in the world, which is best known for its coveted New Year’s concert. It is almost impossible to get tickets for this.
It is also known for the “scandal concert” on March 31, 1913, where the conductor was none other than Arnold Schönberg.
Works by composers from the so-called Second Viennese School caused total chaos, shouting and outright fighting.
During the commotion, the concert organizer, Erhard Buschbeck, slapped a concertgoer, which the composer Oscar Straus called “the only harmonious sound of the evening” during the later trial.
People have since become accustomed to the sounds of Viennese School composers such as Alban Berg, Anton Weber and Schönberg. We therefore expect an evening without fuss. The program has not yet been published. But it is just around the corner late April 2026.
Interior of the Musikverein, which we will visit on Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Danube to Bratislava
A fun fact: Vienna and Bratislava in Bratislava are the two capitals in Europe that are closest to each other. Only 20 miles separate them.
Our Wednesday is a kind of three-in-one day or three-countries-in-one-day. We pack our suitcases and place them in our bus. The bus picks us up and drops us off at Schwedenplatz.
The bus continues to Bratislava, while we board a ship that will sail us to the capital of Slovakia. An enjoyable and relaxing morning, while we enjoy the view of the Austrian and Slovak landscapes and plenty of time for a cup of coffee.
Bratislava will have our attention in the afternoon. Lunch and a hike as well as a visit to Bratislava Castle are in the cards. Then our bus is ready to take us the two-hour drive to our hotel in Budapest.
Our First Evening in Budapest
And so, we will arrive in the capital of Hungary, Budapest. Our home for the next three days/nights. Our hotel KK Hotel Opera is located right next to the city’s opera house, the Hungarian State Opera.
It has been a long day and the transition from Vienna to Budapest is best made in one of the city’s many restaurants with a relaxed atmosphere. Budapest is a city with a young clientele. Although Vienna and Budapest are linked by centuries of history, you will very quickly notice the difference.
This is what we wrote before the 12th April 2026: “at Parnassos.dk we keep today’s politics at arm’s length. But we acknowledge that some might be ambivalent about traveling to Hungary because of the political landscape. It’s worth mentioning that in the city of Budapest you will find the greatest resistance to the current government”.
Now it is after the 12th April and the story is all of a sudden differently. We wish Hungary all the best.
We will, irrespectively of political winds, enjoy an informal dinner at a perfect place within walking distance of the hotel. And a digistive to end the day.
Dinner in Budapest
Guided Tour and New York Café
Thursday morning is yours until 2:00 p.m. One of Budapest’s biggest attractions is its many spas or thermal baths. Going to such a spa will be a private affair for most and therefore we do not organize a trip there.
We can highly recommend the very large Széchenyi Thermal Bath. Or the historically interesting Rudas Thermal Bath with a rooftop swimming pool. Instead of dipping your toes, you can alternatively go to the New York Café or Parisi Udvar. They are difficult to surpass in aesthetics and beauty.
At 2:00 p.m. we go on an entertaining guided tour of a couple of hours with a company that specializes in showing the city’s “secret” corners.
After this we go to the composer Franz Liszt museum in the city center and again close to our hotel. Through him we learn about Hungary in the 19th century. His son-in-law, by the way, was Richard Wagner.
The Menu N-11 in Gundel
We have arrived at our signature dinner in Budapest. On the outskirts of Budapest city center near the City Park and Heroes’ Square, we find the most famous and elegant restaurant in all of Hungary, Gundel.
The restaurant’s history spans a period of 130 years and was founded by Károly Gundel, a businessman and philanthropist.
But his passion was food. He recorded a total of 140 recipes and dishes from the Hungarian folk cuisine. (Not unlike the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, who spent most of his life recording old Eastern European folk music and dance – music that would otherwise have been forgotten).
These “protected” recipes are part of Gundel’s restaurant’s repertoire and menu. They have an N-11 menu, consisting of 11 dishes, as the best representation of Hungarian cuisine. The English Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip tasted this on Monday, May 5, 1997.
It’s our turn on Thursday evening, October 15, 2026.
The entrance to Restaurant Gundel in Budapest
Our own Hop-on-Hop-off bus in Budapest
Hop-on-Hop-off med Zsuzsi Héjja
We have teamed up with the tour guide, Zsuzsi Héjja, who will be the conductor for our day. She has been a guide in the city for a decade and knows every nook and cranny. She has made sure that we have a Hop-on-Hop-off bus available from 10:00, when our program starts.
We have let her choose the route and since we have a bus we can get around in a relaxed manner. Of course we will visit the Hungarian Parliament, the Fisherman’s Bastion, the Citadel, newly opened in April 2026 with a fantastic view of the city.
