LEISURE TRAVEL
We can offer a comprehensive leisure travel benefit programme, with exclusive travel offers and an excellent level of service to help anyone get the most out of their vacation budget. In addition to incentive and conference services we are annually serving more than 60,000 leisure travelers to Central Europe. This gives us the capability to hit the market with unbeatable rates and comprehensive travel support.
Prague, Vienna, Budapest & the Habsburgs
These are the pillars of Central Europe. Prague is the centerpiece, beautifully preserved, walkable, and full of mysterious cobblestone side streets. Vienna is the stately big brother: officious, artsy, and old-school, from the desserts to the opera. Budapest is still the scruffy upstart, even 20 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The vibrant nightlife and traditional bathhouses make it the most foreign and inscrutable of the three. The vast, immeasurable influence of the Habsburgs can be felt everywhere throughout the region. The Imperial House of Hapsburg, later the Imperial and Royal House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, occupies a giant place in world history.
These are the pillars of Central Europe. Prague is the centerpiece, beautifully preserved, walkable, and full of mysterious cobblestone side streets. Vienna is the stately big brother: officious, artsy, and old-school, from the desserts to the opera. Budapest is still the scruffy upstart, even 20 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The vibrant nightlife and traditional bathhouses make it the most foreign and inscrutable of the three. The vast, immeasurable influence of the Habsburgs can be felt everywhere throughout the region. The Imperial House of Hapsburg, later the Imperial and Royal House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, occupies a giant place in world history.
This is no exaggeration as there have been relatively few regions of the world in which the House of Hapsburg did not play some part in the past. Over the centuries members of this august and noble family have provided Archdukes of Austria, Holy Roman Emperors, Kings of Spain, Kings of Hungary, Kings of Bohemia, Emperors of Austria, and even one Emperor of Mexico and one (nominal) King of England. Countries as diverse as Spain, Belgium and Austria reached their “Golden Ages” under Hapsburg rule. Under Emperor Joseph II there was a turn toward the principles of the “Enlightenment” as well as patronage for some of the greatest musical geniuses of history, most notably Mozart and Beethoven. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian statesman Prince Metternich had played a leading role in re-drawing the map of Europe to maintain a balance of powers and uphold legitimate authority.
