Vienna

A city of imperial grandeur, a major showcase of fine art, and a musical inspiration: Vienna is a masterpiece. Once the centre of the powerful Habsburg dynasty, few cities can boast its majestic architecture and lofty ambition towards high culture. Outrageously opulent palaces such as Schloss Belvedere, Schloss Schönbrunn and the monumental Hofburg complex leave a lasting impression. A series of magnificent and historic buildings house museums and art galleries which display some of the finest art collections in the world

Dates

16th – 20th March 2026

Highlights. The tour will visit:

Upper Belvedere. Built in the early 1700s by Prince Eugene of Savoy, Upper Belvedere is an ornate Baroque Palace with stunning architecture. It is home to 800 years of art history with many important examples of Austrian art from across the ages. These include masterpieces by Klimt, Schiele, Funke, Messerschmidt and van Gogh. In particular, it houses an unrivalled collection of work by Gustav Klimt.

Secession Building. An impressive building that represents a spirit of innovation and optimism from around 1900, the Secession Building houses a wide range of contemporary art. These include the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt, one of the most widely known artworks of Secession style, a branch of the Art Nouveau moment.

Imperial Apartments. The opulent Hofburg was the residence of the Habsburgs for over 600 years. The Imperial Chancellery Wing and the Amalia Residence contained the apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth. Open to the public, a series of rooms feature the splendour and magnificent décor of the late 1800s including the audience waiting room, conference room, study, bedroom & salons

Leopold Museum. Situated in Vienna’s Museum Quarter showcasing exhibitions on fine art, architecture, music, fashion, theatre, dance and more, the Leopold Musuem houses 8,300 works of art, and is one of the world’s most important collections of Austrian art from the mid-1800s and Modernism. Over 5 decades, Rudolph and Elisabeth Leopold created this unique collection featuring major works by Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Richard Gerstl, Oskar Kokoschka, and Alfred Kubin as well as works from artists of the nineteenth century.

Kunsthistorisches Museum. This is one of the world’s leading museums. Its rich holdings comprise artefacts and objects spanning 5,000 years of history from Ancient Egypt to the late eighteenth century. Incredible works of art by great masters include Dürer to Raphael, Titan and Tintoretto, Rubens and Velázquez, to Rembrandt and Vermeer. One of the museum’s numerous highlights are works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, including famous paintings such as The Tower of Babel, Peasant Wedding, and Hunters in the Snow. 

Albertina. As the largest Habsburg residential palace, the Albertina dominates the southern tip of the Imperial Palace on one of the last remaining fortress walls in Vienna. It houses the largest and most valuable graphical collections in the world with works such as Dürer’s “Hare” and Klimt’s studies of women. On permanent display are world-famous art from the last 130 years – including the inspirational Monet’s “Water Lily Pond”, Degas’ “Dancers” and Renoir’s “Girl”.

Schonbrunn Palace. This magnificent and opulent baroque styled Palace and Gardens is the finest example of Vienna’s incredible imperial heritage. Home to the Habsburgs and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the vast Palace has over 1500 rooms with luxurious and rich interiors of carvings, tapestries, lacquer work and grand works of art. A vision of baroque symmetry, the fine state rooms display wonderfully rococo interiors, and the residential apartments have elegant 19th century furnishings. The palace is surrounded by magnificent gardens, intricately regimented in a formal French style.

Details. The tour includes:

* Private coach hire for UK airport transfers

* Return flights from the UK to Vienna

* Private coach hire in Vienna for return airport to hotel transfers

* 4 nights bed & breakfast accommodation

* Whisper sets

* Tour Manager and Guide throughout

* Gratuities for driver and guide

* Guided walking orientation tour

* 7-day Vienna Transport Ticket

* Admission to Upper Belvedere, Secession Building & Albertina

* Admission to Schönbrunn Palace (plus audio guide)

* Admission to Leopold Museum

* Admission to Kunsthistorisches Museum

* Admission to Imperial Apartments

* 2 dinners

Hotel – Hotel Johann Strauss 

Enjoying a central location in the stylish urban area of Vienna’s Freihausviertel, the Hotel Johann Strauss is located in an historic building with modern stylish accommodation. Air-conditioned rooms feature spacious beds, wooden floor, satellite TV, tea & coffee making facilities, free Wi-Fi, and soundproofed windows. Buffet breakfast is available daily and a choice of restaurants and cafes are located close by. Sights such as the Naschmarkt, Karlsplatz and the Belvedere Palace are just a few minutes’ walk away. 

Tour Director. The tour will be accompanied throughout by the highly experienced and knowledgeable Tom Abbott BA MA 

Tom Abbott BA (Carleton College, USA) MA (Technical University Berlin) is an independent art and architectural historian associated with the Foundation of Prussian Palaces and Gardens. A resident of Berlin for over thirty years, he is a proficient lecturer and tour leader, with extensive experience directing cultural and art tours in Europe, to destinations including Germany, France, Italy, and Poland, for groups including the Arts Society (formerly NADFAS), the Victorian Society, and various universities. Tom has also studied at the Louvre School of Art History in Paris. His expertise concerning art and architecture ranges from the medieval to the current and is highlighted in his knowledge and fascination with the Baroque and Rococo, the Romantic Movement, garden history and the musical heritage of Germany, as well as all aspects of European modern and contemporary art, architecture and history. "Tom Abbott is the GOLD standard that all tour leaders should aspire to. He is the perfect guide, exuding genuine passion and unbelievable knowledge of his chosen subject, plus warmth and genuine kindness towards his group" 

Cost

£1969 per person. Single supplement (double room for sole use) £329. £250 deposit required. The price will be reduced if numbers exceed 25. 

