Three Cities of Elegance and History: Prague, Vienna, and Budapest
Czech Republic
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Sep 14 - Sep 26, 2026
This trip could not have been better! Tomaz, Zala and their Grand Cuvee Travel team were so great to work with. The communication was timely, and our changes to the itinerary were handled easily. Once we were in Europe the communication on What's App worked splendidly, We even had to roust Zala out on a Sunday when there was a glitch in our tickets to the Schonbrun Palace. She was very available and helpful.
All of the hotels that were booked were excellent and very fun and each one different. The location of the Hotel Golden Star in Prague was terrific, especially in the evening watching the touring people come up and down the street to the Palace above us. The Hotel das Tyrol in Vienna was charming and unique with all of the art in the rooms and the common areas, plus the "old" elevator was fun for travel to the room and back. The Hotel Moments in Budapest was very modern and located on Andrassy St. which is a shopping hub. Our room had a wonderful "skylight" window that filled most of the back wall and had a direct view of St. Stephans Cathedral, which was beautifully lighted at night. All of the breakfasts in each of the hotels were filled with good variety and local flavors. We never went hungry!
The tours that Grand Cuvee booked were all very good. English was spoken clearly and well for us. All of the guides (there were 4 in total; three cities) knew the history so well and took us to the best attractions. We did a lot of walking, but were able to sit and rest as needed. Our Budapest guide, Richard, was so good and listened to our needs and adjusted accordingly. Our guide to the countryside in Prague was very helpful and I think that she enjoyed helping us get out of the city and into the country of her birth. The daily schedule that Grand Cuvee provided was very helpful, especially when we were on our own to get around, such as to the trains and for the Schonbrun Palace in Vienna.
The transfers from the airport and to/from the trains went very smoothly as we had hoped. We were helped with our luggage on the train by the other passengers close by, so that helped as well. The trains were quiet and smooth, sometimes traveling 120-140 mph!
This is the second journey that we have traveled using KimKim as our source. Both times, they have provided excellent local tour planners who have been so very helpful. I have recommended KimKim to a couple of my friends because we have been so pleased with how the whole system has worked for us!
Hotel Reviews
The hotel is so very well located, just one block below the Palace and St. Stephens Basilica. The room we had was on the first floor and looked out on the street where the touring people were walking up to and back from the Palace. They have a restaurant open for lunch and dinner, and it was very fun to sit outside having our wine and beer and watching the people come and go on the sidewalks below us. Our room had two bathrooms, so it was very convenient for us both to get ready in the morning. The breakfast buffet was plentiful with good variety. The staff at the front desk were very helpful and friendly, and they all spoke very good English for us!
This is a small 30 room hotel on the main shopping street of Vienna, very well located near the Museum Quarter. It has a very unique decor, with art works in bright colors throughout the rooms and the common areas. There is a very nice bar area with many guest tables in which breakfast is served each morning. The breakfast is not buffet, but instead is prepared for each individual. The four floors are served by an "old" KONE elevator that is fun and unique. I would easily choose to stay here again if in Vienna!
The Hotel Moments is a recently renovated property and they have done a really fine job with the work. It is 5 floors of sleeping rooms, all arranged around a six story open atrium lobby. The staff were very helpful and accommodating. There is a Lebanese and Syrian Restaurant on the main floor at the entrance which serves as an eating room for the breakfast buffet, but it is a good choice for dinner as we discovered for two nights. there are also several other restaurants and bars within an easy walking distance, and it is about 5 blocks from the Moments hotel to the river Danube.
Activity Reviews
This tour could have been an hour shorter, although there were so many sights and ground to cover! Our guide, Marketa, was on time and waiting for us in the lobby of our hotel as promised. She was very knowledgeable and interested in being sure that we had a full appreciation of the centuries of history of Prague. We think that she talked non-stop for the full four hours, and in hindsight, we should have asked her for more rest breaks and a bit less of the history lesson. Marketa certainly is a very-qualified tour guide and proud of her country.
We wanted to have a day trip around the countryside outside of the busy city. Our guide, Katrina, was excellent! Once we described the experience that we were seeking, she did a fantastic job in showing us, with pride, the countrysides surrounding Prague. She took us to see the Karlstein Castle and village, as well as some of the farmlands surrounding Prague. Katrina's English was perfect as she herself has traveled extensively in the USA.
Our guide, Mojca, met us in our hotel lobby, and we immediately headed off into the Museum Quarter and then to the "ring" boulevard that surrounds the main government and church buildings. Mojca is from Slovenia and is very proud of the history of Vienna. She described the reign of Maria Theresa and all of the good that she brought to the people of Austria and beyond. The tour was 3 hours, and we covered a lot of ground and buildings in that time. As in Prague, we afterwards thought that we should have stopped a bit more to rest. We also grew somewhat tired of the constant running commentary.
Our tour guide was Richard, and he was an excellent guide for us! At the beginning of the tour, we told him that we would like to take some rest breaks along the way, and that we did not need to know every little detail of the history. He took our suggestions well and we had an excellent tour, including a stop for coffee before climbing a lot of stairs getting to the top of the Buda side. We visited almost all of the "must see" sites, missing only Gellert Hill, the Citadel, and Heroes Square. We, on another day, took the Hop On Hop Off bus and saw those sites of interest. Our hotel room looked out on St. Stephens Basilica so we were able to see it from the front, on the tour, and from the back from our window.
This trip was supposed to be by motor coach one direction and by boat back to Budapest, but the low water level of the Danube had forced cancellation of all the boat traffic. So, we rode with Richard in his comfortable Mercedes SUV and enjoyed a full day of seeing the towns and villages along the Danube. We made three stops, each of very interesting places. The first was an artistic village that was historically Serbian and had the largest Serbian Orthodox church in the world. The second was at an ancient fortress castle, high up on a mountain that then overlooks the beautiful bend of the Danube. The final stop was to the largest Catholic Basilica in Hungary. All along the way Richard was full of information but did not give us sensory overload! It was raining on the way back to the hotel, but Richard was a good driver.