Join author, lecturer and historian Gary Powers Jr. on this adventure filled 12-day tour of Cold War and espionage related sites in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary
Day 1: Departure from the USA
Day 2: Arrival Vienna
Welcome to Vienna, the “Spy Capital of Europe.” Meet your CHA Tour Director at the airport and transfer to your hotel. Later, begin your exploration of Vienna on a walking tour. Afterwards, check into your hotel. Tonight, get to know your fellow travelers at our Welcome Dinner.
Day 3: Vienna
This morning, enjoy an espionage themed sightseeing tour of Vienna. Learn more about the history of postwar Vienna and secrets of the Cold War. Explore sites where the 1949 film noir classic, “The Third Man,” starring Orson Welles, was filmed. See Harry Lime’s apartment, the Hotel Sacher and Café Mozart, and hear the stories about the film’s production. Included is a visit to The Third Man Museum. Later, visit Vienna’s Prater Park where you can ride the grand ferris wheel featured in one of the film’s most famous scenes. You will also have the opportunity to attend a screening of “The Third Man” at Burg Kino, one of the world’s oldest cinemas.
Day 4: Vienna-Misov-Rokycany-Prague
Journey across the Austrian border to the Czech Republic. Stop in Misov to visit the Atom Museum, the world’s only nuclear weaponry that is open to the public. Lunch at the nearby restaurant is included. Afterwards, continue to Rokycany to visit the Museum on the Demarkation Line, the largest non-state military museum in the country. Proceed to Prague, the country’s historic capital. Check into your hotel where you spend the next three nights. You are on your own for dinner tonight as lunch was included today.
Day 5: Prague
Learn more about Cold War politics and espionage during your sightseeing tour of Prague. Visit the Prague Museum of Communism and explore the fascinating Bezovka Nuclear Bunker, one of Prague’s largest fallout shelters hidden beneath Parukarka Hill. Later, enjoy a walking tour of Prague to see the 500-year-old astronomical clock.
Day 6: Prague-Rozvadov-Pilsen-Prague
Enjoy a full-day excursion from Prague today. Travel to Rozvadov where you will experience what life was like in the former Czechoslovakia during the days of Communism during a visit to the Iron Curtain Museum. Afterwards, stop in Pilsen to tour the famous Pilsner Urquell Brewery. Enjoy lunch at the brewery before returning to Prague. You are on your own for dinner tonight as lunch was included today.
Day 7: Prague-Brno-Bratislava
Journey to Brno, the Czech Republic’s second largest city, to tour the 10-Z Bunker, a highly classified Communist era nuclear fallout shelter, originally built as a shelter during Nazi Occupation during World War II. Continue to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, located along the Danube, where the Austrian, Slovak and Hungarian borders meet. Check into your hotel where you spend the next two nights.
Day 8: Bratislava
This morning’s sightseeing of Bratislava highlights the city’s Communist era past. Included is a visit to the BS-8 Bunker and a tour of the remnants of a pre-WWII Czechoslovak fortification system and the border with Austria, known as the “Iron Curtain.”
Day 9: Bratislava-Budapest
Travel across the Slovak border into Hungary as you make your way to the capital city, Budapest. Upon arrival, get acquainted with Budapest on a leisurely cruise along the Danube River. Later, check into your hotel where you spend the next two nights.
Day 10: Budapest
Learn more about Cold War and Communist history on your morning sightseeing tour of Budapest. Included are visits to the Museum of Terror which houses exhibits related to the fascist and communist regimes in 20th-century Hungary, and Memento Park, a striking collection of statues from Hungary’s past as part of the Soviet Bloc.
Day 11: Budapest-Sopron-Vienna
This morning, journey to Sopron to visit the Pan-European Picnic site where a peaceful meeting of Hungarians and Austrians took place on August 19, 1989. This history-making demonstration near the border of the two nations caused a chain reaction in the region, leading to the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall, and the eventual reunification of Germany. Return to Vienna to enjoy some free time in the Austrian capital. This evening, celebrate the last night of your tour at our Farewell Dinner.
Day 12: Departure for the USA
This morning, transfer to Vienna Airport to board your return flight.