Tour Inclusions

7 Nights
11 Meals 7 Breakfasts, 1 Lunch, 3 Dinners
Hotel
Driver
Tour Leader

Essence of Austria

8 days
Germany / Austria
Max 18 Passengers

Overview

Fall head over heels for Austria’s deep valleys and sparkling blue lakes on this leisurely sojourn through enchanting alpine villages, charming Baroque cities and fascinating castles. If the breathtaking scenery doesn’t capture your heart, the delicious local cuisine certainly will!

Tour Highlights

Enjoy a train ride on the SchafbergBahn, a cog railway that has been in operation since 1893
Immerse yourself in the fairytale charm of Salzburg
Indulge in a local cheese tasting session within the majestic Salzkammergut region

Gallery

Tour Itinerary

Expand Full Itinerary

Day 1 - Munich (Germany)
The Bavarian capital of Munich is where we’ll begin our journey through this picturesque and historic country. After meeting our Tour Leader and fellow travellers at the hotel, we’ll clink glasses over a sumptuous welcome dinner. Accommodation: Hotel Drei Löwen (or similar)
- Meals
  - Dinner
Day 2 - Munich – Tegernsee – Zell am See (Austria)
After this morning’s breakfast, we’ll move on to the picturesque lakeside town of Tegernsee and get better acquainted with the alpine lake on a scenic boat trip. Our next stop will be the village of Leeberghof, where we’ll have some free time to admire the beautiful views and enjoy lunch at our leisure. We’ll end our day in the delightful town of Zell am See – filled with majestic mountain landscapes and complete with its own shimmering blue lake. This evening is free to explore the multiple restaurants in town or relax at your leisure back at the hotel. Accommodation: Hotel St Georg (or similar)
- Meals
  - Breakfast
Day 3 - Zell am See
Roll up those sleeves! Our day will begin with an included cookery class. A local expert will demonstrate how to make Austrian delicacies kaspressknödel (cheese dumplings) and apple strudel using fresh farm produce. When we’ve learnt the tricks of the trade, we’ll try our hand at making the delicious treats ourselves – with the chance to taste the fruits of our labour for lunch. Following that, we’ll have the afternoon to delve deeper into Zell am See. We recommend taking the impressive cable car to the summit of Mt Schmittenhöhe or enjoying some boutique shopping in town. The evening is yours to spend at your leisure relaxing at the hotel or sampling the region’s delicacies at a local restaurant. Accommodation: Hotel St Georg (or similar)
- Meals
  - Breakfast
  - Lunch
Day 4 - Zell am See – Berchtesgaden (Germany) – Salzburg (Austria)
Today, we’ll head back over the border into Germany for a stop at Berchtesgaden. While we’re here, we’ll visit Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest, which is perched high at the top of a mountain peak overlooking the quaint Bavarian town. After wandering the very rooms where Hitler and other Nazi party officials entertained foreign diplomats and held banquets, we’ll travel back down the mountain towards our next stop: Salzburg. Nestled below steep hills on the banks of the Salzach River – Salzburg is a charming city with many medieval delights to uncover. At your leisure, enjoy the evening exploring the Baroque buildings and array of restaurants within the romantic Altstadt (Old Town). Accommodation: Goldenes Theaterhotel Salzburg (or similar)
- Meals
  - Breakfast
Day 5 - Salzburg
Today you’ll be free to experience the fairytale atmosphere of Salzburg and explore its spectacular Baroque sights at your own pace. The birthplace of Mozart, the impressive Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg Cathedral and St Peter’s Abbey are all great places to start! This evening we’ll come together to enjoy dinner at a restaurant in the refined city centre, followed by a Mozart concert at the atmospheric Mirabell Palace – a frequented venue of the influential composer and his family. Accommodation: Goldenes Theaterhotel Salzburg (or similar)
- Meals
  - Breakfast
  - Dinner
Day 6 - Salzburg – SchafbergBahn – Tauplitz
Today we’ll board an old-fashioned cogwheel train and take the SchafbergBahn up to the top of the Schafberg mountain – soaking up some fantastic views of the Salzkammergut region along the way. Then, it’s on to a quaint local farm where traditional cheeses are made. After enjoying a cheese tasting session we’ll continue to the picture-perfect ski resort town of Tauplitz. Tonight, we’ll enjoy some free time to settle in a local restaurant for a spot of dinner or relax at the hotel. Accommodation: Hotel Der Seebacherhof (or similar)
- Meals
  - Breakfast
Day 7 - Tauplitz – Admont and Amstetten – Wachau
After our breakfast in idyllic Tauplitz our road will take us to Admont Abbey: the oldest remaining monastery in Styria. We’ll take some time to explore the mesmerising Baroque architecture, art and breathtaking monastic library. Our next stop will be the village of Admont where we’ll have some free time to savour lunch at our leisure. Exploring is thirsty work – so it’s only fitting that our next stop in Amstetten will be a local distillery! While we’re here, we’ll gain an insight into the cider-making process, and – of course – have a chance to taste it for ourselves. Tonight, we’ll dine in the beautiful Wachau Valley for our final dinner together. Accommodation: Hotel Zum Schwarzen Bären (or similar)
- Meals
  - Breakfast
  - Dinner
Day 8 - Wachau – Tulln an der Donau – Vienna
Our last day together will see us travelling to Tulln an der Donau, a historic town teeming with parks and gardens where you’ll be free to lunch where you choose. Then: our tour will come to a close in buzzing Vienna, with its captivating blend of Baroque architecture, imperial palaces and musical masterpieces.
- Meals
  - Breakfast

