Willkommen!
Experience two amazing and historic European cities by combining a trip to Salzburg and Vienna, Austria.
Travel first to Salzburg and explore this captivating city situated in the Austrian Alps along the River Salzach. Follow in the footsteps of Mozart, Salzburg’s most famous son, and delve into the city’s truly magical atmosphere. Its shop-lined streets and exquisite Baroque and Gothic churches are enchanting to all who visit.
Then make your way to Vienna, where you will experience a firsthand look at a city renowned for its musical traditions. Rich in character and history, Vienna is a major leader in the arts, from theater to opera to classical music and visual arts. The legacy left by Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn is alive in what many believe to be one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe. Located on the River Danube, Vienna is a cultural haven, filled with glorious parks and museums, amazing Baroque and art nouveau architecture and breathtaking cathedrals and palaces, all which function as the backdrop for a lavish daily culture still celebrated in its concert halls, opera houses and cafes.
Itinerary
Depart North America for Munich, Germany, closest large airport to Salzburg.
Arrive in Munich, Germany, and take a panoramic drive through the lively Bavarian capital and lush German countryside to magnificent Austria.
Upon arrival in Salzburg, check in to your hotel, then join your tour manager on an orientation walk to get acquainted with the neighborhood.
This evening, enjoy a welcome dinner of Austrian specialties as your tour manager previews the days ahead.
Your first day in Austria begins with a guided walk of Salzburg’s Old Town. Walk the cobblestone roads along the Salzach River, lined with ancient cathedrals and baroque architecture, experiencing the city’s history and charm. Pass by the Mirabell Gardens, St. Peter’s Abbey and its cemetery, which may look familiar from a scene in The Sound of Music.
End your tour at the stunning Salzburg Cathedral, the city’s most significant landmark. Here your ensemble has been invited to perform a mid-day concert!
This afternoon, a visit to Mozart’s birthplace can be arranged. See original portraits and documents, Mozart’s first violin, and other mementos in the house where the young Mozart lived for his first seventeen years. Alternatively, you may want to visit to Hohensalzburg Fortress, one of Europe’s largest and most impressive medieval castles, towering over lovely Salzburg.
Today starts with singing and musical exchange! Visit a community venue such as a school or a retirement home to perform a goodwill concert for an appreciative audience.
This afternoon, enjoy an excursion to the Hallein Salt Mines. Located in the ancient Celtic town of Hallein, here you will don a miner’s smock and descend down long wooden slides into the salt mines for an exciting and educational tour. Alternatively, embark on a Sound of Music Tour and visit the breathtaking filming locations of the famous musical film.
Enjoy a night of musical immersion. Your choir will perform a friendship concert in a neighborhood church or theater with a host choir who will perform as well. Following your performance, there will be a chance to socialize with your hosts and fellow performers.
Later, a delicious dinner will be served to your group in the hotel restaurant to complement your concert schedule.
Depart Salzburg for Vienna, stopping en route in the picturesque town of Melk, home to the famous Benedictine monastery Melk Abbey. Enjoy a docent-led tour of the Abbey and sing in the beautiful Abbey chapel for other visitors.
Continue to Vienna, and enjoy an introduction to Austria’s glorious capital on a guided tour. View famous cultural icons such as the State Opera, Schönbrunn Palace, and the Musikverein, from where the New Year’s concert is broadcast around the world every year.
Settle in to your hotel and refresh. Enjoy the rest of your evening for independent exploration.
Spend this morning in the city center exploring sites like St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Schloss Hofburg (the Habsburg dynasty’s winter palace), and Kärntnerstrasse and Graben, Vienna’s most famous shopping streets. You may also be interested in visiting Mozarthaus, where Mozart once lived and wrote many of his most famous works, or the Haus der Musik, an interactive music museum.
Later, transfer to St. Peter’s Church, the second-oldest and most lavishly decorated church in Vienna. Perform an afternoon concert as part of St. Peter’s acclaimed concert series.
This evening, tickets to a chamber concert of Mozart’s works can be arranged for your group in Sala Terrena, where Mozart himself performed!
This morning, tour Schönbrunn Palace, the impressive former summer residence of the Hapsburg family. During the summer months, your ensemble may perform an open-air concert on the Palace’s grand staircase.
The afternoon is open to spend as you wish. Perhaps visit the Collection of Old Musical, Instruments, or one of Vienna’s world-class museums, immerse yourself in Viennese coffee culture at an old-world cafe, and go souvenir shopping.
Later, transfer to the village of Gumpoldskirchen where a traditional Austrian Heurigen dinner rounds out your tour on a high note!
Transfer to the Vienna airport for your return flight to North America, returning home with wonderful memories of performing in Austria. Additional days, destinations, and activities can be added to customize this tour for your group.
*All performance opportunities and venues proposed in this itinerary are pending final confirmation and availability at time of booking. Your group’s final program will be determined by confirmed times and locations for concerts, workshops, entrances and other activities. Although your ensemble’s exact itinerary will vary to accommodate performance schedules, the same type of singing experiences, activities and caliber of venue will be included in your final concert tour program.
Concert Tour Highlights
FRIENDSHIP CONCERTS IN AUSTRIA
Friendship concerts are a featured experience on our tours and are at the heart of our mission to foster cultural connections through music. We benefit from a vast international network in the choral world built over our thirty years of helping choirs share their music both in the United States and abroad. Your choir will share a venue and a concert program with a host choir from the region. Your singers will have the opportunity to hear their host choir's repertoire (often showcasing local musical styles) and to share your own repertoire in turn. Fellowship time is planned around the friendship concert, giving both choirs the chance to mingle and enjoy the camaraderie of creating cross-cultural connections through a shared love of music.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
As Austria’s capital and largest city, Vienna is its primary cultural, political and economic center. Vienna is known for its charming old-world yet modern quality of life and extensive musical traditions, character and history. It is, and has always been, a destination for travelers seeking experiences filled with breathtaking architecture, exceptional museums and cathedrals, delicious foods and historic musical venues. All of these elements combine to create a magical trip to a city rich in beauty, culture and sophistication.
MELK ABBEY
The town of Melk is home to the famous Melk Abbey, a Benedictine monastery fashioned by architect Jakob Prandtauer in 1700. Prandtauer transformed a former 11th-century fortress, once part of the Babenberg dynasty, into one of the most magnificent Baroque buildings in all of Europe. The abbey attracts thousands of visitors each year and was the inspiration for Umberto Eco’s historical novel and film, The Name of the Rose. Take a glimpse at abbey life as the tour leads through the courtyards, the ornate library, the marble hall, and the emperor’s visiting quarters and experience the breathtaking abbey church's 12-second delay acoustics during a musical offering.
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA
Salzburg’s scenic Alpine backdrop, Baroque architecture, and incredibly preserved historic center have earned it a UNESCO heritage site title. Salzburg has a magnificent Old City featuring narrow streets and buildings from the Medieval, Romanesque, Baroque, and Renaissance periods. Famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the city home.