The Danube Bend
To escape Budapest’s humid summers, many people flock north of the city to the Danube Bend (Dunakanyar), one of the grandest stretches of the river, outdone only by the Kazan Gorge in Romania. Entering the Carpathian Basin, the Danube widens dramatically, only to be forced by hills and mountains through a narrow, twisting valley, almost a U-turn – the “Bend” – before dividing for the length of Szentendre Sziget (Szentendre Island) and flowing into Budapest. The historic towns of Szentendre, Esztergom and Visegrád on the west bank could each easily detain you for a day, as could hiking in the Pilis mountains, while the quieter east side has many attractions too, boasting the sedate town of Vác, the gardens of Vácrátót and the charms of Nagymaros and Zebegény, as well as the neighbouring Börzsöny highlands, with further walking opportunities.
Highlights
Ferry ride along the Danube A leisurely cruise along the river is the most enjoyable way to reach the historic Danube towns.
Margit Kovács Museum, Szentendre Unique and entertaining collection of sculptures and reliefs from the nation’s favourite ceramicist.
Serbian Ecclesiastical History Collection, Szentendre Extraordinarily rich collection of Serbian icons, vestments and relics.
Palapa Restaurant, Szentendre Top-notch Mexican food, a colourful atmosphere and live music in the Bend’s grooviest restaurant.
Hungarian Open-Air Museum The best of Hungary’s open-air museums, with a fantastic cross section of dwellings from around the country.
Visegrád Hills Good hiking and superb panoramas of the sweeping Danube Bend.
Esztergom Basilica Hungary’s largest cathedral, with an atmospheric crypt holding the tomb of Cardinal Mindszenty.
Memento Mori, Vác This enlightening exhibition, starring three mummies, sheds fascinating light on the lives of the town’s eighteenth-century citizens.
The west bank
The natural defence presented by the broad river and the hilly western bank has long attracted the inhabitants of this region to build their castles here. The Romans built a camp to keep the barbarians at bay, unwittingly staking out the sites of the future castles of the Magyar kings, who, a thousand years later, had to repel the Mongols arriving from the east. Esztergom, the scene for the Hungarians’ official conversion to Christianity in the tenth century, served as the royal seat for three hundred years, after which the kings moved their base downriver to the citadel of Visegrád. With the expulsion of the Turks in the seventeenth century, the fertility and beauty of the landscape became the main attractions. Baroque Szentendre was established in the eighteenth century when Serbs fleeing up the Danube from the Turks settled here – later, in the 1920s, it became an important artists’ colony. The Pilis range of mountains, filling the countryside between the three towns, makes for excellent hiking.
Its proximity to Budapest makes Szentendre the logical place to start your trip, the easiest way to get here being via the HÉV train which departs every twenty to thirty minutes from Batthyány tér. From Szentendre there are frequent bus services to Visegrád, which then continue westward to Esztergom. Both these towns are also accessible direct from Budapest: hourly buses from the Árpád híd terminus follow an anticlockwise route around the Bend – although Esztergom can be reached more directly by the less scenic clockwise route that goes via Dorog; this is also the route taken by trains to Esztergom from the capital’s Nyugati station. Train access is otherwise limited in the Bend: you can catch a train to Visegrád only by going up the east bank to Nagymaros via Vác and taking the ferry across the river, but there is no onward train to Esztergom. In summer you can take the more leisurely option of travelling by ferry (www.mahartpassnave.hu) from Budapest’s Vigadó tér pier to Visegrád and Esztergom via Vác, as well as Szentendre.
