The Imperial Pint

Fly into Budapest. Transfer to the Mystery Hotel in District VI — a 19th-century Freemason palace with hidden rooms and a rooftop bar. Settle in. Explore the neighborhood.

Evening: Welcome dinner at a traditional Hungarian restaurant — goulash, chicken paprikás, and your first Hungarian beer. After dinner, walk to Szimpla Kert, the original ruin bar that started the global movement. Nightcap in a bathtub room under string lights and graffiti.

Morning: Széchenyi Thermal Bath — soak away the jet lag in 100°F thermal water inside a neo-baroque palace. This is the hangover prevention strategy for the entire trip.

Afternoon: Walk through the Jewish Quarter street art — world-class murals on Kazinczy and Akácfa streets. Stop at the Dohány Street Synagogue courtyard — the largest synagogue in Europe, Tree of Life memorial. Five minutes from your first pour and powerful context for the neighborhood you're about to drink through.

Then the crawl begins:

• →MONYO Tap House — Kálvin tér, 10+ taps, swings at the bar. Start with their Flying Rabbit IPA.
• →Élesztőház — The original craft beer ruin pub. Former glassworks factory, 30 taps, cask ale bar, leafy courtyard, food stalls. This is the one that converts non-beer people.
• →FIRST Craft Beer & BBQ — 20 taps and smoked meat. This is dinner.
• →Krak'n Town — Steampunk-themed brewpub with self-brewed beers, red carpet, and leather goggles on the staff.
• →Jónás at Bálna — End the night with Danube-view beers inside the glass “Whale” building, Gellért Hill lit up across the river.

Morning: Hungarian Parliament guided tour — 40 kilograms of gold leaf, 691 rooms, the Hungarian Crown Jewels. The most beautiful parliament building in Europe. Then walk the Danube Promenade — the Shoes on the Danube memorial is right there.

Late morning: Cross to the Buda side. Castle District walking tour — Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, Buda Castle panoramic views.

Afternoon: Free time. Hit the Great Market Hall for paprika and lángos, or grab a coffee under gilded frescoes at the legendary New York Café. Beer diehards: Gravity Brewing taproom.

Evening: Legfelsőbb Beeróság — a hidden cellar bar with 10 taps and 150+ bottles, slightly off the tourist path. Or the Budapest Craft Beer Cruise on the Danube for those who want the splurge.

Late morning: Check out of Mystery Hotel. Optional: Szimpla Sunday Farmers Market — local cheese, honey, pálinka, street food from the producers.

Afternoon: Train to Vienna — RegioJet or ÖBB Railjet, 2.5 hours along the Danube. Scenic, comfortable. Grab a beer for the ride.

Check into Hotel Motto on Mariahilfer Straße. Rooftop cocktail to take in the view.

Evening: Walk through the Innere Stadt — pass St. Stephen's Cathedral illuminated at night. Dinner, then 1516 Brewing Company (Vienna's first brewpub) or Brickmakers Pub for a low-key first night.

Morning: St. Stephen's Cathedral — go inside, climb the south tower for city views. Then to the Hofburg — Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. Six hundred years of Habsburg history in one palace complex.

Lunch: Naschmarkt — Vienna's outdoor food market since the 1500s. Half a mile of stalls. Olives, kebabs, strudel, cheese. Graze your way through. This is lunch.

Afternoon: Gleis//Garten — Vienna KRAFT brewery and food hall in a converted tram depot. Multiple guest breweries, street food vendors, incredible industrial-meets-craft vibe. This is the Vienna beer moment.

Evening: Ottakringer Brewery area, then BeerLovers bar for a curated Austrian craft flight.

Morning: Belvedere Palace — Upper Belvedere houses Klimt's The Kiss, plus Schiele and Kokoschka. The baroque palace and autumn gardens are gorgeous. Allow 90 minutes.

Afternoon: Trip to Grinzing or Nussdorf for a traditional Heuriger — a Viennese wine tavern where local winemakers pour their own vintage in garden courtyards. Cold cuts, fresh bread, local cheese. Some Heurigen also brew. This is quintessential Vienna and a perfect palate reset.

Late afternoon: Free time. Wander the Innere Stadt, window-shop Graben and Kohlmarkt, or grab a coffee at Café Central where Trotsky used to play chess. For the ambitious: Vienna State Opera standing room tickets are €4–15 and it's one of the great opera houses on earth.

Morning: Check out of Hotel Motto.

Train to Prague — ÖBB Railjet, 4 hours through the Bohemian countryside. Rolling hills, small towns, autumn colors through the window.

Afternoon: Check into Unitas Hotel. Sparkling wine at check-in. Drop bags, walk to Old Town Square — time it for the top of the hour to catch the Astronomical Clock procession. Týn Church and the square are the iconic Prague postcard.

Evening: Welcome pilsner at Lokál — Staropramen unfiltered, poured from tanks. Old-school Czech pub service where the waiter keeps bringing beers until you put a coaster over your glass. Then to U Kunštátů — craft beer inside a 12th-century Romanesque palace. 100+ beers, a hidden beer garden in the heart of Old Town. This is where you realize Prague's beer culture is 500 years deeper than you thought.

Morning: Prague Castle complex — St. Vitus Cathedral (find the Mucha stained glass window), Golden Lane, Old Royal Palace. Then walk to Strahov Monastery Brewery — monks have brewed here since the 1400s. Twenty-five varieties of unfiltered beer. Order a St. Norbert amber and drink it in the courtyard overlooking the entire city of Prague. Stop next door at the Strahov Library — two baroque halls of medieval manuscripts, one of the most beautiful rooms in the world.

Afternoon: Walk down through Malá Strana. Quick stop at the Lennon Wall — Cold War protest graffiti, still evolving. Cross Charles Bridge. Then the craft crawl:

• →U Tří Růží — 15th-century brewpub steps from Charles Bridge, house-brewed Czech lagers.
• →Dva Kohouti — Karlín neighborhood. The lager was brewed that morning.
• →Bad Flash Bar — Krymská Street. 12 taps, 300 bottles, shabby-chic local brewery scene.
• →Prague Beer Museum — Vinohrady. 30 Czech craft taps under one roof.

Morning: Jewish Quarter (Josefov) — The Old Jewish Cemetery, tombstones stacked six layers deep across 12,000 graves. The Spanish Synagogue — Moorish Revival interior covered in gold and geometric patterns, genuinely breathtaking. Heavy but essential. Allow 90 minutes.

Or: Letná Beer Garden — panoramic views of the Vltava River and Prague's bridges with a local draft in hand. Possibly the best beer garden view in Europe. Or take the Petřín Hill funicular for city panoramas.

Afternoon: U Medvídků Beer Spa — a private beer spa in a brewery that's been operating since 1466. Copper tub, your own personal beer tap, water bed after. This is the Instagram moment of the trip.

Evening: Farewell dinner at U Fleků — brewing since 1499. Dark lager in the courtyard beer halls. 527 years of continuous brewing. You can't do a beer tour through Prague and skip this place.