15.09.2026, 00:00 A.M.
Photo: Graz Schloß Eggenberg, by Ralf Roletschek / Roletschek.at
DEVISED & LED BY HARRIET LANDSEER
Starting in the bijou city of Graz, with fine museums, we will explore private castles and villas in the Styrian countryside during the wine and apple harvest, including Schloss Eggenberg Castle and the private Schloss Hollenegg. Moving on to Carinthia we will visit the important abbey and library at St Paul in the Lavanthal, before basing ourselves on Lake Wörthersee, taking in Gurk and Sankt Veit, as well as several of the numerous private castles in this province.
ITINERARY (subject to amendment)
Tuesday 15th September
10.40 Leave on Lufthansa flight LH2517 to Munich
14.00 Arrive and transfer to flight to Graz
15.15 Departure of Lufthansa flight LH2346
16.15 Arrive and transfer to stay at the Hotel Am Dom
19.00 Welcome drinks, and walk to dinner at aiola Upstairs on the Schlossberg, with a spectacular view over the city
Wednesday 16th September
a.m. Leave on foot for a guided tour of Graz, a charming Italianate city, with a large number of Renaissance buildings
Visit the Cathedral area, and then the extraordinary Arsenal, which has been preserved as it was in the 17th century
12.45 Lunch at the Landhaus Keller
p.m. Continue to visit Mur Island and the landmark Kunsthaus
Dinner at the Iohan restaurant / privately
Thursday 17th September
9.30 Leave (by coach) to visit Eggenberg Castle on the outskirts of the city, the largest castle in Styria, which has very fine stucco and frescoes, and now also houses the collection of Old Masters from the Joanneum Museum on one floor.
12.00 Continue for a wine-tasting and lunch at Schloss Gamlitz
p.m. Visit the mausoleum by Fischer von Erlach at Ehrenhausen castle
Return to Graz
Dinner independently
Friday 18th September
10.00 Leave by coach (with luggage) for a private visit to the Renaissance Schloss Hollenegg in Deutschlandsberg, with richly-furnished 18th century state apartments including rooms with Chinese wallpapers (by kind permission of Prince von and zu Liechtenstein)
Lunch privately on site
Continue to visit St. Paul’s Abbey in the Lavanthal, which has an extensive and little-known collection of art (including works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Durer and Holbein) as well as a library of over 180,000 books and manuscripts from as early as the 5th century.
Continue to stay at Hotel Palais Porcia in Klagenfurt on Lake Wörthersee
8.00 Dinner at the hotel
Saturday 19th September
9.00 Leave (by coach) to visit the Romanesque basilica in Gurk and Schloss Pöckstein, built in the 18th century for the Bishops of Gurk
12.00 Continue to visit the impressive hill-top castle of Hochosterwitz
Visit and received by the Khevenhüller family for lunch (pending final confirmation)
p.m. Continue to visit Sankt Veit, capital of Carinthia from 1170 until 1518, with many medieval buildings and preserved 15th century city walls
Visit and drinks at Schloss Ebenthal (by kind permission of Count Leopold von Goëss)
Return to Klagenfurt
Dinner independently
Sunday 20th September
9.30 Leave (by coach) to visit the early 17th century Schloss Carlsberg (by kind arrangement with Count Peter von Goëss) with fine family paintings and good furnishings
Visit Schloss Gradisch with very good 17th century stucco ceilings (by kind permission of Count Karl Georg von Goëss)
p.m. Lunch at Schloss Grafenstein (by kind arrangement with Count Ferdinand Orsini-Rosenberg)
19.30 Dinner at a villa on Lake Wörthersee
Monday 21st September
8.30 Leave (with luggage) for Klagenfurt airport
10.30 Depart on Ryanair flight FR1269 to London Stansted
11.35 Arrive and transfer
13.20 Depart to Ryanair flight FR203 to Dublin
14.40 Arrive Dublin
PRICE INFORMATION:
- Cost per person sharing €2235. Single supplement €155.
- Cost includes 6 nights bed and breakfast in 4* hotels as per programme; local guides as necessary; coach transfers; entries to museums and houses; 5 lunches, drinks and 4 dinners and contribution to the IGS.
- Flights not included.
BOOKINGS:
To secure a place on the tour, an initial booking can be made through Travel Escapes on the following link. The IGS will be in touch during the summer for the final payment.