The Danube
The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe after the Volga, flowing 2857km from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. Between the confluence of the Bereg and Briach streams at Donaueschingen and its shifting delta on the Black Sea, the Danube is fed by over three hundred tributaries from a catchment area of 816,000 square kilometres, and has nine nations along its banks. Known as the Donau in Germany and Austria, it becomes the Dunaj in Slovakia and then the Duna in Hungary before taking a course through Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria as the Dunav, Romania as the Dunarea and the Ukraine as the Dunay, forming the frontier for much of the way. Used by armies and tribes since antiquity, this “dustless highway” deeply impressed the German poet Hölderlin who saw it as an allegory for the mythical voyage of the ancient German forefathers to the Black Sea, and for Hercules’ journey from Greece to the land of the Hyperboreans. Attila Jószef described it as “cloudy, wise and great”, its waters from many lands as intermingled as the peoples of the Carpathian Basin. While the Danube’s strategic value ended after World War II, economic and environmental concerns came to the fore in the 1980s, when the governments of Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia began to realize a plan to dam the river between Gabçikovo and Nagymaros, though the controversial project was eventually shelved.
Szentendre and around
With its fabulous Baroque heart, SZENTENDRE (St Andrew), 19km north of Budapest, is the Bend’s siren draw. Called “the Montmartre of the Danube” by Claudio Magris, it remains a delightful maze of houses painted in autumnal colours, with secretive gardens and lanes winding up to hilltop churches. The town’s location on the lower slopes of the Pilis range is not only beautiful, but ensures that Szentendre enjoys more hours of sunlight than anywhere else in Hungary, making it a perfect spot for an artists’ colony.
Before the artists moved in, Szentendre’s character had been formed by waves of refugees from Serbia. The first influx followed the catastrophic Serb defeat at Kosovo in 1389, which foreshadowed the Turkish occupation of Hungary in the sixteenth century, when Szentendre fell into ruin. After Hungary had been liberated, the Turkish recapture of Belgrade in 1690 precipitated the flight of 30,000 Serbs and Bosnians led by Patriarch Arsenije Carnojevič, 6000 of whom settled in Szentendre, which became the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in exile. Prospering through trade, they replaced their wooden churches with stone ones and built handsome town houses. However, as Habsburg toleration waned and phylloxera (vine-blight) and floods ruined the local economy, they began to trickle back to Serbia, so that by 1890 less than a quarter of the population was Serb. Today, only a few dozen families of Serbian descent remain.
In the 1920s, thanks to its proximity to Budapest and the excellent light conditions, Szentendre became a working artists’ colony, and today its links with art are as strong as ever, with some two hundred artists working here and the town’s countless museums and galleries vying for the attention of the peak-season tourist crowds. Although the town can get swamped in summer, it’s still possible to escape the tourists and enjoy the quieter side of the place.
A good time to visit is for Szentendre’s summer festival (Szentendrei Nyár), which runs from late June to late August and encompasses jazz and folk music evenings, organ concerts, dancing and theatrical performances; it culminates with a pop concert and fireworks on August 20. On the preceding day, a Serbian festival with kolo (circle) dancing takes place at the Preobrazenska Church.
Arrival and information
Szentendre’s bus and train (HÉV) stations are next door to one another on Dunakanyar körút, from where it’s a ten-minute walk to the town centre. There are two docks for Danube ferries: one for the boat to Szentendre Sziget (Szentendre Island), located 100m north of the Centrum Panzió on Dunakorzó (March–Oct hourly; 200Ft); the other, 500m further north, for services between Budapest and Esztergom.
For information on the town and the Danube Bend, the busy but helpful Tourinform office is at Dumsta Jenő utca 22 (June–Aug Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm; Sept–May Mon–Fri 9.30am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am–2pm; 26/317-965, szentendre@tourinform.hu). Szentendre’s main post office is at Kossuth ucta 23–25 (Mon–Fri 8am–7pm, Sat 8am–noon), with another at Rákóczi utca 15 (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm). There is a currency exchange machine on Fő tér. Internet access is available at Silver Blue, across from the post office on Dunakanyar körút (daily 10am–8pm).
