Escape To Vienna

Duration: 8 days, 7 nights

Investment: $3295 per person double (will pair same gender roommates) Want your own room? please call for pricing

Ready to get away? To immerse yourself in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? Have you always dreamed of seeing the Lipizzaner Stallions up close and personal? Imagine horseback riding in the Vienna Forest. The Imperial City of Vienna has much to offer and we will explore, taste, and delve into the city and outskirts from an insiders view. 

Itinerary – June 7-14, 2022

Day 1 – 6/7 –  Tuesday – Arrive Vienna and settle into our hotel for the week

Transfer from the airport to our hotel in downtown Vienna.

Then join our local guide for a walk in history. You will see the Old Town with the imperial Court Square, Heroes Place, the Vienna Hofburg (Imperial Court) where the Congress of Vienna was held, where Empress Sisi lived, where the Lipizzaner horses and the Boys Choir still perform. From the winter palace, the Hofburg, to St. Stephens Dome, the center of the city, this tour will give you a lay of the land and preview of things you may want to explore more fully on your free days. 

Day 2 – 6/8 – Wednesday – Lipizzaner tour, morning exercise at the Spanish Riding School and a stable tour

See the morning exercise (please note: it’s not a performance) of Vienna’s most beautiful horses, the Lipizzaner. This experience offers an insight into the training of the riders and their Lipizzans. You are going to see the training of the grey young stallions and the fully-trained School Stallions – our “white stars” – in the beautiful setting accompanied by classical Viennese music. Following you will have an EXCLUSIVE GUIDED TOUR to stables and boxes, saddle chamber and riding arena.

You will get detailed content through easily understood explanations of the equipment, the history, the background during the morning exercise by horse experts. You will sit in the “Imperial Ground Floor Box” – like an Emperor or Empress as close as possible to the stallions.

And you will visit the most important areas of this historic institution and will learn about our history, equestrian traditions and about the stars – the Lipizzan stallions!

Meals included – Breakfast

Day 3 – 6/9 – Thursday – Free Day

Enjoy exploring Vienna. Perhaps visit the Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Palace, St. Stephens Cathedral, Rathaus, Vienna State Opera.

Consider an evening activity, dance the waltz, listen to a Mozart concert, take in a jazz club, take a horsedrawn carriage ride.

Meals included – Breakfast

Day 4 – 6/10 – Friday – Excursion to the Lipizzaner Stud Farm, Piber

Lipizzaners are Europe’s oldest cultural horse breed, with their origin going back to the year 1580. The Lipizzaner stud Piber combines knowledge that has been accumulated over 400 years with a feeling for Lipizzaners to breed horses with the abilities that make them world-famous, especially through the Spanish Riding School.

We will visit the Piber Stud in the federal province of Styria, a 3 hour drive through the Austrian countryside. We will visit mares and young stallions. 

On the way home we will stop at a winery for regional wines, snacks as this is one of the largest wine regions in Austria.

Meals included – Breakfast

Day 5 – 6/11 – Saturday – Free Day

Enjoy Vienna, perhaps explore the Jewish Quarter or take in another palace. There are also optional day trips available to Salzburg, Bratislava or Melk Abbey.

In the evening purchase optional ticket to see the Lipizzaner performance. (PLEASE LET US NOW IMMEDIATELY UPON RESERVING YOUR TOUR AS THESE TICKETS SELL OUT QUICKLY)

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 6 – 6/12 – Sunday – Horseback Riding in the Vienna Forest

Mount up on one of our calm horses, and enjoy a horseback riding experience through the open countryside of the Vienna Forest – a national park and the green lungs of Vienna.

After a safety briefing and introduction to your 4-legged friend, saddle up and hop on for an unforgettable ride. Soak up the smell of nature while enjoing the sights and the sounds of wildlife on the smoothest horses around.

Experienced guides will take you around forests and meadows, through gentle vegetation, and around hills which gives you an impression of the biosphere reserve.
Wild boar, deer and roe deer often cross the tracks and sometimes falcons, sparrowhaks, buzzards, long-eared owls, civets and many more can be seen.

You will also hear a lot about history, culture and nature.

In the middle of the tour, we stop at a charming countryside inn and invite you to homemade cake and coffee. After this short break we continue our ride and end at the stable where we started

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 7 – 6/13 – Monday – Excursion into the the Vienna Woods, Heiligenkreuz Monastery, Mayerling hunting castle, with farewell luncheon

Take an excursion to the Vienna Woods and visit the UNESCO World Heritage  Heiligenkreuz Abbey. We will tour this 1133 monastery. Then on to Mayerling Hunting Lodge full of history, where Crown Prince Rudolph ended his and his lover Mary Vetsera’s life. Today we will end with a farewell lunch in Thallern at the gourmet restaurant awarded so by the Gault Millau, enjoy culinary delights and quality wines. 

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch

Day 8 – 6/14 – Tuesday – Depart for Home