ITINERARY

DAY 1 | THURSDAY 19 JUNE 2025

1ST OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

ARRIVE VIENNA (D):

Arrive at our hotel, the Grand Hotel Wien, one of the finest luxury hotels in Vienna, conveniently located just off the famous Ring Straße, moments away from the world-renowned Vienna State Opera and the elegant shopping mile of Kärntner Straße. Hotel check-in is at 3:00pm and we recommend arriving at the hotel at this time.

In the early evening, we meet our Tour Leader, Dr David Kram AM, who will introduce the tour. Together we enjoy pre-dinner drinks followed by a delicious dinner.

DAY 2 | FRIDAY 20 JUNE 2025

2ND OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

PRE-CONCERT TALK, GUIDED TOUR OF THE VIENNA STATE OPERA & WAGNER’S DAS RHEINGOLD (B):

This morning begins with a talk by Wagner expert, David Kram AM, introducing Richard Wagner’s brilliant and extraordinary epic music drama Der Ring des Nibelungen, and focusing on the first work, Das Rheingold, which we will hear this evening.

After the talk we enjoy a private guided tour of the Wiener Staatsoper, the Vienna State Opera, a 1,709 seat Renaissance Revival venue, built from 1861 to 1869, and the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was inaugurated as the ‘Wiener Hofoper’, the Vienna Court Opera, in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph 1, who chose the site and paid for the building’s construction. The Vienna State Opera is the world's largest repertory operation and we learn fascinating facts about the history of the house, its architecture and the opera business, details that otherwise remain hidden from the evening opera-goer. From the foyer we will walk up the grand staircase, through the state rooms, the Tea Salon, the Marble Hall, the Schwindfoyer, and the Gustav Mahler Hall, to the imposing, lavishly decorated auditorium.

Following the tour, the afternoon is free to rest before the evening’s opera. However, if you feel like a little exploration, a short walk will take you to Kärntner Straße, one of the streets which forms Vienna's ‘Golden U’ of inner-city shopping streets, offering chic stores and pedestrian precincts.

We come together in the evening to attend Das Rheingold at the Vienna State Opera, the spectacular building we explored this morning.

OPERA PERFORMANCE – VIENNA STATE OPERA
Wagner Das Rheingold

Philippe Jordan conductor
Sven-Eric Bechtolf director
Iain Paterson Wotan
Clemens Unterreiner Donner
Jörg Schneider Froh
Monika Bohinec Fricka
Regine Hangler Freia
Noa Beinart Erda
Jochen Schmeckenbecher Alberich
Michael Laurenz Mime
Ilja Kazakov Fasolt
Kwangchul Youn Fafner

DAY 3 | SATURDAY 21 JUNE 2025

3RD OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF VIENNA & OPTIONAL PERFORMANCE AT MUSIKVEREIN (B):

This morning we go on a private walking tour through Vienna’s Old Town seeing and hearing about such highlights as the Hofburg Palace, some of Vienna’s beautiful gardens, and the stunning architecture of the Parliament and the Rathaus der Stadt Wien, located on the elegant Ring Straße.

The afternoon is free and after our walking tour there may be sights you would like to discover further. One possibility, a 15-minute walk from our hotel, is Mozarthaus Vienna, where Mozart lived from 1784 to 1787. This is Mozart’s only surviving Viennese residence and it is now a museum, presenting information about the composer in combination with historical exhibits and audio-visual installations. It was in this imposing first floor apartment that Mozart wrote some of his greatest compositions, including one of his most popular operas, The Marriage of Figaro.

This evening there is an optional performance of the Wiener Symphoniker, with Manfred Honeck and Leonidas Kavakos at the Vienna Musikverein.

OPTIONAL CONCERT PERFORMANCE – VIENNA MUSIKVEREIN, 7:30pm

Manfred Honeck conductor
Leonidas Kavakos violin
Wiener Symphoniker

Lera Auerbach New Work (Austrian premiere)
Korngold Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 35
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

DAY 4 | SUNDAY 22 JUNE 2025

4TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

PRE-CONCERT TALK & WAGNER’S DIE WALKÜRE (B, L):

We start our morning with a private talk by our Wagner expert, Dr David Kram AM, about the second opera in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Die Walküre, which we will hear this evening. Following this we enjoy a delicious lunch together.

The afternoon is then free. You might decide to explore the city further, or you might choose to rest before this evening’s performance.

In the evening, we attend Die Walküre at the Vienna State Opera.

OPERA PERFORMANCE – VIENNA STATE OPERA
Wagner Die Walküre

Philippe Jordan conductor
Sven-Eric Bechtolf director
Andreas Schager Siegmund
Kwangchul Youn Hunding
Iain Paterson Wotan
Lise Davidsen Sieglinde
Anja Kampe Brünnhilde
Monika Bohinec Fricka

DAY 5 | MONDAY 23 JUNE 2025

5TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

DAY TRIP TO THE WACHAU VALLEY (B, L):

Today we travel by private coach to the picturesque Wachau Valley which, as one of the oldest settled areas of Europe and with a wine culture initiated by the Romans, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This fertile valley through which the Danube flows for 36 kilometres has been used since medieval times for the growing of apricots as well as grapes.