The bus continues to Szoborpark, or the memorial park, with “relics” of Soviet and communist sculptures. A small charming detail, there are small hard-to-find mini-bronze sculptures, about 50 in total, called Kolodko named after the Ukrainian-Hungarian artist, Mihály Kolodko. We go in search of them. Whoever finds the most will win a bottle of Tokaj.
Our Own Boat on the Danube
We will get back to the hotel for a short rest before we continue to the next event.
Some of our guests have sailed for several days on the Danube. There are truly stretches of pure idyll. I think they will agree with me that Budapest has the most magnificent view from the Danube River.
To really be overwhelmed by the view, one should preferably be on the river in the evening. We have rented a boat for our evening. We are in contact with a butcher, who will be in charge of our dinner. For our dinner we will serve wines of Hungarian origin.
These wines are “on the house” or boat and are therefore included in the price.
Szuszi is with us and will tell us about Budapest from the shipping lane. We think it will be an elegant end to our stay in the Hungarian capital.
Private boat on the Danube River, near the Hungarian Parliament
To Vienna via Lake Balaton
You can drive to Vienna from Budapest via the motorway. In that case, it will be three boring hours, where not much happens.
Instead, we take an almost enchanting detour. The bus will go from Budapest to the circa 80 km. long narrow lake, Balaton.
The area is called Balatonboglar and is one of Hungary’s largest wine producing areas. We taste their grapes. There is usually beautiful weather in October in Central Europe. We will take advantage of this by walking around one of the small towns along the lake, where we will also enjoy our lunch.
There are several castles in the area, for example in the town of Veszprém, which is on our route. We look at the weather and look at the clock to check what the time allows to see before we continue towards our next destination in the direction of Vienna.
Esterhazy Castle in Papa
Our next destination for the day is the Esterházy Palace in Hungary, not to be confused with Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt or Palais Esterházy in Vienna. For the wealthy Esterházy family, it was important to be well equipped with palaces.
During Parnassos’ first trip in 2022, we went to the Eisenstadt Palace, where the composer Joseph Haydn worked for the family for 30 winters. He worked in the palace in Hungary for the matching 30 summers. Haydn is also called the father of the symphony (by the way, it was he who introduced the rule that you are not allowed to clap between movements during a classical concert).
Here he wrote most of his symphonies. Even though we are close to Vienna, he was still isolated from the capital of the Austro-Hungary empire, which once made him say, “the isolation forced me to be original”. The palace is also called the Versailles of Hungary. That may be an exaggeration, but it is still colossally large for a summer palace.
There is also a reason why we are looking forward to showing you the castle. The guided tour is very different from what we are used to. We believe you can look forward to it.
Idyll and cozy in equal measures in Vienna’s wine district
Saturday Evening in Vienna
We will then drive directly to Vienna and arrive at our hotel in the early evening. It has been a long day and perhaps you just want to relax during our last evening together.
We want to see what the atmosphere is like, because we have a popular and also different restaurant in mind, not far from our hotel.
Since dinner on Saturday evening is not included in the price, you may also want to find a restaurant yourself and then join the group later in one of Vienna’s elegant bars. We will see.
That’s the program. We can’t think of a better way to introduce you to Austria-Hungary during the reign of Emperor Franz Josef I:
19th century politics, 19th century culture.
What Exactly do You Get for Your DKK 14,000?.
• Six nights in 4* hotels, three in Vienna, three in Budapest, including breakfast.
• One gala dinner and one signature dinner.
• Two more dinners. So four dinners in total.
• Wine tasting at Lake Balaton..
• Ticket to Musikverein.
• Schubert piano concert.
• Museum visits, two of which we have exclusive access to.
• Boat and bus transport between Vienna and Budapest, round trip
• Our own Hop-on-Hop-off Bus.
• Our own boat on the Danube.
Austrian From Copenhagen
The journey to and from Vienna is not included in the price. In our opinion, it is clearly preferable that you choose your own departure and return time and place, so that it fits into your plans.
If you want to travel to Vienna as a ‘group’, you can choose to fly with Austrian Airways, departing on Monday, October 12, 2026 at 09.50 from Copenhagen Airport. For those who take that flight, there will be a bus waiting for you at Vienna Airport. The bus will take us to the hotel. The bus ride is included in the price.
If you choose a different flight, it is still easy and cheap to reach our hotel by public transport from the airport. Google Maps will help you and if you need tips and advice on this, you are also welcome to contact us by email or phone 5273 6316. If you want to extend your stay, you can add extra days during the purchase process.