Austerlitz: Napoleon's Masterpiece Tour Review and Images - December 2018

Our popular tour Austerlitz: Napoleon’s Masterpiece returned just a few weeks ago. Led by The Cultural Experience MD, Mr Alan Rooney, it was an exciting trip with snowy, atmospheric battle fields, an exhilarating reenactment and great company. Alan has put together a few of his thoughts and photos from the tour, which we would like to share with you.

“We arrived at Vienna in sub-zero temperatures, smatterings of snow on the ground. The icy wind blowing over the battlefield of Schongraben did not deter us from walking to the French positions and into the centre of the action. Arriving at Brno, we were greeted by its twinkling Christmas lights and the vibrant activity of its late-night markets.

The following day commenced in a blanket of snow which had fallen in the early hours, providing an atmospheric visit to Slavkov Chateau and the town, which was were full of reenactors. The snow remained throughout the tour and created a wonderful backdrop for the reenactment, which was performed by over 1000 soldiers in period uniforms. That evening we returned to the chateau for dinner and to enjoy the displays of the marching band and soldiers, along with spectacular fireworks.

Unfortunately, poor visibility during our battlefield tour meant that we could not enjoy the normally expansive views which made story telling challenging, but not impossible and everybody came away with a good appreciation of the events of the 2nd December 1805. That evening we took a guided tour around Napoleonic Brno, explored the Christmas markets and sampled a number of local Czech wines in our cellar restaurant.

Our final day saw us depart from our lovely romantic hotel. We stopped off at Spalny Mill, where Napoleon and Francis met a couple of days after the battle. It was here where our Czech team surprised us in the guise of St Nicholas and his acolytes and distributed small Christmas gifts. The tour ended with a visit to the fantastic HGM military history museum in Vienna. A great tour which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.”

We are running a number of Napoleonic tours departing in 2019, all which can be found on our website.

View details of this tour - Austerlitz: Napoleon's Masterpiece

Photo Gallery

  • On the Zuran, Alan explains the movement of French corps & Allied columns
  • Spaleny Mill, Alan explains how Emperor Franz and Napoleon discussed peace
  • Participants parade from the field Austrian heavy cavalry
  • Imperial Guard Grenadiers lead the French column
  • French Imperial Guard meets the attack with a volley
  • French Foot Artillery deploys
  • Fifes & drums, French Line infantry
  • Austrian Uhlans support the Allied infantry but are pursued by French Imper
  • With Prince Lichtenstein, the Emperor and Marshal Berthier at Chateau Auste
  • Austerlitz Château exterior

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