Hungarian Tour!!!!
 

I am going on a wide scale tour of Hungary what are the places that you would recomend me visiting. Towns, churches, castles, hiking trails, etc. What are your favorite places to visit in Hungary?

Hi James, <BR>I would recommend the following cities among others: Kecskemet, Eger, Debrecen, Gyor, Szeged, Szentendre, and of course Budapest. The little villages at the Austrian border are very nice too. Also, don’t miss Hortobagy! It’s the Hungarian “praries”. It’s worth to go and see a riding show and folk-dancing. I was born in Szolnok and lived there until two years ago, when we moved to Canada. Szolnok is not the most beautiful city, but if you go, don’t miss the Tisza setany (promenade along the river). Another thing I would recommend is to go to open markets and buy lots of fruits! I think Hungarian peaches, strawberries, cherries, watermelons, grapes etc.. are the best ( at least they’re a lot better than in Canada)! Trains are not the cleanest, if you travel by train, travel first class, and don’t stay alone in an empty coach (like you would anywhere else). Mass transportation is cheap. I found two very good sites: http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/qgeneral.html <BR>http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/homepage.html <BR>Have a great time! lindi <BR> <BR>

<BR>Hungarian Tour!!!! <BR> <BR>I've little to say that isn't in the guide books. I agree with lindi, except that I haven't seen Kecskemet nor Szentendre. I add Keszthely, Pecs, Vezprem, Koszeg (among the border villages she mentions), and the castle at Sarospatak. <BR> <BR>I agree, too, as to fruit and vegetables, and add wine and goulash stews. I disagree as to trains. Many the second class trains are neither new nor elegant, but they are all good enough (except the toilets or bathrooms), and second class InterCity and Euro-City trains are fine, with antimacassars, even. The railway timetable ("Menetrend") costs 1 dollar fifty and is useful to have in your hotel room. It shows local trains that are so slow that you can look at individual wild flowers as you wind through the flower-decked fields: the farming is organic. Trains reach all the places we've mentioned except Kekskemet , though sometimes busses are more conveniently timed. You might choose selected rail junctions, such as Gyor or Fuzesabony, and make day trips to various places an hour away by train. <BR> <BR>You'll need a guide book, but can get on the web a taste of most places if you set your search engine to "Eger tourinform", "Sarosapatak tourinform", and so on. <BR> <BR>When you run out of beautiful places in Hungary, in a decade or so, you can find similar beauty in Slovakia to the north and Transylvania to the south. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Hunmgary is delightful. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR>

I second Ben's recommendation of Pecs. [and his evaluation of 2nd class on the IC and EC trains -- it's fine!] <BR> <BR>Near Pecs are four things to see. The medieval fortress in Siklos, the outdoor sculpture park and wine "cellars" in Villany and the church in Mariagyud. [with a nice wine cellar down the stairs and to the left :)] <BR> <BR>I have written a fair amount on this forum about Pecs and the vicinity. If you do a search for pecs, siklos, villany the stuff should pop up. <BR>

OOOOOooops... make that to the right :) The graveyard is to the left... <BR>