On our journey we see breathtaking landscapes, pretty villages and towns, medieval castles and grand monasteries. We take a boat trip on the Danube and enjoy lunch as we journey to the town of Melk. Here we have a guided tour through the magnificent Benedictine Abbey.

On our return to our hotel the evening is free.

DAY 6 | TUESDAY 24 JUNE 2025

6TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

PRE-CONCERT TALK & TCHAIKOVSKY’S PIQUE DAME (B):

This morning David gives us a talk on Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, which we will attend at the Vienna State Opera this evening.

This afternoon is free. You could use the time to shop, to revisit places you enjoyed, or to explore Vienna further. You might like to visit the Johann Strauss Apartments, dedicated to preserving the legacy of the “Waltz King” and his contribution to Vienna’s musical heritage. The apartments, where Strauss composed many of his iconic waltzes and operettas, are decorated to evoke the ambiance of 19th-century Vienna. One interesting museum that might help consolidate much of your information about the city and its history is the Wien Museum. This museum includes various specialised sites related to the city’s history, such as the musicians' residences and archaeological excavations; however, the main building in Karlsplatz, is just an 8-minute walk from the hotel. With its reopening in 2023 the extraordinary permanent exhibition of the Wien Museum, including paintings (Egon Schiele, Klimt), period costumes, furniture, glassware, models and other historical artifacts, tells the chronological story of the city. Vienna’s beginnings in the Neolithic, through the Roman camp of Vindobona, to the present are represented. You could have lunch at the museum’s restaurant and café, which includes a terrace with a spectacular view of Vienna’s city centre.

This evening, we visit the Vienna State Opera and attend Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame.

OPERA PERFORMANCE – VIENNA STATE OPERA
Tchaikovsky Pique Dame

Timur Zangiev conductor
Vera Nemirova director
Yusif Eyvazov Hermann
Alexey Markov Tomski and Pluto
Boris Pinkhasovich Jeletzki
Elena Zaremba Gräfin
Anna Netrebko Lisa
Elena Maximova Polina and Daphnis

DAY 7 | WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 2025

7TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

PRE-CONCERT TALK & WAGNER’S SIEGFRIED (B, L):

We start our morning with a private talk by our Wagner expert, David Kram, about the third opera in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Siegfried, which we will hear this evening. Following this we have lunch together.

The afternoon is then free. You might decide to explore the city further, or you might choose to rest before this evening’s performance.

In the evening, we attend Siegfried at the Vienna State Opera.

OPERA PERFORMANCE – VIENNA STATE OPERA
Wagner Siegfried

Philippe Jordan conductor
Sven-Eric Bechtolf director
Andreas Schager Siegfried
Anja Kampe Brünnhilde
Iain Paterson Der Wanderer
Jochen Schmeckenbecher Alberich
Noa Beinart Erda
Michael Laurenz Mime
Kwangchul Youn Fafner
Ileana Tonca Stimme des Waldvogels

DAY 8 | THURSDAY 26 JUNE 2025

8TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

GUIDED TOUR OF THE KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM VIENNA & OPTIONAL PERFORMANCE AT VIENNA STATE OPERA (B):

This morning we have a private guided tour of the picture gallery at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Vienna’s magnificent Museum of Fine Arts. The imposing 19th-century museum has opulent interiors, and collections of art and antiquities established from the collections of the House of Habsburg. The Picture Gallery Collection is one of the largest and most important of its kind in the world today, containing among other highlights pictures by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, as well as masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Raphael, Caravaggio, Velázquez and Italian Baroque painters.

At the conclusion of the tour, you may like to return to our hotel to rest if you are attending the evening’s performance; however, if you feel inclined you could have lunch in the museum‘s Café & Restaurant, which is wonderfully situated in the magnificent cupola hall of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. After lunch you might enjoy looking at more paintings, or you might be interested in other aspects of the museum’s holdings, the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection, the Collections of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Sculpture and Decorative Arts and the Coin Collection. Alternatively, you could walk across Matia-Theresien-Platz to the Naturhistorisches Museum.

This evening there is an optional performance of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty at the Vienna State Opera.

OPTIONAL BALLET PERFORMANCE – VIENNA STATE OPERA
The Sleeping Beauty

Robert Reimer conductor
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky & Toshio Hosokawa music
Martin Schläpfer & Marius Petipa choreography

DAY 9 | FRIDAY 27 JUNE 2025

9TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

GUIDED TOUR OF SCHONBRUNN PALACE (B, D):

This morning we visit Schönbrunn Palace, where we enjoy a private guided tour of this magnificent 1,441-room Baroque palace, one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historical monuments in Austria. Schönbrunn Palace was built in 1642 as the summer residence of the powerful Habsburg dynasty. This baroque palace, with rooms decorated lavishly in the Rococo style, is now a UNESCO cultural heritage site.

