A Guide to Hungary: What to Do and Where to Stay

The perfect year-round destination, Budapest is Hungary’s great capital, a city where royal palaces, Ottoman-era baths and idiosyncratic museums all vie for attention alongside Michelin-starred restaurants, grand coffee houses and atmospheric ‘ruin’ bars. Beyond the capital there’s magical Lake Balaton, Tokaj’s sweeping vineyards and the awesome Great Plain, home to the architecturally rich city of Kecskemét.

The best places to visit in Hungary

Várhegy is Budapest's historic castle district

Budapest

Várhegy, the city’s historic castle district, is one of the best places to visit in Budapest, thanks to its palatial buildings and medieval churches, ancient spires and grand statues. Factor in some compelling museums, such as the Hungarian National Gallery and the Hospital in the Rock – an underground World War II military hospital later transformed into a nuclear bunker – and you could easily spend a day or two here alone. From the opposite side of the Danube, the supremely comfortable Budapest Marriott Hotel offers superlative views of the Buda skyline.

Budapest: Thermal Baths

With Budapest famed for its thermal springs, taking a dip is an unmissable experience, whether it’s at the majestically appointed Art Nouveau Gellért Baths, or at the vast, palace-like Széchenyi Baths, where locals play chess in the water. The well-appointed Ritz-Carlton, Budapest is among the best places to stay on the Pest side of the river.

Kecskemét

Located in the heart of the Great Plain, vibrant Kecskemét is where to go if architecture is your thing – among its most flamboyant buildings is the Secessionist Cifra Palace, studded with psychedelic tiles and housing a superb art gallery, and the Romantic Town Hall, richly ornamented with Zsolnay tiles. The Four Points by Sheraton Kecskemet Hotel and Conference Center offers all the comforts you could hope for from its superb central location.

Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton is Central Europe’s largest freshwater lake

A two-hour train ride from the capital, and affectionately called the Hungarian Sea by locals, Lake Balaton is Central Europe’s largest freshwater lake. As the nation’s playground, it offers all kinds of possibilities, from swimming and sailing to cruising and windsurfing. It’s also party central, especially in the summer when open-air bars and clubs dot the shoreline and the festival season swings into action.

What to eat and drink in Hungary

Goulash is a thick stew of beef, potatoes and vegetables seasoned with paprika

Goulash

Of all the Hungarian dishes to try, the most unmissable is goulash, a thick stew of beef, potatoes and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices – for the most authentic version, head to the refined Gettó Gulyás in the atmospheric Jewish quarter. Budapest’s market halls are also great places to eat: the upstairs level of the magnificent Great Market Hall on Vámház krt has a range of outlets doling out steaming bowls of delicious goulash.

Halászlé

Popular all over Hungary, but particularly so in the towns along the Danube and Tisza rivers, halászlé is a paprika-spiced broth typically prepared with carp or sometimes pike and catfish. The name translates as “fisherman’s soup”. In Budapest, try it at Rosenstein Vendéglő.

Wine

Hungary's best-known wine region is Tokaj

With twenty-two wine-growing regions, Hungary wine has fantastic pedigree. The country’s best-known wine region is Tokaj, famed for its sweet Aszú wines, such as those from the Royal Tokaji and Disznókő wineries; elsewhere, whites from Balaton and reds from Villány and Eger (home to the famous Bull’s Blood) are of similarly rich vintage. In Budapest, head to the brick-vaulted Doblo bar where you can sample over two hundred varieties by the glass.

Top things to do in Hungary

Hungary has many wonderful exponents of folk and gypsy music, and attending a concert is a truly unmissable experience, whether that’s in Budapest’s magnificent Franz Liszt Music Academy or at a venue in any other Hungarian city.

One of the best things to do in Hungary is to take a trip along the Danube. Starting in Budapest, you’ll cruise all the way up to Esztergom via Visegrád and the glorious Danube Bend, arguably the grandest stretch of this immense river, before the return leg.

There are lots of fun things to do in Hungary and a great one is spending an evening in one of Budapest’s many ‘ruin’ bars, agreeably atmospheric venues occupying formerly condemned buildings and courtyards, and offering a broad mix of entertainment such as music, film and dance. Try Café Bobek or Szimplakert for starters.

One of the most interesting things to do when visiting the country is to head into the Buda Hills – but instead of walking, take the train: the Children’s Railway is an 11km-long narrow-gauge constructed by Communist youth brigades after World War II and to this day is still mostly staffed by teenagers.

Hidden gems in Hungary

The Baradla cave network is a brilliant subterranean experience

One of the most enjoyable alternative things to do in the capital is take a tram ride along the Pest embankment, which runs past the glorious Parliament building and offers splendid views of Buda’s castle district opposite. You might also visit the Aggtelek Caves, one of Europe’s largest and most amazing stalactite systems. Tours of the main Baradla cave passage take in several of the grandest chambers, but if you want the complete subterranean experience, book yourself onto the longer Red Lake cave tour. It’s one of the most unique things to do in Hungary.

Go deeper

A complex language, Hungarian is unlike any other Eastern European tongue, and is classified as belonging to the Finno-Ugric linguistic group, which includes Finnish and Estonian. Basic greetings include szia (hello), viszontlátásra (goodbye), kérem (please) and köszönöm (thank you).

Published: October 07, 2024