Vienna to Budapest and Gyor: Private day trip

Often dubbed the ‘Paris of the East’, this 2000 year-old city’s long history has left it rich in historic buildings. The most noticeable is Castle Hill, where the Royal Palace, Sándor Palace, and high-Gothic Matthias Church dominate the skyline, offering beautiful architecture and unparalleled views of the city. Budapest’s neo-Gothic Parliament, the largest building in Hungary, allows visitors to book a tour of the interior in advance. Once inside, visitors can admire the opulent decor, such as a staircase decorated with 25 kg of gold. Saint Stephen's Basilica, has the Holy Right Hand of the founder of Hungary, King Saint Stephen, on display. No visit to Budapest is complete without a stop at The New York Cafe, considered ‘the most beautiful cafe in the world,’ where guests can enjoy a coffee or upscale meal in a breathtaking Rococo hall.

It's won a European award for the protection of its historic heritage, notably the reconstruction of its Baroque centre. Churches, palaces, museums, characteristic corner-balconies and narrow lanes, are all charmingly vivid reminders of the town's long and varied history. The Bishop's Cathedral on Káptalan Hill, though having a beautiful exterior, houses some fascinating sacred objects within. Outstandingly, the reliquary of Ladislaus I, containing the skull of Hungary's revered eleventh-century saint-king. Gyor also possesses perhaps the most beautiful Baroque square in Hungary, Bécsi kapu tér (Vienna Gate Square), with every house a historic building. Following Király utca, a street full of Gyor's signature Baroque-style bay windows, brings you to the city's main square since the fourteenth century, Széchenyi Square. This is also chockful of Baroque buildings, and once the site of the Roman town Arrabona. The seventeenth-century Baroque Benedictine Church is well-worth exploring, if only for the ceiling pictures of the sanctuary and nave painted by Paul Troger.