Mozart
& the Mozart Festival

• Enjoy 5 performances at Salzburg’s Mozart Week, the annual celebration of the composer’s life, and 3 performances by Vienna’s finest ensembles

• Get to know the artist’s life and times in his two principal cities, Salzburg and Vienna, through site visits and background lectures

• Discover the life and style of Europe’s rulers at Ludwig II’s island palace, modelled on Versailles, the Habsburgs’ Schönbrunn, and a private visit of the Kaiservilla

• Admire masterpieces of fine and decorative art at Vienna’s premier collections, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum and Imperial Treasury

• Gain insight into music in the age of Mozart, with the expertise, lectures and commentary of Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine’s Editor-at-Large

NB: The program for the Salzburg Mozart Week is released in early June. The order of the activities in the itinerary may be adjusted in order to ensure the best run of performances at the festival.

We are now taking fully-refundable provisional bookings. Once the final performance program is released, you will have the opportunity to confirm your place on the tour with a second deposit, or to withdraw and receive a full refund of your first deposit.

TUESDAY 27 JANUARY - ARRIVAL (Canapes)
We gather this afternoon at Munich airport at 2.00pm to transfer by coach to Salzburg. After settling into our hotel, we meet for welcome drinks and canapes. The rest of the evening is at leisure. Overnight Salzburg.

WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY – SALZBURG OLD TOWN – PERFORMANCE #1 (B, D)
Salzburg was Mozart’s home for 25 years and his legacy lives on throughout the small city, which had been the centre of an independent prince-bishopric until the early nineteenth century. This morning, after a talk by Clive Paget, we explore the history of the city, on a walking tour of the Old Town that focuses on Salzburg in the time of Mozart. After the walking tour there is time to visit two sites associated with Mozart’s life: the house in which he was born, whose rooms have modern displays introducing the composer in Salzburg; and the interiors of the Residenz, where Mozart first performed as a child for the rulers of Salzburg. In the afternoon, we visit the iconic Hohensalzburg, the historic fortress above the city that dominates the skyline and which is today a series of museums and galleries. After time at leisure, we meet for an early dinner before the first performance of the tour. Overnight Salzburg.

Performance 1

Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

THURSDAY 29 JANUARY – HERRENCHIEMSEE (B, L)
Today we take an excursion to Herrenchiemsee, a small lake in southern Bavaria that is not far from the Austrian border. The major island in the lake was transformed in the nineteenth century by Ludwig II of Bavaria. Unlike Ludwig’s Romantic castles, such as Neuschwanstein, the princely residence on this island was inspired by Versailles, and the ruler spared no expense on the lavish decoration of its splendid interiors. After a guided tour of the palace, we have lunch and then return to Salzburg in the early afternoon. Evening at leisure. Overnight Salzburg.

FRIDAY 30 JANUARY – MOZART IN SALZBURG – PERFORMANCE #2 (B)
After a talk in the hotel, we take a closer look at Mozart’s life in Salzburg on a walking tour of the New Town of Salzburg, where the composer lived and worked. Our tour this morning includes a visit to Mirabell Palace, a magnificent seventeenth-century palace and gardens in the city that may be familiar to you from The Sound of Music. Mozart performed here for the Archbishops of Salzburg. After visiting the Marble Hall, we continue to the Mozart Residence, where Mozart lived, composed and performed for intimate circles of friends and for Austria’s aristocracy. The House Museum provides a sophisticated look into Mozart’s life. Our tour this morning concludes with a visit to Saint Sebastian Cemetery, where Mozart’s father Leopold and his wife Constanze are interred, along with Paracelsus, the philosopher and physician who revolutionised medicine during the Renaissance. The afternoon is at leisure and you may wish to visit one of Salzburg’s many museum or simply relax and enjoy the ambience of wintry Salzburg. In the evening, we meet in the hotel to attend a new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Overnight Salzburg

Performance 2
Venue: Haus fur Mozart
Program: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute
Performers:Rolando Villazon (dir.), Robert Gonzales-Monjas (conductor), Kathryn Lewek (The Queen of the Night), Franz-Josef Selig (Sarastro), Emily Pogoriec (Pamina), and Magnus Dietrich (Tamino)

SATURDAY 31 JANUARY – ST GILGEN & THE KAISERVILLA AT BAD ISCHL – PERFORMANCE #3 (B, L)
Today we enjoy the history and majestic landscapes of Salzkammergut, a region renowned for its stunning alpine scenery, a source of inspiration for composers such as Mahler, and a favourite place of repose for Austria’s imperial family. Our first stop is at St Gilgen, a charming lakeside town where Mozart’s mother had lived before marrying Leopold. After strolling through the town, enjoying the views across the lake and the surrounding snow-capped mountains (as well as coffee and cake!), we continue to Bad Ischl. This alpine spa town grew in the nineteenth century when it became the preferred summer residence of Emperor Franz-Josef von Habsburg and the Empress Elisabeth. After touring the town and enjoying the region’s cuisine at lunch together, we have a private tour of the Kaiservilla. The villa was built by Franz-Josef in the shape of an E as a gift to his new wife and was regularly used as a summer residence by the Imperial family. Today, descendants of the Habsburg dynasty live in one wing of the villa, while the other preserves the interiors as they were in the early twentieth century, including the Emperor’s study where he signed the Declaration of War against Serbia in 1914 and thus cemented the outbreak of the First World War. After our visit, we return to Salzburg, where there is time to relax before an evening performance. Overnight Salzburg.