Accommodation
There is no agency to help you find private rooms in Szentendre, but Tourinform has a comprehensive list of accommodation (it does not book rooms) and there are plenty of Zimmer frei signs advertising vacancies. There’s camping at Pap Sziget (26/310-697, www.pap-sziget.hu; May–Sept), located on the small island of the same name (Priest’s Island) about 1.5km north of the centre; it also has two- to four-person chalets by the river (€36–45/9001–11,500Ft), a pension (€16–25/4001–6500Ft) and restaurant. The camping fee includes use of the swimming pool on the island. To get there take any bus heading towards Visegrád or Esztergom and get off at the Pap Sziget stop, by the Danubius Hotel.
Bükkös Hotel Bükkös part 16 26/312-021, 310-782. The best thing about this place is its idyllic location by a stream lined with weeping willows; the rooms are comfortable enough, if a touch old-fashioned and careworn. Reasonable value. €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft
Centrum Panzió Dunakorzó 26/302-500, www.hotelcentrum.hu. One of the best options in town, a warm and welcoming pension with eight good-sized, peach-coloured rooms, some of which overlook the Danube. €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft
Corner Panzió Dunakorzó 4 26/301-524, cornerpanzio@yahoo.com. Just a few paces down from the Centrum, this small riverside pension has six modern and compact rooms with lots of fresh-smelling wood. The adjoining restaurant is good fun too. €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft
Ilona Panzió Rákóczi utca 11 &26/313-599. Ideally located pension, tucked away a couple of minutes’ walk from the centre of town. Rooms are on the small side, but are lovely and peaceful and there’s a breakfast terrace. €36–45/9001–11,500Ft
Mathias Rex Panzió Kossuth utca 16 26/505-570, www.mathiasrexhotel.hu. The pick of the town’s accommodation, this classy, modern pension has large, coolly furnished rooms with big beds, and brilliant-white bathrooms. There’s also a fabulous cellar restaurant. €56–70/14,501–18,500Ft
Zita Panzió Őrtorony utca 16 26/313-886, info@zitapanzio.hu. Close to the stations and very cheap, this modest, family-run place possesses six rooms (some with three or four beds), with and without shower, but all with TVs. Breakfast is included but there’s also use of a communal kitchen. €26–35/6501–9000Ft
The Town
Most of Szentendre’s tourist attractions are centred on, or within close proximity to, the main square, Fő tér, thus easily explored by foot. On your way in from the stations, you can make a short detour to examine a hoard of Roman stonework (Romái Kótár castrum; March–Oct Mon–Fri 9am–4pm) on Dunakanyar körút. Its opening times are unreliable, however, and you may have to look at the stones from behind the wire fence. The eroded lintels and sarcophagi belonged to Ulcisia Castra, a military town named after the Eravisci, an Illyrian–Celtic tribe subdued by the Romans during the first century AD.
Kossuth utca to Fő tér
A five-minute walk up Kossuth utca, just before the Bükkos stream, you’ll encounter the first evidence of a Serbian presence – the Požarevačka Church. Typical of the churches in Szentendre, this was built in the late eighteenth century to replace an older wooden church, although its Byzantine-style iconostasis, dating from 1742, was inherited rather than specially commissioned. The church is usually closed, except for Sunday services. Beyond the stream, Dumtsa Jenő utca continues past the Tourinform office, on the corner, and the Marzipan Museum and Pastry Shop at no. 12 (Marcipán Múzeum és Cukrászda; daily 10am–6pm; 400Ft), whose weird and wonderful marzipan creations include Disney characters, busts of famous Hungarians, and a large-scale model of the Hungarian parliament building – you can even watch the women working on their next creation. A few paces further up at no. 10 is the Barcsay Collection (Barcsay Gyüjtemény; Tues–Sun: March–Oct 9am–5pm; Nov–Feb 10am–4pm; 500Ft), a museum housing drawings and paintings by Jenő Barcsay (1900–88), who was born in Transylvania but lived and worked in Szentendre from 1929. His dark prewar canvases – mainly landscapes such as Transylvanian Hills and Szentendre Streets – give way to more abstract works after the war, avoiding the strictures of the regime. His later works included wall-length mosaics, tapestries and anatomical drawings, these last confirming his skill as a draughtsman.
