Climate

The climate is temperate continental. Coldest month: January (– 1 C); warmest month: August (21.3 C) Seasonal variations in temperature are quite large.

Visa, Entry

Nationals of most countries need only a valid passport to enter Hungary, while an identity card will suffice for the citizens of the EU.
Tourists from the former Soviet Union (with the exception of Uzbegistan and Kazahstan) need either a letter of invitation, tourist voucher or mission order otherwise they need a visa.
Tourists may apply for entry (single, double or multiple) or transit visas. Within the period of validity, an entry visa entitles the holder to a stay for the period stated but not longer than 90 days. Holders of transit visas may stay in Hungary for 48 hours. Visas are issued by the Hungarian consular or diplomatic mission in the applicant's country. At the road border crossing points, the Ferihegy International Airport (Terminals 1 and 2) and the International Boat Station (Budapest, Belgr??d rakpart) visas can be obtained at a surcharge. Tourists arriving by train or coach must obtain their visas in advance. Applications for the extension of the visa must be made at the police station responsible in the area where the tourist is staying. A sightseeing visa is valid for 24 hours and can be requested from the border guards at Ferihegy Airport Terminal 2.

Some Useful information

Shopping: most shops are open from 8.30 till 17.30 on weekdays (there can be lunch breaks), from 8.30 till 12.30 on Saturdays, they are usually closed on Sundays
Museums: Almost every museums are closed on Mondays

Settlements with major sights and tourist attractions in the country

Transdanubia

Lake Balaton and its neighbourhood

Millions of holidaymakers enjoy the summer vacation in sunshine and in the soft waves of
Balaton,. This wonderful lake is 77 kilometres long,14 kilometres wide and its total area is 600 square kilometres. With this parameters Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe. The average depth of the lake is 3, - 3.5 meters.. The mountains and hills of the northern shore are more spectacular, but the southern shore is swallow, which makes it more capable for bathing for families with children as well.
From the west river Zala feeds the lake. .The excess water is driven away by the Si?? Canal to the River Danube. In every two years, the water of the Lake is completely replaced.
Keszthely can be found at the western edge of Lake Balaton, which is the oldest town of the region, with large beach, old buildings and streets. Main attractions: Baroque stately home of the Festetics family built in 1754. It is the frequent site of international conferences and concerts, and its special treasure is the Helikon Library which was established at the end of the l8th century and now has more than 52,000 volumes. Hungary's first agricultural college, Georgikon was established here in 1797 as well. It is worth seeing remains of Valcum, an ancient Roman fortification to be found at Fen?©kpuszta, 2 miles from the city.
Four kilometres from Keszthely, we can find Lake H?©v?­z, which has curative hot springs and radioactive mud for those suffering in rheumatism and illnesses of the nervous system, etc. Europe's biggest hot water lake has marvellous flowers from May to November. The northern shore of the lake is famous for its excellent wines. The volcanic soil in the slopes is the source of this valuable wine-growing region. K?©knyel?? is an ancient Badacsony-type, the Grayfriar and the scanty muscatel as well as the green szilvani and furmint are all popular. The centre of this wine region is Badacsony attracting the visitors with the old wine cellars and the beautiful volcanic basalt coulombs. Almost the whole Lake Balaton area can be seen from the terraces of Badacsony. On a nearby peak you can see Szigliget Castle built in the l3th century which was never taken by the enemy
Crystal clearlake surface, the daring wings of gulls, white sails and busy ferries plying between the two shores: the unparalleled panorama of Tihany. The peninsula is visited even by those who can spare only a day to see the Hungarian Sea. Tihany is a national park with its two beautiful lakes (called Inner and Outer Lake), but the major sights are the buildings of the village and the famous church with two towers. Tihany Church and the Benedictine monastery, which houses a museum was founded in 1055 by King Andrew I., who is buried here in the lower chapel. Tihany is one of the oldest settlements in the Balaton region.
The lower chapel itself is the oldest surviving part of the 940-year-old church. The present day Baroque building is dated from 1754. The walks from the church offer an unparalleled view. The sailing season starts in May and it is celebrated at Balatonf??red, just as well as the Anna Ball in late July. For these traditions, Balatonf??red is generally considered the capital of the "Hungarian Sea". Its shipyards produce ships and sailing boats which are very much in evidence throughout the long summer season. In the middle of the last century, it was here in Balatonf??red that the first elegant stately summer homes were built to be followed by beautiful modern luxury hotels. Balatonf??red is a traditional place of curative hot springs and hosts an internationally known heart. Veszpr?©m is not directly at the shore of the lake, but the “city of Queens” is only 10 kilometres from the lake which was founded by Saint Stephen I nearly a thousand years ago. Balatonf?¶ldv??r, Bogl??rlelle and the other settlements of the southern shore, but especially Si??fok are known and visited because of the long, equipped beaches, clubs and entertainment places.

