Hello <BR> <BR>I will be in Hungary from May 18 - 28. My tentative plans are as follows: <BR> <BR>5 nights in Budapest, including one or two day trips to Danube Bend area <BR> <BR>2 nights in Sopron <BR> <BR>2 nights in Pecs <BR> <BR>Last night back in Budapest in order to catch flight the last day. <BR> <BR>We are interested primarily in sightseeing, history, architecure. <BR> <BR>Is this a good plan, as far as dvision of time, and places to visit? <BR> <BR>Thanx, Howard

Howard, <BR>I am interested in the same destinations as you and have just started my research. From what I have read so far your itinerary looks great. <BR>Could we keep in touch and compare notes? <BR> <BR>Anyone else with experience care to comment? I would appreciate it! <BR>Thanks, <BR>Gloria <BR>

Hungary is small,but 10 days is enough for Budapest and western Hungary,and I think your plan is really good for it.Do you rent a car or take train?For Sopron one full day is enough,but for Pécs if you want to visit the museums one and a half day is necessery.If you have a car you can pass the Balaton lake area with Herend porcelain factory,or driving back to Budapest you can visit Pannonhalma, the oldest monastry of the country.I'm a Hungarian guide ,feel free to ask any question I thin I can help. <BR>Eva

Thanks for your responses. Glorai - feel free to e-mail me. Eva - thanx for the tips - taking away travel time, I will be in Sopron and Pecs for a day and ahalf each or so. From Sopron, I may make a trip to Esterhazy Palace for part of the time. <BR> <BR>I will be traveling by train, so cannot make stops along the way, tho they sound nice. <BR> <BR>

All this talk of Sopron and Pecs is making me hungary!

I am not trying to convince you to drive, but if you did, you could see more in your ten days and the driving in Hungary is very easy. With five days in Budapest, you could take a day trip to Eger with, perhaps, a stop at Holloko. You could do the Danube Bend on the way to Sopron stopping at Szentendre (quaint, charming village), Visegrad (best Castle and view of the Danube and Slovakia) and Esztergom (imposing Cathedral). You might want to stay in Gyor with a quick tour of that City. From here, the Pannonhalma Monastery (simply gorgeous) and the Esterhazy Palace at Fertod (the Hungarian Versailles) are easy stops on the way to Sopron. The trip from Sopron to Pecs would go right through Keszthely at Lake Balaton where you could see the Festetic Mansion; beautiful with one of the most elegent libraries you will see anywhere in Europe. Pecs is a completly enjoyable little City. In addition to what Eva suggested, do not miss the Synagogue and the Cathedral. Both are beautiful. The Mosque turned Catholic Church is interesting as well. Pay the 25 cents to turn the lights on. It is worth it. This itinerary would require one less day in Budapest. It is aggressive. However, with the exception of Keszthely, it follows the route you have described, but driving would simply allow you to see more in the time availabe. You are going to have a marvelous time either way. Wish I were returning.

Thanks for all the information. Joe, your ideas look great. I am sure a car rental is in the works for us. <BR>Howard, i received your email and plan to forward a couple of things I have found. Thank you, all!!! <BR>Gloria

Thanks for the info Joe - I'm going to be in Hungary for a week in May also and have been trying to decide which town to visit outside Budapest (which I visited last year). My Hungarian tutor is from Pecs and with so many good things I keep reading about Pecs I will most likely visit this town - still trying to decide between Eger (I love wine) or Eztergom (very interested in seeing the Danube bend area). Plus there are still many things I have not seen in Budapest. <BR> <BR>Eva - any advice?

Mark: If you love wine, consider Villany, a short distance (about 50 miles) from Pecs. This is a wine lovers paradise and a beautiful area as well. Also, if you have the time Tokaj. They are famous for more than there dessert wines. And, now that the communists no longer control their production, they have world class wines again.

For Howard <BR>The railway system in Hungary is centrally located, there are not so many direct trains between provincial towns.I've checked the Pécs-Sopron trains for you and was shocked myself that the trip takes 6-10 hours,the relatively quick ones mean changing in Budapest.If you do not want to pass Budapest ,you have to change 3-4 times and wait 1-3 hours in very small dull towns.Try to reconsider the car rental. <BR>Going to Sopron from Budapest you can stop at Győr, which is a big town with locker at the station.In small towns there is no possibility to deposit your <BR>luggage.The Hungarian railway company's home page is www.elvira.hu. <BR>A week ago i posted a message about the Danube Bend excursion without a car.It's a long posting try to find it,if you do not find it I'll repeat. <BR> <BR>For Gloria <BR>Having a car is really convenient,you can take a ferry across Lake Balaton, <BR>visit the church and monastery in TIHANY.The crypt of the church is the oldest building in Hungary. <BR>If you like spas, there is a place called HÉVÍZ, a natural hot water lake.The best luxury hotels outside Budapest are there. <BR>I agree with Joe,but one thing.Fertőd is a village Versailles. <BR> <BR>For Mark <BR>What have you already seen? <BR> <BR>Wine for everybody <BR>Tokaj is very far away from Budapest,I can't recommend it for a one day trip. <BR>Villány and Sopron are famous for red wine, Balaton Lake area-especially Badacsony- for white.Buy wine in wine shops and not in supermarkets or market halls. <BR>Any further questions feel free to ask. <BR>Eva <BR>

