Budapest Spring Festival

Magnificently sited on the river Danube, Budapest is the quintessential central European capital, with a rich musical tradition, superb museums and galleries, an historically important Jewish quarter, elaborate 19C coffee houses and an enviable heritage of Baroque, Art Nouveau and Neo-classical architecture.

Based in a 4 star boutique hotel in the historic Castle district, we explore the city on foot (with the odd tram and taxi ride), travel out into the countryside to experience Hungarian village life and have an opportunity to swim in one of the city’s most celebrated Art Nouveau baths. Each evening we enjoy fine Magyar cuisine accompanied by excellent Hungarian wines, and as a particular highlight of our visit, we attend a matinée concert in the Ferenc Lizst Memorial Museum and the following performances of the Budapest Spring Festival:

Hungarian State Opera House

RICHARD STRAUSS: Arabella

National Concert Hall

RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA

conductor Mikhail Pletnev, piano Nikolai Lugansky

RACHMANINOV: Piano concerto no.1

SCRIABIN: Symphony no. 1

I MUSICI DI ROMA

flute MAGALI MOSNIER
All VIVALDI programme

HANDEL: Hercules

TRIP ITINERARY

DAY 1

D included

After meeting at Budapest airport in the afternoon, we have a private transfer by road into the city centre and settle into our 4 star boutique hotel, ideally located on a quiet cobbled street on the Castle Hill. Dinner in an elegant restaurant in the former Minorite monastery introduces us to Hungarian cuisine, with its emphasis on game and fresh-water fish, with paprika and sour cream sauces, all accompanied by excellent Hungarian wines and rounded off with a glass of the legendary Tokaj.

DAY 2

B, L, D included

Setting off on foot, we orientate ourselves by taking in the splendid views from the ‘Fishermen’s Bastion’, an imposing neo-Gothic structure named for the Guild responsible for defending this stretch of wall in the Middle Ages, before visiting the wonderfully decorated Mátyás Templom. The yellow carriages of the 19C ‘Sikló’ funicular take us down to the Danube which we cross by the famous Chain Bridge. A scenic tram ride along the waterfront brings us to Hungary’s extraordinary Parliament building, built in Gothic Revival style with Baroque and Renaissance flourishes. We then visit the nearby Ethnographical museum with its old-fashioned but superb collection of photographs and costumes documenting life in rural areas of Hungary. Continuing on foot, we visit St. Stephen’s Basilica, it’s stunning interior covered with mosaics and gilded stucco. A short walk brings us to the Vörösmarty Tér where we can join the korzó (promenade) along fashionable Váci utca before indulging in coffee and cake (perhaps dobos torta) in Gerbeaud’s celebrated patisserie. Some free time brings the opportunity to shop in the open-air craft market where fine leather goods and hand bound books are good value (classical music CDs are also a bargain in Hungary). Our first Festival concert is a semi-staged performance of Handel’s musical drama ‘Hercules’ with the Orfeo Orchestra and the Purcell Choir, conducted by György Vashegyi.

DAY 3

B, L, D included

In the Jewish quarter we visit the colossal Dohány utca Synagogue, the largest in Europe, lavishly decorated in the Byzantine-Moorish style and pause to consider the striking Holocaust Memorial in the Raoul Wallenberg Garden. We proceed on foot to the Hungarian National Museum which, in addition to the fabulous Byzantium silk Coronation Mantle, contains diverse exhibits tracing Hungarian history from the Arpád dynasty to the fall of communism. We have some time to rest back in our hotel before transferring to the magnificent, ‘state of the art’ National Concert Hall for the evening concert by the internationally acclaimed Russian National Orchestra, with Nikolai Lugansky playing Rachmaninov’s Piano concerto no. 1.

DAY 4

B, L, D included

Wonderful baths form part of the Ottoman heritage of Budapest and this morning we take the opportunity of visiting the cathedral-like, Art Nouveau, Gellért Baths (and optionally swimming - or you may prefer to walk to a nearby viewpoint over the Danube). We cross the Danube to have lunch in a recently restored classic 19C cafe. Free time allows the opportunity to explore more of the castle district around our hotel - perhaps visiting the newly restored Music Museum, seeing the collections of the National Gallery, buying linen and paprika, or strolling along the cobbled mediaeval lanes. The performance of Richard Strauss’s opera ‘Arabella’ takes place in the State Opera House - frescoed and richly gilded, the interior of the opera house is the epitome of 19C opulence. Dinner is in a nearby restaurant celebrated for its lively atmosphere and waiters who sing operatic arias!

DAY 5

B, L, D included

A guided tour of the Ferenc Lizst Memorial Museum precedes a morning performance in the atmospheric Old Music Academy. The continent’s oldest metro, recently restored, whisks us to lunch in a famous old restaurant, which, uniquely in Hungary, is entirely run by women. We next visit the Museum of Fine Arts which houses a superb international collection, particularly of Old Masters from Prince Miklós Esterházy’s estate - paintings by Titian, Raphael, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Goya, El Greco, Van Dyck, Holbein and Rubens are particularly noteworthy. This evening I Musici di Roma, with the flautist Magali Mosnier, give an all Vivaldi programme in the Palace of Arts.

DAY 6

B, L included

We travel out into the countryside to visit the open-air museum of rural architecture from different regions of Hungary - cottages, barns, pigsties, wooden belltowers and mills - and see the famous Hungarian grey cattle and mangalica, the woolly-coated pigs. Later we head for the picturesque village of Szentendre for a wine tasting in a mediaeval cellar (the National Museum of wine), followed by lunch in a rustic restaurant. An airport transfer concludes the holiday in the late afternoon.

Opera and concert performances

Please note that opera and concert performances are subject to change by the organisers of the Budapest Spring Festival and therefore the order in which they occur may, rarely, be altered according to availability.

Price includes:

All accommodation for Days 1 through 6 on a double shared basis

All meals (with wine at lunches and dinners), other than those excepted in the daily notation

All land transportation in a private vehicle as described except during free periods

All entrance and sightseeing fees except during free periods

Wine tasting at the National Museum of Wine

Tickets for 5 performances of classical music and opera

Gratuities for hotel and restaurant staff

Visa and Health Requirements

Visitors from the EU and the US currently require a valid passport, but not a visa, for entry to Hungary. If you are a national of any other country, please check visa regulations with your nearest Embassy of Hungary.

At present there are no specific and compulsory health requirements for entry to Hungary. Residents of countries in the EU can only claim free (emergency) medical treatment in Hungary by presenting their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which is issued in the UK by the Department of Health. You may also wish to check the advice given to travellers the FCO.

Insurance

It is essential, and a condition of booking, that you protect yourself with a suitable travel insurance policy as soon as you book a trip. Follow this link for a quote for a policy available to UK residents.

If you are already insured or a non-UK resident, please inform us of your policy at the time of booking.