Sopron and lake Fert?

Sopron, named Scarbantia by the Romans, known in German as ?–denburg and called as the the Most Faithful City - a title Sopron has proudly born since it voted to remain part of Hungary as a result of the referendum held on 14th December 1921 that was an outcome of the World War I peace treaty. It is Hungary's westernmost city and the only one in the country with a virtually intact medieval nucleus. The main sights can be found in the Fort Perimeter, like the double bridge, fortress gates, the fortress and the fire tower.
Lake Fert? is some miles from Sopron and the second largest lake in Hungary, although its major part belongs to Austria. It offers several watersport possibilities in the summer and a paradise for anglers.

Sz?©kesfeh?©rv??r and lake Velencei

Sz?©kesfeh?©rv??r, named Alba Regia in the middle ages, is one of the most ancient cities of Hungary. The significant events of the country’s history happened here through the centuries. This was the place where the kings were crowned and buried. The king's throne and the symbols of the royal power were kept here, and the people from distant countries assembled here for the lawful days. When walking in the city centre of Sz?©kesfeh?©rv??r one can sense the special atmosphere of the city centre. The restored ancient monuments, buildings, the street-lightning that fits the atmosphere of the city, and the stoned city square all recall the historic atmosphere of Sz?©kesfeh?©rv??r. Some other significant attractions: basilica, ancient ruins
Lake Velencei is located some kilometres to the east from the town. It is smaller (20 square kilometres, 10 kilometres long) and not as deep as Balaton, but very friendly, popular due to its nice resorts, ports and welcoming beaches.

P?©cs and surroundings

P?©cs, the old historical city with Mediterranean climate is situated at the foot of the Mecsek Range, at the southern part of the country. It is the biggest city in Transdanubia and the seat of county Baranya as well. The town is a cultural centre from the early medieval ages (the first university in Hungary was established here in the 1367 by King Lewis the Great). P?©cs offers a large number of attractions, sights from the ancient roman ages (Roman burial vaults), the flourishing medieval Hungarian city (like the gigantic cathedral with four towers, the fortress
) and the Turkish occupation (Djami and minarett). Museums with great collections also invite the visitors with Csontv??ry and Vasarely paintings and Zsolnay ceramics.
The neighbouring hills, forests are excellent places for excursions (TV tower, children’s railway, Zoo). By car it is only 10-15 minutes to get to the vamous wine region, Vill??ny with beautiful cellars, and wine museum, or to Hark??ny, which is a famous small spa city. In Mecsek hills it is worth visiting the lakes and the caves at Abaliget and Orf?.

Szentendre -Visegr??d-Esztergom and Danube bend

The Danube turns downstream from Esztergom to the north and once more to the south between the Pilis and B?¶rzs?¶ny hills. The way along the stream makes beautiful changing landscapes either by car or by ship. Esztergom is the country’s one time capital and crowning place, archbishop’s seat since thousand years. The neo-classic cathedral is the biggest church in Hungary. Further, in the Danube bend the medieval Citadel of Visegrad and at the hillfoot, the ruins of King Matthias‘ renaissance palace can be seen. Szentendre is the southern gate of the Danube bend stage of the river. The beautiful settlement with 20 000 of population and is usually called as the town of arts and museums. Szentendre (Saint Andrew) has a charming atmosphere with the small, narrow streets, arcades and many churches, one of the nicest ones standing on the castle hill. The town was established by Serb families escaping from the Turks in the seventeenth century and this origin can easily be tracked because of the old Greek-orthodox churches.

Eastern Hungary – Great Plains

Debrecen, Hajd??szoboszl?? and Hortob??gy Puszta

Debrecen is the second largest town in Hungary and the seat of Hajd??-Bihar county. It is referred as to Rome of the Calvinists, the reformed religion, with the famous Great Reformed Church and the Reformed Academy of Theology. Debrecen is a cultural centre, famous poets had their studies here, and the town has a University as well. Apart from these the city is characterised by the secessionist Hotel Aranybika and the romantic building of Csokonai theatre. Hortob??gy Puszta is a well known nature conservation area, national park. The grey Hungarian cattle with big horns, horse herd shows, the rare flora and fauna (like great bustard), “cs??rda” and the nine bay old bridge over river Hortob??gy are memorable sights for visitors. Southwestwards from Debrecen a popular medicinal bath/spa resort is situated, Hajd??szoboszl??. The water temperature is 73 celsius.

