|
Itinerary
Saturday: Depart US – (contact TT&A
Travel for best arrangements).
Sunday: Upon independent arrival in Vienna, please find your own way by
taxi or airport bus to the Hotel am Parkring.
This
hotel is situated directly in the city center on the Ring,
Vienna's most magnificent boulevard, and many sights are
practically right around the corner. Every guest is
guaranteed a fantastic, panoramic view from each of the 64
rooms. The
restaurant "Himmelstube" on the 12th floor
offers the best in Viennese cuisine and other Austrian
culinary delights against the incomparable backdrop of
Vienna.
We
will stow our baggage upon arrival (approximately 10:30
am) meet in the Hotel lobby and walk to the nearby café-restaurant
Schwarzenberg for an early “Gulasch” lunch. After
lunch we'll have time to check-in and relax before we
meet our guide for a small guided city bus tour along the
Ringstrasse. Our guide will point out the most famous
sights of Vienna before ending at one of Vienna’s most
famous Heurigen, the Beethovenhaus / Heuriger Mayer am
Pfarrplatz. There we will enjoy a welcome evening of
traditional Austrian food, wine and music. Beethoven lived
at the Mayer house during the summer of 1817 and completed
his famous 9th Symphony. He visited the spa
regularly to find relief from his worsening deafness. The
Mayer family has lived in Grinzing and Heiligenstadt since
1683 and all of the wine served originates completely from
the family-owned and self-managed vineyards and is of
select quality. L,D
Monday*: After breakfast we depart with our Vienna guide by ‘metro’ to
the famous Schönbrunn
Palace. We will visit the coffee shop for a
hands-on Applestrudel class where you will learn how to
make the original, hand-drawn strudel batter and produce a
traditional Viennese Apfelstrudel. Our guide will
give us a one hour tour of the grounds and
recount the history of Schönbrunn. After our tour we will
pick up our strudels that have been baking! Lunch is
on your own at the restaurant where we can have our
strudel for dessert and enjoy some free time to stroll
around the palace gardens or zoo. This afternoon we
return to Vienna and our expert guide will
lead us through a walking tour of the city. Tonight we
will enjoy a dinner in Vienna’s 1st district
and a wine-tasting of “Weingut Strauss” followed
by a concert by the Vienna Mozart Orchester in full period
costume (more wine during the intermission.) B, D
*If
this is not your first visit to Vienna you may want to
deviate from today’s itinerary. Your “Vienna-Card”
is good for unlimited travel by underground, bus &
tram for 72 hours and is also loaded with nearly 200
discounts throughout the city!
Tuesday: This morning is at leisure. Your Vienna-Card is valid for
transportation and your guide will tell you about sights
to visit for your specific interest. Our hotel is within
walking distance to the cities famous coffee & pastry
houses and you may want to find time to visit Meinl’s
Wine Cellar. Meinl houses a gourmet marketplace, coffee
bar, wine shop and luxury restaurant. It is truly a food
and wine lovers’ paradise! This afternoon we travel just
a few miles outside Vienna to the cradle of Austria’s
long tradition in viticulture for a tour & tasting at
the Klosterneuburg
Abbey,
nestled idyllically at the foot of gently rolling hills on
the banks of the sun-reflecting Danube. In this tranquil
place, blessed by nature, grapes and growers have been
thriving for centuries. Amongst the 900 years of tradition
we will find a giant wine barrel in the former cooper
workshop of the monastery, the most famous historic wine
barrel in Austria is celebrating its 300th birthday in
2004! It is holding 56.590 liters. It is 4.80 m high and
3.84 m wide built to illustrate the prowess of the
monasterial economy. The exhibition shows a lot about the
period of 1704, and the tradition of wine and barrel
making in the monastery. With the increasing importance of
wines to Klosterneuburg Monastery came the responsibility
not only to preserve but also develop their quality. As a
result the Klosterneuburg Monastery founded the world’s
first School for Oenology in 1860. This evening we have a
very special dinner at the restaurant Plachutta
Nussdorf.
The Plachutta serves traditional Tafelspitz in all
imaginable variations, and all the beef comes from
contented Styrian herds. B, D
Wednesday: After breakfast we will check out of our hotel and travel through
the countryside to Mörbisch am See in Burgenland. We will
enjoy a short cruise, crossing Lake Neusiedl to Illmitz.
You will be introduced to Burgenland’s wine areas as you
cruise! Bird-watch as you skirt the lake by horse-drawn
carriage to Illmitz for lunch. Mr. Steindorf will join us
for lunch with his wines and we will visit his family
winery nearby. Later this afternoon we travel around the
lake to the winery of Leo Hillinger. Leo is an amazing
ambassador of Austrian wine. He will take us through his
vineyard, new winery complex and cellars for a tasting.
Leo will host us for a traditional buffet style dinner at
the Hillinger family tavern. After dinner we continue to Langenlois
and check into the fabulous Loisium Hotel nestled in the vineyards. B, L, D
Thursday:
This morning we drive to Krems for a cruise down the
Danube to the picturesque town of Dürnstein.
After your guided tour through the town, you will have lunch in the “Alter
Klosterkeller” with wine tasting. You will have some
free time for shopping or to visit the hilltop ruins of
the castle where (lore says) Richard the Lionheart was
imprisoned. In mid afternoon, we drive to the Abbey at the
riverside city of Melk. After
our private tour of the Benedictine Abby, we go back to
Wachau-Florianihof for dinner which features the wines of
Martin Mittelbach. B,L,D
Friday: For the majority of this day, you will enjoy a time of leisure,
experience the outstanding spa at the hotel, shop in town,
or play golf. In late afternoon we will visit Anton Bauer
in his cellar and have a wine tasting in his vineyards.
This evening we will have a fabulous dinner and enjoy more
exceptional wines from Anton Bauer in his winery. B, D
Saturday: This morning you have an option. You can go by bus to Krems. Walk or shop in the
beautiful 1000 year old town. Or you may stay at the
Loisium Hotel and relax, be spoiled at the spa, or explore
the town of Langenlois on your own. About midday, Karl
Steininger will host a 3-course lunch accompanied by his
fine wines in his winery. Following lunch, we will be
treated to a unique one-hour guided tour of the Loisium,
including the mystical cellar
world (designed by Steiner Sarnen of Switzerland)
and continue on to the visitor center (designed by Steven
Holl of New York). The Loisium’s ‘Vinotheque’ at
tours end, offers high-quality selections dedicated to the
wines of Lower Austria. This evening we have our farewell
Champagne (Sekt) dinner in Vineyard Restaurant in the
hotel. B, L, D
Sunday: A single group departure will be provided this morning from the
hotel to the Vienna airport. B
B - Breakfast L -
Lunch
D – Dinner
www.austria.info/wine
|
