Central Europe’s Stately Capitals

The Hungarian capital has long been one of Europe’s great powerhouses, and it certainly looks the part – the Danube dances the line drawn between Buda and Pest, the spires of the national parliament shimmering in its surface, the neoclassical dome of St Stephen’s Basilica behind. On the west side of the river, find the whimsical towers of the Fisherman’s Bastion and soak in the healing hot springs at the Gellért Baths; on the east, song bursts forth from castles, churches and opera houses.

Trams criss-cross the city center; 230,000 glazed tiles zig-zag the roof of St Stephen’s Cathedral; row upon row of vineyards line the city limits of Vienna. Perched on the banks of the Danube, there’s an effortless elegance the place Beethoven called home, in no small part due to the vaulted ceilings and suited waiters in the traditional coffee houses, the abundance of ornate palaces and regal opera houses, formal French gardens and majestic museum spaces. Alongside its ball season, Vienna’s packed cultural calendar boasts world-class concerts, ballet and opera.

From the viewpoint at Prague’s Powder Gate City, one of the original city gates built in the 15th century, take in Prague’s spire-studded skyline: the twin pinnacles of Tyn Church like Gothic spaceships, the sugar-almond shades of the Old Town Square, the higgledy-piggledy medieval streets and the medieval stone bridges that knit the east and west together over the River Vltava. Once the seat of Bohemian kings, the monumental Prague Castle keeps a watchful eye from its hilltop position.