Thank you all for the information! We usually rent a car and will be doing so in HAngary. All your help is much appreciated! <BR>Gloria

Hi Howard <BR>Sounds like a very good plan. May I suggest 2 days for the Danube Bend. It's worthit. If you are able try to get to Eger. It is a wonderful small city. Good castle and town center.. Two days in Sopran may be pushing it. I'm planning to go back to Hungary to visit Pecs and that area. It will be our third time toi Hungary. We really love going there and as you can tell we don't rush. Try to visit the Grand Synogue in Budapest. We were there there several years ago and a wedding was going on at the time.alan <BR>

Hello again, and thanx for aall the replies. <BR> <BR>My plans have changed a bit - still plan on going to Sopron for 2 nights (one of the days, I'd like to visit the Esterhazy Palace outside of the town), and then will visit Gyor for two days (on one of the days would like to visit the Pannonhalma Abbey outside of town). Pecs does seem to be very nice, but as stated above, the quickest train from Sopron is 6 hours, so if you count waiting for train, going to hetel, checking in, etc, it probably eats up close to 8 hours of a day. Gyor seems to be pretty nice (the old part) and the Abbey looks quite interesting. <BR> <BR>I have rented a car in three other European countries (Ireland, France, Poland) but don't feel like it this time, tho I agree it has its advantages. <BR> <BR>Howard

OH PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU TO HUNGARY!!!I love it there so much. O.K. just joking, you don't have to take me there. I will there from May twenty ninth till June twenty sixth. I can't wait! I will be wearing my blue Fodorites ribbon. Please look for me! Thank you for all the great information here. I hope to see some of you there.

I have been quietly taking note of all the great info on Budapest as we will be there in June. Just minutes ago I booked an apartment in Budapest which I discovered on the internet - very reasonable' especially as so many places there seem to impose a 30% surcharge if you stay less than 3 nights. For that reason, we have decided to stay only in Budapest and travel via car and/or train to see around the towns and country. Have others found that this surcharge is usually imposed?

For Howard<BR>I think 2 nights in Sopron and 2 nights in Győr is a bit too long.I would take an early direct train to Sopron, spend the 2 nights, take an other early train to Győr,visit Pannonhalma have a walkj in Győr in the evening and next morning,<BR>Take an evening train or bus back to Budapest.<BR>Traffic to Fertőd is not easy, no train, only NOT frquent busses.(According to my personel opinion it is not worth)It's the same for Pannonhalma, the only difference is that it is worth the time and effort,consider to take a taxi from Győr.<BR>You can use your extra day in Budapest to take an organised tour to the Great Plain,just to have a feeling of Eastern Hungary<BR>Eva

Howard: I certainly defer to Eva and she is absolutely right. One full day in Sopron is enough. Gyor is worth the evening walk if you stay there the night in route to Sopron. While we thoroughly enjoyed the Esterhazy Palace, again, the Versailles of Hungary, it is only worth it if you are driving and can get there easily. The Palace is certainly a miniature by comparison. There are some vague similarities ("the Hall of Mirrors?), but you wouldn't want to spend the better part of day getting there. The intinerary I suggested above is only reasonable by car. If you did have a car and did not want to make the trek to Pecs, you could bounce over to Koszeg from Sopron for a look at a charming Medieval, walled village that we found to be great fun. If you do, be sure to look up the wine coop and have a mug of cooled red poured from an ancient sunken stone cooler. Lots of possabilities.

Eva and Joe - Thanks for your further thoguhts. Pecs sounds more appealing than Gyor, but since it is a 6 hour so train ride away, going htere would eat up much of a day. I checked, there are no very early trains (which I would prefer) so we would not get settled into Pecs until maybe 2 PM or a bit later, then have the rest of that day and the full next day in Pecs. Even so, do you think this is more worthwhile than Gyor? Or maybe an option is to go to Sopron early one morning, stay that day, the next day until mid/late afteroon, go to Pecs, arriving late at night, then spend the next two three nights (giving us two full days to exlplore) in Pecs.<BR><BR>Howard

For howard<BR>My suggestion is to go to Sopron spend 2 nights, return to budapest,stay 2-3 days, and leave for pécs.I know, that cahanging hotels is a bit tiring,but you can leave your suitcase in budapest hotel, and take only a 2 days hand bag.Pécs is worth it!<BR>Eva