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Urban Environments & Culture in Eastern Europe

See our educational approach to program design
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See our educational approach to program design
Connect with us

10 or 12 days

Budapest, Krakow, Prague, extension to Vienna


No longer trapped behind the Berlin Wall, the Eastern Bloc shines once again on the world stage. Today, the vibe in Eastern Europe is intoxicatingly upbeat, and its cities are moving fast towards the future. Beneath fortified castles and at humbling stops like Auschwitz and Krakow’s Jewish Quarter, Eastern Europe offers thrills and history unfiltered.

🔹 Curated experiences: Every program is intentionally designed to feature guided learning, cultural engagement, and independent exploration experiences to drive global competency development, denoted on each itinerary with a blue diamond. Learn more about these experiences.
Image displaying map describing the itinerary of the Urban Environments & Culture in Eastern Europe tour

Day 1: Fly overnight to Hungary

Day 2: Budapest

Meet your Field Director at the destination airport

Take a walking tour of Budapest

With your Field Director you will see:

  • Fisherman’s Bastion, a fortification that has 7 turrets representing 7 Hungarian tribes
  • Parliament, Hungary's sprawling center of government

Enjoy dinner in Budapest

Day 3: Budapest

🔹 Guided learning: Take a tour of Budapest

With an expert local guide you will see:

  • Heroes’ Square, featuring statues of famous Hungarian personalities
  • Castle Hill, where Buda Castle is located
  • Gellért Hill, where you can catch some of the city’s best views

Visit Matthias Church, famous for its colorful tiled roof 

🔹 Cultural engagement: Enjoy an evening river cruise on the Danube as you hear about its Hungarian past, and cap off your memorable evening listening to the Blue Danube Waltz

Day 4: Budapest • Kraków

Travel via Slovakia and the Tatra mountains to Kraków, Poland’s former capital

Enjoy dinner in Kraków

Day 5: Kraków

Take a tour of Kraków

With an expert local guide you will see:

  • Wawel Hill, perched high above the Vistula River
  • Glowny Square, passing Sukiennice Cloth Hall and the Jagiellonian University
  • Take time to reflect at a former Jewish ghetto

Visit Wawel Cathedral, where kings were crowned and Pope John Paul II once served as archbishop

Add this in-depth excursion:


Kraków Salt Mines

Kraków Salt Mines

Discover a subterranean labyrinth of giant caverns, underground lakes and chapels on this half-day guided excursion. The salt mine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has existed for 900 years. Descend into the earth on a mining elevator and explore chambers where miners and artists have crafted salt sculptures and bas reliefs. Comfortable shoes and warm clothes are recommended. 

Day 6: Kraków

🔹 Cultural engagement: Visit Auschwitz and Birkenau with an expert local guide, where upwards of 1.5 million people died; walk through its barracks that serve as a chilling reminder and observe a moment of remembrance

Spend time exploring Kraków on your own

Day 7: Kraków • Prague

Travel to Prague, the "City of One Hundred Spires"

Take a walking tour of Prague

With your Field Director you will see:

  • Old Town Square, a historic square in the Old Town quarter
  • Astronomical Clock, a large clock that tells the date, time, astrological information, and more

Day 8: Prague

🔹 Guided learning: Tour Prague with an expert local guide 

Walk down the Golden Lane and see eleven historical buildings that mark it 

Visit St. Vitus Cathedral, a Gothic cathedral where Czech Kings and Queens are coronated

Explore Prague on your own this afternoon

Day 9: Prague

Add this in-depth excursion:


Kutná Hora

Kutná Hora

To learn that a rustic medieval mining town formerly named “Bohemia” is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is not too surprising. But to learn that the church within the town is decorated with the bones of 40,000 people—some of which have been turned into chandeliers and royal crests—is somewhat of a shocking discovery. This ossuary is a chilling but beautiful homage to mortality, and is just one of the many wonders in this beautiful town.

Enjoy dinner in Prague

Day 10: Depart for home


Add 2 more days


Day 10: Prague • Vienna

Travel to Vienna, residence of the imperial court for six centuries

Take a walking tour of Vienna

With your Field Director you will see:

  • Opera House, one of the leading opera houses in the world
  • Kärntnerstrasse, Vienna's main boulevard
  • St. Stephen’s Cathedral, central to Austrian history and iconic for its tiled roof

Enjoy a traditional Weiner Schnitzel dinner in Vienna, typically consisting of fried veal or pork with traditional seasonings

Day 11: Vienna

🔹 Cultural engagement: Take a guided tour of Vienna 

With your expert local guide you will see:

  • Ringstrasse, a circular boulevard around the Inner Town district
  • Parliament, a columned building that serves as Vienna's center of government
  • Rathaus, Vienna's flower-adorned city hall
  • Hofburg, the presidential residence and former imperial palace

Visit Schönbrunn Palace, an elegant palace with beautifully landscapes gardens where Marie Antoinette spent her childhood 

Add this in-depth excursion:


Classical Viennese concert

Classical Viennese concert

Enjoy an evening of classical music in one of Vienna's many traditional concert halls. Famed musicians such as Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Strauss, Brahms, and Schubert all have ties to the Austrian capital. 

Day 12: Depart for home


Learning outcomes on this program

Confidence • Curiosity • Global perspective • Empathy • Adaptability • Relatability • Self-Awareness

Academic resources

With this program, you get access to our Global Learning Resources, which include:

  • Discussion questions

  • Sample assignments

  • Journal prompts

  • Webinars

  • EF's Global Competency Assessment, a pre- and post-program assessment to measure competency development

See the resources you get

Your experience includes

Transportation
Accommodations
Select meals
End-to-end support
EF Global Learning Toolkit
Field Director
Guided exploration
Field Visits

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