A Peek Behind the Iron Curtain

Cold War Group Walking Tour

This tour with a professional guide will take you to the historical sites of Berlin during the Cold War. Besides the sights, your guide will also share some interesting and shocking stories and facts of espionage, street art, and the wall's death strip.

Bunkers, Subways, and the Cold War Private Tour

History buffs will love this private tour under Berlin. The city's development from a small village to the German capital has been Germany's biggest metropolis is visible in its underground spaces and infrastructure, like its public transportation, and utilities networks. This tour, led by a guide from an organization devoted to researching and promoting Berlin's underground history, will reveal to you its Cold War past, including nuclear bunkers, air-raid shelters, and the stories behind their construction and use.

Trabi Safari Group Tour

Drive through Berlin in the unofficial car of the DDR. Squeeze yourself behind the wheel of a the comically idiosyncratic Trabant and drive around the German capital, seeing its sights and getting a Trabant driver's license to take home.

The Palace of Tears

Cold War Reminders

The neighboring Lennon Wall and Memorial to the Victims of Communism commemorate resistance to communist authorities, and its victims, while the nearby Andel subway station is the best preserved part of the Prague Metro from the Cold War. Designed by Soviet architects (Moscow has a similar station designed by Czechs), this piece of the Moscow Metro has reliefs of astronauts, and inscriptions in Russian. If you're lucky enough to be in Prague for the second or third Saturday of the month, be sure to visit the Folimanka shelter. Prague's largest Cold War fallout shelter, this facility was designed to save 1300 civilians from destruction.

Communism and Nuclear Bunker Group Tour

On this tour, you'll learn about life in communist Czechoslovakia. Your guide will explain how people struggled though daily lives tinged with Communist propaganda and fears of nuclear war. Paranoia, spying, regular nuclear attack drills, and massive bunker construction projects were constant aspects of life in the 1950s. You'll end this tour by visiting a nuclear bunker so well-preserved, that it is still ready for emergency use.

Vitkov Hill's National Memorial

Beer Tasting Group Tour

Do you know the difference between ales and lagers or stouts and porters? Learn about different types of beer, how they're made, and how best to taste them. Your guide will also shed light on the brewing traditions that create such a wide and rich variety of the Czech national drink, as you enjoy 11 samples of local craft beer, plus traditional beer delicacies and appetizers.

Post-Communist Bratislava Small Group Tour

This two-hour tour will show you another side of Bratislava, specifically the remnants of Soviet architecture and the influence of communism on Bratislava. An expert local guide will pick you up at your accommodation and take you through the city center and beyond, showing you some of the most striking examples of buildings and monuments wrought by the communists, as well as the pre-WWII Czechoslovak fortification system and the border with Austria known as the Iron Curtain.

Catch the View from a UFO

For your first night in Bratislava, pay a visit to the iconic UFO bridge, which provides the city's best views, and is home to a restaurant and bar. The food's quality is decent, and the cocktails excellent. So climb the bridge, get your bearings, try the drinks at its two bars, or in summer, visit the beach bar below.

Evening Sightseeing Group Cruise

You're invited for a panoramic boat ride at night, when the city will be beautifully lit up for your pleasure. Glass in hand, you will be able to experience how the legends of Budapest come alive. Look behind the walls of the Royal Palace, the Parliament, the bridges, and other splendid sights all bathed in light.

Retro Trabant Private Tour

Chug along the streets of Budapest in a tiny, idiosyncratic East German Trabant car. You'll visit Memento Park, a famous collection of communist statues, where you'll spend an hour with an expert guide, and drive to the panoramic Citadel, high above the Danube, which offers perhaps the best views of Budapest.

Hammer and Sickle Private Tour

Enjoy this truly interesting walking tour, focused on Hungary's communist era. Together with your private guide you will learn more about life under Big Brother, the Hungarian Uprising, and visit a museum showing life in a totalitarian state.

After Darkness Comes Light

Bathe with the Locals

Is there anything more quintessentially Budapest than a visit to one of the legendary baths? With more hot springs than any other capital, the city lets you take your pick of various styles, from the old school Turkish Rudas Baths to the Art Nouveau Gellert Baths on the Buda side of the city, or even the Neo-Baroque Szechenyi Baths with a large outdoor pool in Pest’s City Park. These are very much for locals, don't expect day-spa luxury! We've written a handy roundup of Budapest's best baths here.

Private Nowa Huta Communist Tour

Nowa Huta's Museum of Communism and Nuclear Shelters

Krakow Private Walking Tour

Today you’ll get a feel for the story of the city with a private tour with a local expert. There's much to discover as you walk the famed Royal Route through the city's heart, on this tour filled to the brim with historical facts and anecdotes. You'll wander from the Barbican and St. Florian's Gate to the spectacular royal hilltop Wawel Castle, visiting the Main Square with its Cloth Hall and St. Mary's Basilica along the way.

Chopin Music Concert

To any classic music aficionado, concerts of the Chopin's musical works present themselves as a real treat. Here, you will have the opportunity to appreciate a Polish musical genius in the unique atmosphere of Krakow's Market Square. We invite you to listen to Chopin's most famous piano pieces performed by talented and award-winning young pianist.

Views and Foods

If you've just arrived, we suggest visiting the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, a famed street that forms the northern end of the Royal Way. Here, you can climb to the top of the St. Anna's Church Bell Tower, which provides an amazing view of the Royal Castle and the Old Town. After this not insignificant exercise (there are 150 steps to climb), treat yourself to a nice dinner at the nearby U Fukiera restaurant. Through delicious Polish cuisine, you'll start immersing yourself in the local culture. Smacznego!

Private Communism Tour by Retro Minibus

Begin with the closing days of WWII, and continue through Warsaw's postwar reconstruction, with plans for monumental and spacious neighborhoods, followed by the hard reality of life in the 50s and 60s. Finally, you'll see how imported goods improved living conditions, while strikes and the Solidarity movement brought about martial law, but ultimately defeated communism and brought about the return of democracy. Along the way, you'll see the city's landmarks, learn about the city's citizens, and ride around in a Communist-era minibus.

Life under Communism

When it comes to museums dealing with the era of the Peoples' Republic of Poland, Warsaw has plenty to offer. The "Museum of Life Under Communism" is a must, serving as a great introduction to everyday life from the 60s to the 80s. Another crucial element of Polish culture, especially in hard times, is vodka. The "Museum of Polish Vodka" familiarizes visitors with the drink's production process, various flavors, and the raw materials needed to produce them. Last but far from least is the "Neon Museum," devoted to preserving the creative neon lights authorities used in abundance to demonstrate Poland's postwar prosperity.

Open Air: Lazienki Park and the Banks of the Vistula

Warsaw may appear especially urban, but it has numerous outdoor areas worth checking out. Lazienki Park is the city’s largest park, complete with ponds, palaces, villas, and a surprising number of squirrels. It’s probably the most popular place in the city for a Sunday stroll. On the banks of the River Vistula (especially in the hip disctrict Praga), you’ll find numerous beach bars and snack shacks, making it the perfect destination for an outdoor day, especially if the weather is cooperating. There are also ample places (nearly 400 in fact) to pick up a bike via the city's Veturilo public bike program.