Kecskem?©t and Kiskuns??g Puszta (Apajpuszta, Lajosmizse, Bugac)

Kecskem?©t, the city of secession is the centre of the flat, puszta region beetween the two main rivers of Hungary, the Danube and Tisza. The number of inhabitants in Kecskem?©t is more than 100 000. Some significant sights: spectacular establishments built in secession style, like Town Hall and Cifra Palace; former synagogue ( Moorish-romantic style), now it is the house of techniques; Piarist church and cloister (Baroque, 1730). The Kiskuns??g National Park is a few miles from Kecskem?©t., where well known settlements are Bugac, Lajosmizse and Apajpuszta. Puszta is famous for the cs??rda (it a kind of Inn with popular horse show and cuisine), the stud, the herd of wild cattle and a flock of a Hungarian variety of sheep, called racka, original juniper woods, Herdsman’s Museum and the so called “running sand”, which is a kind of very small desert, that moves it’s place.

Szeged

Szeged is town with county rank and 175 000 inhabitants, centre of the southern plain, economical and cultural centre with university and historic traditions. Szeged was flooded by river Tisza, in 1879, but from donations, gifts and huge efforts form inside and outside the country it could be reconstructed in three years and became a new, modern city. Major sights of this nice settlement: huge cathedral on the central square (D??m) with Theological Academy; Votive church; Demetrius tower built in the XIIth century (now it is a baptistery); Baroque ortodox church from 1783; Our Lady church built in the XVth century (gothic style); some museums: paprika museum, Fortress Museum, Observatory

Gyula

The town, lying in the southeastern corner of Hungary, near the Rumanian border is the pearl of the Great Hungarian Plain. Monuments of historic past, programmes and thermal bath attract the visitors. Major attractions: mediaval brick castle, housing Museum and Open Air Theatre; citadel bath with thermal water (72 Celsius) with 9 open air and 11 covered pools; ruins of Franciscan cloister and church from the XV-th century; Baroque Andrassy castle and many other sights



North-Eastern Mountains

Holl??k?

Holl??k? is a wonderful old village with 480 inhabitants, conserving the old village life and traditions. It is a part of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage (title given by UNSESCO) since 1987. The settlement is a tinny dead-end community, where traditional buildings, costume and interesting local dialect are far-famed. The village preserve comprising 55 folksy houses and the natural environment gives a miraculous atmosphere to the visitors especially with the medieval church covered with wooden shingle in the middle of the village. The inhabitants are called Pal??c, a remarkable group in Hungary’s population. The motley coloured every day costumes, village museum with painted furniture and tools, weaver and other craftsmen’s houses are memories of everyday life in the past. Hollok?’s nice fortress with tower on the hilltop remained relative intact.

Aggtelek Caves

The Aggtelek National Park is situated in the northeastern part of Hungary in and in the surroundings of two beautiful small villages, Aggtelek and J??svaf?. It is the first national park in the country which was primarily created for protecting geomorphological formations, surface karst formations and caves. It is also rich in cultural and natural values.
The caves of the Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst were declared as part of the World Heritage in 1995. The most significant cave of the national park is the Baradla-cave, which is the most outstanding one, 25 kilometres long, which makes in one of the biggest stalactite cave in the world.
The national park offers organised cave-tours, village walks and ecological, botanical and zoological field tours, and a wonderful small lake in J??svaf? to visit.
Traditional cultural events happen in the course of the "Aggtelek-J??svaf? Folk and Art Festivals". The outstanding programmes; concerts in Baradla-cave, chamber music, carnivals in February and lots more.

Eger and Szilv??sv??rad

Eger is a nice historic city between the highlands of M??tra and B??k, international town of wineyards and wine. Some of the main attractions: Huge medieval fortress (was sieged by the Turks in 1552) with casemates housing the Dobo Istvan (famous captain of the fortress) Museum; Turkish minaret (furthest building with Turkish origin to the north in Europe), Lyceum; neo-classic cathedral, archbishop’s palace; these can be found in the beautiful downtown. Szilv??sv??rad is only some miles to the north from Eger, at the foothills of B??k. It is a frequently visited nice settlement with a beautiful small stream, named Szalajka, with trout pools and breeding establishment and the spectacular “F??tyol” waterfall on it. Further interesting places worth visiting are the Museum of Forestry; cascades, the primitive man’s cave, the famous Lipizzan horse stud with the exhibition of the history of horse breeding, Palavicini mansion and forest railway



PRESENTATION of BUDAPEST

Budapest, the capital city with its incomparable architectural and cultural jewels and unique situation is undoubtedly the most fascinating part of any tours to Hungary.
The city divided by river Danube in two parts, Buda, lying on the right bank, and Pest on the other side. The hills of Buda and Pest, which is anyway geographically flat are connected with spectacular bridges.
The city got its special character due to the different architectural styles including the signs of the Turkish rule and the Habsburg ages as well.

Budapest in figures:
Territory: 525 sq. km, two-thirds on the eastern, flat bank of the Danube in Pest, one-third on the western, hilly bank of the Danube in Buda.
Highest point: J??nos Hill (527 m.)
Population: 1,886,000 (in 1994 in was more than 2 million), that is 19% of the total population.
Administration: Divided into 23 districts (the Roman numerals in addresses refer to the district).


