Budapest and Slovakia Quilting Retreat

Meet Karin and your Arena Travel Tour Manager at London Heathrow airport for our flight to Budapest. On arrival, transfer by coach to our hotel.

Today we’ll enjoy a full day tour of Budapest with our English-speaking local guide. Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with an extensive area recognised as a World Heritage Site. We'll explore both sides of Hungary’s capital, divided by the Danube, traditional Buda and the more cosmopolitan Pest and also visit the Golderberger Textile Museum. This museum tells the story of Hungary's textile industry and of the textile factory founded by Jewish entrepreneur Ferenc Goldberger in 1784, which dominated Hungary's clothing industry until the late 20th century.

We leave Budapest today and make our way to the Chateau Bela in Slovakia. On route we will visit Szentendre, known for its museums, galleries and artists. The calm, provincial life of the town has attracted artists since the beginning of the 20th Century and today is home to over 200 fine and applied artists, authors, poets, musicians and actors. One of the things we’ll see here are the traditional Kékfestö (blue-dyed) fabrics. The fabric is created using a wax-resist process similar to batik; white cotton or linen fabric is block-printed with molten wax to form the pattern. The fabric is then dyed blue. When the wax is removed, the areas protected by wax reveal the pattern in white on a blue background. This endangered art is still practiced today using centuries old equipment and techniques.

Four days of workshops with Karin, using Bernina sewing machines. During our stay at the chateau we will enjoy a tasting of some of the wines in the chateau cellar.

Return to Budapest airport for our return flight to London Heathrow.