Immersive Classical Music Austria Tour

Vienna is the kind of city you might expect to see in a movie. The central streets will effortlessly transport you to a bygone era, mixing Hapsburg elegance with early Jugendstil. You will touch down in Vienna, where a guide will greet and transfer to your accommodation. After a brief orientation, the day will be at your leisure. There is so much to see on the surrounding streets, such as architectural snippets on the quiet lanes of the Hapsburg capital. Your guide can also point you toward one of Vienna’s classical cafes.

So many of the great masters composed here and influenced each other at a time when royalty revered operatic performances. Theater an der Wien is the iconic place to start the day’s tour, which is an extravagant setting that has housed the premier performance of many legendary scores. You can then take a journey through Vienna to see where these celebrated compositions were created. You will visit Haydn’s Wohnhaus, Mozart’s Figarohaus, Johann Strauss’s Wohning, and Beethoven’s Pasqualati residence. Only when explored side-by-side can you pick up on the nuances that ultimately inspired the music.

After breakfast this morning, you will hear the Vienna Boys Choir as they sing mass in the Imperial Palace Chapel. The voices will mingle and separate before finding their harmony once more as the service continues. From the chapel, you will wander to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is Vienna’s extravagant fine arts museum. Here, the collection of Flemish and Spanish paintings suggest a royal obsession with buying art. As with each day in Vienna, you will also stop to enjoy a pastry in one of the city’s cafes.

Haydn made his name in Eisenstadt, and his music was given space to breathe in the palace where he was court composer. Smaller and more intimate when compared to Vienna’s sites, the Esterhazy Palace provides an insight into a time of princely dynasties and musical innovation. Haydn’s famous works were first played here, and you can also visit his house and mausoleum. Lake Neusiedl is nearby and will be a quiet place to spend the afternoon and evening. You can stop at some of Burgenland’s wine cellars en route.

Baden has always attracted royalty. This famous spa town is where Europe’s emperors and rulers went to relax, and it retains its soothing style. In the morning, you will travel here to rest your legs. You will also visit Baden for its contribution to music. Here, you can stand in St. Stephen parish church and admire the grand organ, which inspired Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus. Beethoven spent much of his life in Austria, and you will visit a tiny Baden house, where the German wrote many masterpieces, such as Missa Solemnis.

You will have a little break from the music today. Although the scores may still be ringing in your ears, there is another Austrian history to explore of medieval musing. Ruined castles dot the mountains and terraced vineyards fill the foothills. It is always serene when you take a cruise along the water. You can sample the wines at Spitz, visit two charming villages, and hear the tale of Richard the Lionheart. This will be a slow and relaxing day after a bit of active exploring. You can take your time and indulge your senses in the Wachau Valley.

Long before The Lord of the Rings, there was another sequence of stories: the Ring of the Nibelung. It goes down as one of the world’s greatest works of art. After breakfast, you can explore the Nibelung land. With the score on the vehicle's stereo, you will be able to see the inspiration of the German composer. Today’s destination will be Linz, which is the city that Anton Bruckner put on the map. Here, you can discover St. Florian Abbey, which is where Bruckner played day after day to finalize his compositions. You can also explore more of his life in Bruckner House. Linz has evolved into Austria’s contemporary art hub and your guide can take you to some of the galleries if your desire.

The mountains rise, the valleys extend, and the road to Salzburg twists high through the Alps. There is a soothing panorama from every corner, and it may seem almost inevitable that this would be the land of Mozart. His mother was born in Bad Ischl, which is a spa town on today’s route. While she may only be of passing interest, a visit to the spa theater shows the intimacy of the music venue that Johann Strauss liked to enjoy. You can stop for lunch at Wolfgang Lake en route to Salzburg, where the setting is just as enchanting as The Sound of Music.

It isn’t quite classical music, but The Sound of Music always provides a lens from which to explore Salzburg. The Sound of Music is essentially an overview of Salzburg, incorporating the local side to life and various glamorous icons, such as the incredible landscapes. Today, you will also visit Mozart’s birthplace and get a sense of where the musician spent his formative years. After an early dinner, you can spend the evening with his music. Mozart’s scores naturally dominate the nightly performance, but some of Austria’s other greats may occupy the program. After your opera performance, you will have the rest of the evening to spend at your leisure.

From Salzburg, you will have a relatively long and winding journey back to Vienna. From here, it is less than two hours to Munich, which is another option for your outbound flight. Depending on the flight time, you may be able to stop at King Ludwig II’s famous castles.