Tour Inclusions

Accommodation

- 7 nights in hand-picked accommodation

The Crew

- Experienced Tour Leader and Driver

Transport

- Premium mini-coach transportation

Reviews

6 reviews

Reviews Rating

10th July 2023
Review rating

Lovely small group tour with Kinga a wonderful person and guide. We had unique experiences, visiting lovely places. Only criticism would be the bus and the driver Tomas. The bus was very uncomfortable and the driver not very helpful. He seemed pretty clueless at times. An engine overheating warning light came on and the driver halted the bus immediately there and then, on a hairpin bend. He made no attempt to park the bus closer to the side of the road or drive a little further up the road and pull over in a safer place. This was very unsafe for us the passengers and passing traffic. The engine was not smoking, their were no fumes and plenty of coolant left so he could have driven a little further. He seemed to care more about the welfare of his bus than the safety of the passengers and other passing cars. He then wanted to detach the trailer and have us physically push and move it while it was parked on a downward slope. Alarm bells were ringing. Also the bus was very uncomfortable. I am short, only 156cm tall and found the seats to have very little legroom, I can only imagine what it was like for the taller people in our group. Apparently Tomas had had the bus remodelled to include extra rows of seats. The aisle was also very narrow. Tomas was also very reluctant to pay any extra fees to park closer to our destination, or just to drop us off close by and then go and park the coach away somewhere else and come back later to pick us up, which I witnessed other larger coaches do for their passengers. Despite this it was a wonderful trip.
9th July 2023
Review rating

The tour itself was great and Kinga was a great tour guide. Accommodation and meals were all good too. I have two criticisms however: 1) there was no record of me as being on the tour when I arrived at the designated hotel in Munich. The tour group the hotel had a list for was an intrepid tour not Back roads but my name was not on that list even though it was my tour. I spent 3 hours believing I had been scammed, which was very distressing. The hotel gave me an emergency room to tide me over but it turned out my tour was the intrepid tour. They still didn’t have a room booked for me though so I used the emergency room the hotel had given me. This kind of incomplete / poor communication really I is unacceptable. 2) the tour bus was described as a “premium” coach. It was not. The coach company had fitted 25 seats into a bus appropriate for 18 seats, such that we had to walk down the aisle sideways. I am 5 foot 2” and my knees were jammed against the seat in front (see photos). There were men on our tour who were 6 foot 4”. Most people had to sit sideways in their seats which was very uncomfortable when travelling distances. There were also a few people who were 60+ and yet there wasn’t even a grab rail to help them climb into the bus. The bus overheated as we travelled up a mountain. The driver was clueless about an overheated vehicle and told me it was hot because it had been parked in the sun! 🙄. He wanted us to detach the trailer and leave it on the side of the road. Then he wanted to detach the trailer on a steep hill on a hairpin bend. When we said it would kill someone if it got away he agreed to drive 20m to flatter ground. The male passengers including a one armed 72 year old and a man who had recently had a kidney transplant were required to help detach and place the trailer at the side of the road while our driver turned the bus around. We never did get to the promised cheese tasting activity and the tour staff sought to trivialize the situation. Again, completely unacceptable considering that this was meant to be a higher end tour. Our driver Thomas’s had a can’t do attitude to his customers overall - he couldn’t drive us to the hotel door several times even though other busses could, leaving us to drag bags over cobblestones etc. he wouldn’t drive us to the cog wheel station in Wolfgangsee because of a fee and one man had to get a horse and carriage to take his wife back the 2km to the bus when she became unwell. Overall the bus was **** and I would question whether it was legal.
3rd July 2023
Review rating

Great itinerary and activities with knowledgeable tour leader. What spoilt the trip were the cramped bus seating conditions and having to carry own luggage to and from bus to hotel etc. usually this is done by hotel staff with assistance by bus driver.