Eastern Europe: Beyond The Big Sights 2027

Welcome to Eastern Europe: drop your bags at your central accommodation and meet the small group of explorers you’ll be spending the next three weeks with. Chances are, you’ll be swapping stories like old friends in no time!

Your first dinner: German food is always a good idea – and tonight’s group dinner is your introduction. Think bratwurst, schnitzel, and apple strudel for dessert. Heaven.

Later, your way: feeling the jet lag? Head back to your accommodation for a bit of downtime. Got a second wind? Sink into a local bar with a stein or soda and soak up the Berlin buzz. 

Next stop, Prague: it’s time to swap salty currywursts for medieval charm as we roll into the Czech Republic by train. Settle in with a good playlist and a stash of snacks.  

First impressions count: once checked in, head out on a relaxed wander with your Trip Leader. Expect cobbled streets, fairytale castles and enough pigeons to form their own parliament.

Later, your way: tonight, gather the group for a hearty dinner and say cheers (or na zdraví!) to new adventures in Czech’s capital.

Prague, your way: you’ve got the whole day to dive into this city your way. Want to float past spires and castles? Join an optional stand-up paddleboarding session on the Vltava River – it’s sightseeing with insider secrets. Hungry for more medieval madness? Sign up for tonight’s optional banquet and feast like it’s 1399. 

Trade Gothic statues for fancy façades: roll into the city where Strauss’s melodies fill the air and schnitzel is always on the menu. After check-in, hit the streets on an orientation tour with your Trip Leader – think grand boulevards, imperial palaces, and maybe even a slice of something sweet.

Dinner’s on us: what’s the biggest wiener schnitzel you’ve ever seen? Find out tonight’s includer group dinner!  

Vienna’s a-calling: today’s yours to soak up the imperial elegance of Austria’s capital. Channel your inner Habsburg at Schönbrunn Palace, hunt down the city’s flakiest apple strudel, or lose an afternoon to Klimt at the Belvedere.  

Later, your way: feeling fancy? Opt in for a Viennese orchestra performance – because what’s a trip to Vienna without a little Mozart magic? 

Bratislava on foot: after this morning’s train ride and check-in, lace up for a chilled-out wander with your Trip Leader. Expect cobbled streets, quirky statues, and a castle with views to die for – along with local legends and little-known stories your Trip Leader’s got up their sleeve.

Dinner plans: come together for a relaxed group dinner, full of local flavours like bryndzové halušky (creamy potato dumplings with sheep’s cheese), garlicky soups, and flaky pastries – all served up with full plates, great company and stories you’ll still be telling next week. Na zdravie (cheers)! 

Next stop: cross into Hungary by train, where grand and hilly Buda meets buzzing, flat Pest. Two sides of the Danube, one unforgettable city. Get your bearings with the group, fall into one of the coffee shops or head to the famous baths.

Later, your way: you’ve got the whole afternoon and evening free! Will you spend it bobbing along the Danube with a glass of prosecco in hand? Singing your heart out at karaoke? Or something only you’ve planned for?  

Biking in Buda: lace-up for a bike tour. Spot the likes of the iconic Chain Bridge, the neo-Gothic Parliament building and the stately Andrássy Avenue as your local guide shares stories of emperors and revolutions that have shaped Budapest into the city it is today. Then: goulash for the group!

Later, your way: more time to spend in the city? Served on a pretty platter. Get lost in the maze of ruin bars, join an optional chimney cake making workshop, find the café you saved on Pinterest before you left, or see where the wind takes you – mates in tow, of course. 

Poland’s calling: hop on the coach for the next part of your journey. It’s a lengthy one, but the views and snooze time is worth it. Once you’ve parked, checked in and reunited with the group in the lobby, get your bearings on a walking tour with your expert Trip Leader. They’ve got all the facts.

Hearty food: tonight’s group dinner is packed with cultural influence and flavour. Compare dishes, swap the best bits of your trip so far and see where the rest of the night takes you. There are bars with cocktails, mocktails and more dotted around the main square and beyond! 

Visit Auschwitz: a sombre, but important, morning to start the day, get picked up for your transfer to Auschwitz-Birkenau where you’ll venture through the concentration camp as a guide shares stories of the people, young and old, who were imprisoned there.

Kazimierz calling: this afternoon, head to the Jewish Quarter. Think indie galleries, vintage stores, and cool coffee spots tucked inside centuries-old synagogues. Thirsty? There’s an optional vodka tasting later. When in Poland! 

Bright lights and big sights: roll into Warszawa Centralna. Bags down, boots on: there’s a whole lot more storybook beauty waiting on this afternoon’s walking tour with your Trip Leader – think colourful Old Town squares, royal castles, and a fair bit of history (some heavy, some heroic).

Group dinner tonight: it’s your last night in Poland, so eat as many of those golden potato pancakes as you can. Then, chase the sunset along the Vistula River or sip something sweet in a fairy-lit bar in Praga – Warsaw’s edgier cousin across the river. 

Step into history: this morning, head inside the Warsaw Uprising Museum – an unmissable deep dive into one of the city’s most defining moments. It’s immersive, moving, and seriously powerful stuff.

Your afternoon = your rules: stroll through the Old Town’s colourful streets, seek out the city’s best local bites, or park yourself in Łazienki Park and do absolutely nothing. Warsaw is yours to wander. 

Get moving: settle in for the train journey from Warsaw to Berlin, and start dreaming of East Side Gallery’s colourful murals, pretzel carts on Oranienstraße and dancing to techno beats at Berghain. Once there, opt to join a street art tour of the city and see those mural dreams in person!

Fuel up, Berlin style: gather for your final dinner together, an included feast of hearty German favourites and plenty of gemütlichkeit (that’s good cheer, the German way). 

Bye from Berlin: two weeks goes quick when you choose a small group trip packed with more. You’ve seen the sights, eaten the bites, made the memories and now all that’s left is to say goodbye. You could always hop on another trip to Central and Western Europe...