A little history:
During the Roman Empire the town became the capital (AD 106) of province Pannonia under the name Aquincum, and played an important military role since it was located at the border of the Empire.
After these times the inhabitants of this territory often changed in the turbulence of the Great Migration Era; tribes with German or central Asian origin, like Huns, Longobards and Avars.
The Hungarian appeared in the ninth century from whom he town got the name ?“buda. It was the seat of all kind of leadership with two other towns, Sz?©kesfeh?©rv??r and Esztergom. In the middle of the thirteenth century, after the Tatar invasion the royal castle and the walled city was built on the castle hill. This second city was called Buda, the settlement on the other side of Danube was Pest. From those times Buda emerged from among the Hungarian towns, and became a major urban settlement politically, culturally and economically (important trade routes crossing the Danube, linking Eastern and Western Europe) as well, already as the centre of a strong Central European Kingdom. The cultural rule was particularly significant during reign of King Matthias; great influence of the Italian Renaissance and the establishing of the second university in the country. The first book was printed in Buda as well (Chronicles of Buda, 1473). After the times of growth and prosperity the turks occupied the land in the sixteenth century, and Budapest served as the headquarters of Turkish military administration. At the end of the seventeenth century Buda was liberated from the Turkish rule, and became a provincial centre of the Habsburg Empire; the Hungarian diet moved to Pozsony (now Bratislava), which is closer to Vienna till 1848.
During the peaceful eighteenth century the total population began to grow, but the three cities (Pest, Buda and ?“buda) only reached the size of their medieval population (40 000 citizens) by the end of the century.
The nineteenth century was dominated by the Hungarian's struggle for independence and modernisation. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated a little more than a year later.
1867 the Habsburg administration reached a compromise with the Hungarian nobility, and Hungary was granted a status equal to that of Austria within the Habsburg empire. This made Budapest (The unification of the formerly separate towns of Buda, ?“buda and Pest was in 1873) the twin capital of a dual monarchy, Austria-Hungary. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest, lasting until World War I. The development was carefully planned and the effect was delightful. In 1870 the municipality set up the Council of Public Works, which elaborated a grand master plan, and the city had the power to realise it. Everything that marked the standards of the age could be found in the master plan: there was a system of ring roads and boulevards, and a network of urban public transport: the height of the buildings was set, green spaces were included, and so forth. Though a major part of the city and the greatest buildings (mainly in Eclectic and Art Nouveau style in architecture) was built within the space of twenty years, the result was not monotony but a harmonious uniform style.
Since then huge damages were made due to the first and the second world war, the beautiful late nineteenth century image remained and we can enjoy it’s atmosphere even now!

What You „must” see in Budapest

Visit in the Parliament
Approximately 35-40 minute visit in the neogothic building of Parliament with guiding. The splendid session-rooms and the wonderful stairhall are worth visiting. During the plenary sessions the visits are cancelled.

Opera House
Visit in the most beautiful theatre building of Hungary, in the neo-renaissance style Palace, designed by Ybl Mikl??s. Auditorium, stairhall, function rooms and the stage as well. Duration: appr. 40 minutes

Museums
The visitors can chose from various museums, that suit their taste; some significant ones:
National Museum: relics of the Hungarian history
Museum of Fine Arts: rich collection of international paintings and sculptures
National Gallery: collection of Hungarian paintings and sculptures
Museum of Applied Arts: exhibition of the Hungarian applied art’s development
Museum of Ethnography: collection of Hungarian ethnography

City Park
Mayor sights: Heroe’s Square, Vajdahunyad castle, Boating lake, ZOO, Luna/Theme park, Museum of Agriculture

Buda castle
Outstanding sights: Royal Palace (housing: National Gallery, National Sz?©chenyi Library, Ludwig Museum), Matthias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion, M??ria Magdolna Tower, Castle Cave, S??ndor Palace, Budav??ri Funicular, Museum of War History

Margaret Island
Most valuable and interesting park of Budapest with the Margaret monastery, Japanese garden, ZOO and lots of sports and leisure time facilities

The Downtown of Pest
The main sights: Parliament, St. Stephen’s Basilica, Pesti Vigad??, Academy of Sciences, Inner City Parish Church (oldest building on Pest side), Opera House, Danube Promenade (corso). This is a busy district (mainly the fifth district) with dense traffic, hundreds of shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities (theatres, cinemas).

Boat excursions on the Danube
The boats start according to schedule from Vigad?? Square. It is also possible to rent boats for any kind of programmes, excursions within or outside the city.

Thermal baths of Budapest
A trip to Budapest can not be complete without visiting one of the famous 11 thermal baths (Gell?©rt, Sz?©chenyi, Rudas or any other of them).