Greetings,

Has anyone been to Gyor (Hungary)? I will be in Vienna on business next month and am looking for a day-trip into Hungary. I was originally going all the way to Budapest, but my only available travel day will be on a Saturday and with Budapest being 2.5 hours away and with shops closing early, I was looking for a good alternative.

Also, I'm not really a big fan of large cities. I would really like to find something that would give me more of a taste of Hungarian culture vs. a place that caters to tourists. I'm much more interested in seeing the countryside and in different architectures than spending time in museums. For shopping, I'm also only really interested in folk-crafts (including toys), and Hungarian food.

Any tips you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

--Rob

I've never been to Hungary, but here's a very good old thread that might have something about Györ (or might not).
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=92679

I have been to Gyor once. For me, it was a fairly ordinary small city or large town, not very touristy. A bit more touristy and I think more interesting is Sopron. I'm not sure if it closer to Vienna than Gyor, but it is definitely on the western edge of Hungary. There is actually a little bubble around it (the border, I mean) because when Austria and Hungary were divided the residents of Sopron voted to stay in Hungary. At least that is what we were told. It has some very old buildings to see. You might consider it.

I just looked up the travel times on the deutschebahn website and Sopron is a little closer than Gyor to Vienna. But both are about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, so no appreciable difference.

doc: Sopron is pretty, interesting and fun; pretty buildings, good cafes and restaurants, interesting shops. It is much more preferable than Gyor which is industrial and though it has an "old town", really not very attractive.
Another choice (and my favorite) would be Kozseg, a little walled medieval village with a small castle, many medieval buildings, a great wine coop and good cafes and restaurants. It is a quaint little village and not far from the Austrian Border. We loved it. Have a great trip.

Thanks so much for the tips!

I definitely don't want an industrial town, so I'll check out Sopron and Kozseg. Do you know of any travel sites that would give more details about these towns?

I just did some quick checking. Sopron and Koszeg both look very nice, but is Koszeg really over 3 hours from Vienna? For a day-trip, that's just a little past my limits. I'll continue to look into Sopron.

We visited Sopron, Koszeg, Fertod, Pannonhalma and Szombathley last fall after seeing Vienna and the Wachau. If you are limited by time and travel look no further than Sopron. It is a charming old city of about 75,000 with a great, oval shaped historic center full of very old buildings, Roman ruins and a walking guide is available. Probably our favorite was Szombathely which we went down to explore for a day from Koszeg where we stayed. We toured an amazing museum of local history there dating back to the Romans. It captivated us. The city square was huge.

If you are thinking about Sopron/Pannonia, then you might want to take a look at

TRAVEL DESK
August 20, 2000

Lifted by Music And Torn by Politics

By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE

TWENTY miles southeast of Vienna, vineyards sweep down from a line of low, wooded ...

Get there with a click on the listing at http://www.nytimes.com/top/features/...ary/index.html

Best wishes,

Rex

doc: According to via michelin (and they are always very conservative in their estimates), it takes 51 minutes to go from Vienna to Sopron and an hour and 23 minutes from Vienna to Kozseg.
Both Sopron and Kozseg are delightful; one a fair sized city and the other a small village (for which you expressed a preference). In either case, you will have an enjoyable time.

Rex, thanks for the link -- nice write-up on Sopron.

Does anyone know if Koszeg has a train station? I can't seem to find any rail connection there and I was not planning on having a rental car.

You're welcome, doc...

According to my LP Hungary guide,a rail spur from Szombathely serves Koszeg.We drove to Koszeg, so can't comment further on rail. Sopron is an easy drive from Vienna and well worth the trip. It would certainly be easier to reach by car (or train) from Vienna than Koszeg.

Was in Sopron a couple years ago. Made it easily on the train. I've read that it is fairly busy with folks from Austria coming for the lower priced goods.

LP had several great places to eat listed so I would suggest them as a place to read about options. Plus, they give an excellent overview of the city and its rich history.