Final-year school trip to Budapest and Lake Balaton: Parliament, the Castle District, the Széchenyi Baths, Tihany and Hévíz (8 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and drive to Bavaria

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time, and daytime drive to Germany (about 550 to 700 km, i.e. 7 to 8.5 hours excluding breaks depending on the departure point).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Two drivers take turns at the wheel; lunch at your own expense at a motorway service area.
• Overnight stop in the Nuremberg or Regensburg area, dinner and a quiet evening.

Day 2: Drive to Budapest

• Departure after breakfast, around 7 am, and daytime drive through Austria (about 650 to 750 km, i.e. 8 to 9 hours excluding breaks).
• Two drivers take turns, with regular breaks; lunch at your own expense on the way.
• Arrival in Budapest in the early evening and a first glimpse of the Danube.
• Check-in at the accommodation for three nights, dinner and a quiet evening.

Day 3: Buda and Gellért Hill

• Walk through the Buda Castle District, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and along the terraces of Fishermen’s Bastion.
• Visit to Matthias Church (on request) or to the Hospital in the Rock, a former underground hospital and nuclear bunker (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then a coach ride up Gellért Hill for the view over the bridges and the city.
• Walk across the Chain Bridge to Pest.
• Dinner, then an evening cruise on the illuminated Danube (on request).

Day 4: Pest, from Parliament to the Széchenyi Baths

• Guided tour of the Hungarian Parliament and the Holy Crown of St Stephen (on request).
• The Shoes on the Danube Bank, a memorial to the Jewish victims shot in 1944-1945, and St Stephen’s Basilica.
• Lunch at your own expense at the Great Market Hall, the place to try lángos.
• Andrássy Avenue to Heroes’ Square, then a swim at the open-air Széchenyi Baths (on request).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: The House of Terror and Tihany

• Visit to the House of Terror, devoted to the Nazi and communist dictatorships in Hungary (on request).
• Rooms vacated and drive to Lake Balaton (about 130 km, i.e. 1 hour 45 minutes); lunch at your own expense.
• Discovery of the Tihany peninsula and visit to its Benedictine abbey overlooking the lake (on request).
• Check-in at the accommodation in or near Balatonfüred for two nights, dinner and an evening walk along the lakeshore.

Day 6: Badacsony, Keszthely and Hévíz

• Drive along the north shore of the lake and a short hike on the slopes of the volcanic hill of Badacsony, among the vineyards.
• Visit to the Festetics Palace in Keszthely, one of the finest baroque palaces in Hungary (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then a swim in the thermal lake of Hévíz, whose water stays warm all year round (on request).
• Return to Balatonfüred and supervised free time on the lifeguarded beach, weather permitting.
• Dinner and last supervised evening.

Day 7: Drive to the overnight stop

• Departure after breakfast, around 7.30 am.
• Daytime drive through Austria to Germany (about 650 to 750 km), with two drivers taking turns.
• Lunch at your own expense on the way.
• Overnight stop in the Regensburg or Nuremberg area, dinner and a quiet evening.

Day 8: Return to Belgium

• Departure after breakfast, around 8 am.
• Daytime drive to Belgium (about 550 to 700 km), with two drivers taking turns and regular breaks.
• Lunch at your own expense on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.