The afternoon is free. You might consider indulging in the very elegant, but relaxing atmosphere of one of Vienna’s coffee houses. In October 2011 the ‘Viennese Coffee House Culture’; was listed by UNESCO as part of Austria’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, a place ‘where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill.’ A walk of less than 10-minutes from our hotel is Café Sacher Wien, which offers an elegant setting for sampling the typical Viennese coffeehouse atmosphere, and possibly also trying a slice of Original Sacher-Torte. A walk of less than 20-minutes, or a short taxi ride, from the hotel will take you to the famous and very inviting Café Central, opened in 1876, and in the late 19th-century a key meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene, including such regular patrons as Freud, and Trotsky.

We come together in the evening to enjoy a dinner of traditional cuisine.

DAY 10 | SATURDAY 28 JUNE 2025

10TH OF 10 NIGHTS AT GRAND HOTEL WIEN

PRE-CONCERT TALK & WAGNER’S GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (B, L):

We start our morning with a private talk by our Wagner expert, David Kram, about Götterdämmerung, the fourth opera in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, which we will hear this evening. Following this we enjoy our farewell lunch together.

The afternoon is then free.

In the evening, we attend Götterdämmerung at the Vienna State Opera.

OPERA PERFORMANCE – VIENNA STATE OPERA
Wagner Götterdämmerung

Philippe Jordan conductor
Sven-Eric Bechtolf director
Andreas Schager Siegfried
Clemens Unterreiner Gunther
Falk Struckmann Hagen
Jochen Schmeckenbecher Alberich
Anja Kampe Brünnhilde
Regine Hangler Gutrune
Szilvia Vörös Waltraute

DAY 11 | SUNDAY 29 JUNE 2025

TOUR ENDS (B):

Following our final breakfast at the hotel, the tour concludes.

Please note: there may be some changes to the itinerary depending on final confirmation of evening performances.

INCLUSIONS

19–29 JUNE 2025 (11 DAYS)

AUD$13,150 PER PERSON TWIN SHARE

Single supplement: AUD$2,350
Deposit payment 1: Deposit AUD$1,500 per person (due at time of booking)
Deposit payment 2: Deposit AUD$1,500 per person (due on 19 February 2025)
Final payment due: 16 April 2025

INCLUSIONS:

• Performances: Category 2 tickets for the four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and best available tickets for Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at the Vienna State Opera.

• Tour Leader and Talks: Tour Leadership and five exclusive background talks by Dr David Kram AM.

• Tour Manager: An experienced Tour Manager to accompany the group throughout the tour.

• Hotels: 10 nights' accommodation in the 5-star Grand Hotel Wien in a Premium Room.

• Travel: Land travel by private air-conditioned coach. Please note that short journeys will be by foot.

• Meals/Drinks: Breakfast each morning. Six lunches/dinners with wine, water and tea/coffee.

• Entry Fees and Guided Tours: Entrance fees for museums, art galleries etc. as stated in your itinerary. Expert local guides will be used at some sites.

• Tips: Tips for drivers, local guides and meals included in your itinerary.

• Information Pack: Comprehensive pre-tour information pack.

EXCLUSIONS:

• International/Domestic Travel: Hayllar Music Tours can provide you with a quote. Phone 02 9669 9181 / +61 2 9669 9181 (Australia / International) or email contact@hayllarmusictours.com

• Airport Transfers: Transfers to/from airports and hotels at the beginning and end of the tour. These can be arranged at an additional cost.

• Special Taxes: Special taxes and airport levies that can only be paid in cash at the destination. We will endeavour to advise you of these charges (if any) before you depart.

• Visas: Costs associated with obtaining visas for countries visited on your tour. From mid-2025, travellers entering European countries will be required to obtain an ETIAS travel authorisation. For further information on ETIAS applications visit https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en

• Travel Insurance: Please note that you are required to have comprehensive travel insurance to cover you for the duration of your tour. If you live in Australia, Hayllar Music Tours can organise your travel insurance for you. Please contact them at phone 02 9669 9181 / +61 2 9669 9181 (Australia / International) or email contact@hayllarmusictours.com

• Meals: Lunches and dinners not nominated in your itinerary.

• Personal Expenses: Personal expenses such as laundry, phone calls and mini-bar.

• Activities in Free Time: Costs associated with any activities suggested for you in your free time.

SMALL GROUP SIZE

The tour will operate with 8 people. The maximum number on the tour will be 20 people.

FITNESS LEVEL REQUIRED - LEVEL 1

All members of the group must feel comfortable walking for 1–2 hours, standing for long periods of time in museums, art galleries etc. and embarking/disembarking coaches.

BOOKING TERMS & CONDITIONS

Please note that booking terms and conditions apply. Click here for the booking terms and conditions.

WAGNER’S RING CYCLE IN VIENNA