Performance 3
Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

SUNDAY 01 FEBRUARY – AT LEISURE IN SALZBURG, PERFORMANCES #4 AND #5 (B, D)
On the final day of the Mozart festivities, we attend two performances, including the Festival’s closing performance in the evening. The time between performances is at leisure in Salzburg, with a talk by Clive in the later afternoon before an early dinner and the closing performance. Overnight Salzburg.

Performance 4
Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

Performance 5
Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

MONDAY 02 FEBRUARY – TO VIENNA, VIA ST FLORIAN (B, L)
We leave Salzburg this morning by private coach to go to Vienna. En route we stop at Saint Florian, where we tour the historic monastery and enjoy a recital on the Brucker Organ, the favoured instrument of Anton Bruckner, who elected to be buried beneath it. After lunch in St Florian, we continue eastwards to visit Melk Abbey, one of the finest baroque monuments in Austria, with panoramic views across the Danube valley. After a guided tour of the monastery and its treasury, we continue to Vienna and arrive at our hotel in the early evening. Overnight Vienna.

TUESDAY 03 FEBRUARY – MOZART IN VIENNA – PERFORMANCE #6 (B)
In 1781, Mozart left the employ of the Archbishop of Salzburg and moved to Vienna, the capital and cultural centre of the Empire. Although he only lived another 10 years, it was a prolific decade. This morning we explore the life and times of Mozart in Vienna on a walking tour, which includes St Stephen’s cathedral (where Mozart had performed and had been appointed music director shortly before his death); St Michael’s, where his Requiem was first performed; and the Mozarthaus, the only residence Mozart that lived in in Vienna that remains intact to this day. After a break for lunch, there is the option to visit the Albertina Museum, one of Vienna’s finest collections of modern masterpieces and boasting the world’s largest collection of works on paper by Old Masters such as Dürer. In the evening, we attend a performance. Overnight Vienna.

Performance 6
Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

WEDNESDAY 04 FEBRUARY – SCHÖNBRUNN PALACE – PERFORMANCE #7 (B, D)
Today we visit Schönbrunn Palace, where Mozart first performed for the Empress Maria Theresa as a child. The 1440-room palace and its extensive gardens are an extraordinary monument to the wealth and taste of the Habsburg dynasty and today preserves the interiors of the State Apartments, the private apartments of Franz Josef and Elisabeth, and the apartments of Maria Theresa. After our visit of the palace, there is time at leisure to explore the complex further. The afternoon is also at leisure, and your tour leader and tour manager will be able to advise you on what you may wish to see independently. In the evening we meet for an early dinner, before we attend a performance. Overnight Vienna.

Performance 7
Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

THURSDAY 05 FEBRUARY – KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM & MUSEUM OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS (B, L)
Vienna has astounding collections which had been amassed by the Habsburgs over the course of their 450-year rule. We start today with a guided tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, whose vast collection includes masterpieces by Titian, Caravaggio, Vermeer, Bruegel and family portraits by Velazquez. After the tour, there is time to explore the collections independently before we have lunch together in the museum’s elegant café beneath the grand cupola. In the afternoon, we visit another impressive collection – Vienna’s Museum of Musical Instruments – where our guide will help us to understand the history behind the instruments (along with who played them – a who’s who of musical history). Our final visit for the day is the nearby National Library, an architectural marvel in itself, contained within the sprawling Hofburg, the former imperial residence. Returning to the hotel, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Vienna.

FRIDAY 06 FEBRUARY – THE IMPERIAL TREASURY – PERFORMANCE #8 (B, L)
This morning, after a talk in the hotel, we visit the Imperial Treasury. This museum contains a vast collection of exceptional works of decorative art from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries, including the Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, the ceremonial robes of the Norman Kings of Sicily, and rare works of the finest medieval gold- and silversmithing. After touring the collection, we enjoy a farewell lunch together. The afternoon is at leisure to explore Vienna’s many other attractions, to shop, or simply to relax. In the evening we attend our final performance. Overnight Vienna.

Performance 8
Venue: TBA
Program: TBA
Performers: TBA

SATURDAY 07 FEBRUARY – DEPARTURE (B)
The tour concludes after breakfast in the hotel. Your tour manager is available to assist with taxis to the airport or the main train station for your departure.

Imlauer Pitter 4*, Salzburg
https://imlauer.com/hotel-pitter-salzburg/?lang=en
Family-owned, modern hotel in the centre of Salzburg.

Hotel Intercontinental 5*, Vienna
https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/us/en/vienna/vieha/hoteldetail
Modern, comfortable accommodation in central Vienna, conveniently close to major attractions and most of Vienna’s performance venues.

NB. Hotels of a similar standard may be substituted

• 11 nights’ accommodation in 4- and 5-star hotels

• Best available tickets to 5 performances at Mozart Week and 3 performances in Vienna

• All breakfasts, 8 lunches or dinners, and welcome drinks and canapes on arrival night

• All ground transport, guides, entrances and tipping for services mentioned in the itinerary

• Background talks and expert commentary by Clive Paget throughout the tour

• Services of an experienced English-speaking local tour manager throughout

A $1,500pp refundable deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

Should you decide to proceed once the performance program is finalised, a second deposit of $2,000pp will then be due on 12 August 2025. Otherwise, at the time of the final program's publication, you may withdraw from the tour with a full refund of your first deposit.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 14 October 2025.

When you book on one of tours, we ask you to accept our terms and conditions. You can read our terms and conditions here.