Booking

The tour is being run on our behalf by Success Tours and all bookings will be through them. Instructions for booking can be found at BOOKING 

Poster

A copy of the poster for the tour can be found at Vienna Poster

3 Day Tour to the West Country - 6th - 8th November 2024

Day 1 - Travel to the West Country and tour the Eden Project.

Day 2 - Travel to St. Ives and have the opportunity to visit Tate St. Ives, Barbara Hepworth Museum & Sculpture Museum and the Leach Pottery Museum.

Day 3 - Amendment: Castle Drogo could unfortunately not accommodate the size of our bus, so we will be visiting the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter instead.

Dinner, bed and breakfast provided at the 4* Penventon Hotel in Redruth.

Full details can be found on the flyer, a copy of which can be found here: SARUM GOES WEST TOUR.

The booking form can be found here (BOOKING FORM). Please note the form should be printed and sent to Success Tours and not to our Visits Organiser.

Stratford Tour - 29th October - !st November 2023

We are running a 4 day/3night tour to Stratford at the end of October, beginning of November.  The main highlights are:  

• A visit to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
• A guided tour of Stratford Upon Avon.
• A visit and tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre.
• A visit to the Museum of Royal Worcester, including a talk by one of their experts.
• Time to explore Worcester including the magnificent 9th century cathedral.
• A visit to a Cotswold town (Stow in the Wold or Bourton on the Water).
• A visit to St Mary’s Fairford which possesses the finest remaining collection of medieval stained glass in the country.
• Travel by coach.
• Three nights half-board in the 4* Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stratford. 

A copy of the full itinerary can be found here >>>>

If you have any questions please email Louise Hicks (click here)

18-22nd May 2014

A group of 23 from Sarum Arts Society spent 4 days in Liverpool in May. The city certainly deserves its accolade of European Capital of Culture, and we enjoyed exploring this historic city. The refurbished Albert Dock is a lively hub for many museums, restaurants and shops.

The contrast between the two cathedrals was marked, and I think most of us preferred the magnificent ‘Paddy’s Wigwam’ with its stained glass transcending the interior with different colours from various angles.

A tour around Port Sunlight Garden Village, built for the Sunlight Soap factory workers in 1888, is a testament to profit sharing for the good of the workers. Sunlight soap was the first soap to be wrapped and marketed. At the centre of the model village the Lady Lever Art Gallery contains Lord Leverhulme’s great personal collection of fine and decorative arts.

The city is full of Grade I and II listed buildings which are being brought back to their original glory. One of the jewels is St George’s Hall , a lovely neo-Classical building housing the great hall and the old criminal courts.

The Walker Art Gallery has a wealth of artworks. Known as the National Gallery of the North, it hosted an exhibition of Grayson Perry’s tapestries ‘The Vanity of Small Differences’. They depict a moral tale of class mobility and social identity – shades of Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress.

Our local guide was excellent, sharing her pride in the heritage of her city. As an extra visit she took us to the stunning new Central Library, opened in 2013. The light-filled atrium rises up dramatically to a glass dome on the roof terrace.

No visit to Liverpool would be complete without a Mersey Ferry trip, and a few of us even went down to the Cavern Club in search of some Beatles music!

On our journey up to Liverpool we spent time at Compton Verney, and viewed the Moore Rodin sculptures both in the museum and in the grounds. On the return we visited the National Memorial Arboretum with a guided walk through the area.

25 - 28th September 2011

A party of 23 Sarum Arts Society members spent 3 nights in Norwich during a warm spell of September weather. On our way we visited Hatfield House, where we were given a wonderful tour of this Jacobean home of the Cecil family. It has many links to Elizabeth I including the famous Rainbow Portrait, a pair of her gloves and silk stockings, possibly the first in England! A great collection of furniture, tapestries and armour were shown to us. In the gardens we caught the last week of the Henry Moore sculpture exhibition.

In Norwich we had a guided tour of the Cathedral which has many links to our own in Salisbury Then a city walk with Blue Badge guides, who took us through medieval lanes, past ancient houses ending up at the very attractive market square. After lunch we spent the afternoon at the Castle Museum which is the home of the Norwich School of Painting, with a display of decorative arts and an amazing collection of teapots!

The next day started with a private guided tour of Holkham Hall - a beautiful Palladian house set at the end of a 2 mile drive passing deer en route. After our coffee and delicious biscuits/cookies we were shown the wonderful collection of paintings, classical sculpture and furniture owned by the Coke family. It was very much a house that was loved and lived in. The great joy was being able to photograph inside and sit down on the chairs! Driving along the Norfolk coast we reached Sandringham House for our afternoon visit - a lovely setting for the royal family's retreat with lots of memorabilia of previous sovereigns.

Our final day took us to Bletchley Park which was very interesting and still in a timewarp. It was fascinating to see just where so much was done, which resulted in shortening the war by a number of years.

Staying in the heart of Norwich we were able to enjoy the wide selection of restaurants in the evening and to explore this lovely ancient cathedral city.