Final-year school trip to Vienna and Budapest: Schönbrunn, the Prater, Fishermen’s Bastion, Parliament and the Széchenyi Baths (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 Vienna and the Ringstrasse

• Departure after breakfast, around 7 am, and daytime drive along the Danube (about 400 to 500 km, i.e. 5 to 6 hours excluding breaks).
• Lunch at your own expense on the way.
• Arrival in Vienna in the early afternoon: the Ringstrasse, the Opera, the Hofburg, the Graben and St Stephen’s Cathedral.
• Check-in at the accommodation for two nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Imperial Vienna

• Visit to Schönbrunn Palace, the Habsburgs’ summer residence (on request), and a walk up through the gardens to the Gloriette.
• Lunch at your own expense at the Naschmarkt.
• Stop at the Hundertwasser House, with its colourful, irregular façades, then the MuseumsQuartier.
• Evening at the Prater and a ride on the historic giant Ferris wheel (on request).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Drive to Budapest and the Castle District

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and drive to Hungary (about 240 km, i.e. 3 hours excluding breaks).
• Lunch at your own expense on arrival, then up to the Buda Castle District, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Fishermen’s Bastion.
• Visit to Matthias Church and its colourful tiled roofs (on request).
• Check-in at the accommodation for three nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: Pest, from Parliament to Heroes’ Square

• 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, then St Stephen’s Basilica and its dome (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then Andrássy Avenue to Heroes’ Square and a swim at the open-air Széchenyi Baths (on request).
• Dinner, then an evening cruise on the illuminated Danube (on request).

Day 6: 20th-century history and Gellért Hill

• Visit to the House of Terror, devoted to the Nazi and communist dictatorships in Hungary (on request).
• Visit to the Great Synagogue on Dohány Street, the largest in Europe (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense at the Great Market Hall, the place to try lángos.
• Coach ride up Gellért Hill for the view over the bridges and the city, then supervised free time on Margaret Island.
• 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.