A little further on, the road is crossed by Péter-Pál utca where a left turn brings you to the Peter-Paul Church, a yellow and white Baroque church built in 1708. Its original furnishings were taken back to Serbia after World War I, and the church is now Roman Catholic. Organ recitals take place at the church regularly; ask at Tourinform for details.
Around Fő tér
Swarming with buskers and tourists during summertime, Szentendre’s main square, Főtér, is a place either to savour or avoid. At the centre of the square stands the Plague Cross, its triangular marble base decorated with icons, which was erected by the merchants’ guild after Szentendre escaped infection in 1763. From here, diverging streets and alleys lead to an assortment of galleries and museums around the square, as well as to the many tourist shops, especially down Bogdányi utca.
The Kmetty Museum (Kmetty János Múzeum; Tues–Sun: March–Oct 9am–5pm; Nov–Feb 10am–4pm; 500Ft), immediately on your left if entering the square from Dumsta Jenő utca, contains some delightful watercolours by János Kmetty (1889–1975), and, downstairs, his blue, Cubist paintings from a later period. To the right as you enter the square, and accessed via the shop at no. 1, is the charming little Music Box Museum (Muszikáló Múzeum; Sat & Sun 10am–5pm; 600Ft), a private collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century musical pieces – gramophones, boxes, clocks and toys – though the most outstanding exhibit is a working orchestrion dating from 1900.
On the north side of the square is the Church of the Annunciation, or Blagovestenška Church (April–Oct Tues–Sun 10am–5pm, Nov–March Fri–Sun 10am–5pm; 250Ft), the most accessible of the Orthodox churches in the town. Painted by Mihailo Zivkoviç (1776–1824) of Buda in the early eighteenth century, the church’s icons evoke all the richness and tragedy of Serbian history. The building itself is thought to have been designed by András Mayerhoffer in the 1750s, on the site of an earlier wooden church dating from the time of the Serbian migration in 1690. Look out for the tomb of a Greek merchant of Macedonian origin to the left of the entrance, and the Rococo windows and gate facing Görög utca (Greek Street).
Just behind the church, at Vastagh György utca 1, is by far the most popular of the town’s galleries, the Margit Kovács Museum (Kovács Margit Múzeum; daily 9am–5pm; 700Ft). This is a wonderful collection that never fails to delight, the themes of legends, dreams, religion, love and motherhood giving Kovács’ graceful sculptures and reliefs universal appeal. Her expressive statues with their big eyes aren’t particularly well known abroad, but in Hungary Kovács (1902–77) is duly honoured as the nation’s greatest ceramicist and sculptor.
Back on the main square, next door to the church, a portal carved with emblems of science and learning provides the entrance to a former Serbian school, now the Ferenczy Museum (Ferenczy Múzeum; Tues–Sun: March–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb 9am–5pm; 500Ft). Károly Ferenczy (1862–1917) pioneered Impressionism and plein air painting in Hungary, while his eldest son Valér (1885–1954) swung towards Expressionism. His younger children, daughter Nóemi (1890–1957) and son Béni (1890–1967), branched out into tapestries and sculpture respectively, and there are plenty of examples from each of the artists.
Several of the square’s buildings (nos. 8, 17, 19 & 22) are old Baroque trading houses with their dates and trades engraved above the gates. The former Pálffy House (no. 17) bears the sign of the merchants’ guild, combining the patriarchal cross of Orthodoxy with an anchor and a number four to symbolize Danube trade and the percentage of profit deemed appropriate by the guild.
A short walk out of the top western end of the square brings you into Rákóczi utca with the Baroque Town Hall on your left, which hosts summer concerts in its courtyard, while opposite at Rákóczi utca 1 is the House of Folk Crafts (Népmüvészetek Háza; Tues–Sun: March–Oct 9am–5pm; Dec–Feb 10am–4pm; 500Ft), in an old bellhouse, with small temporary displays on blacksmithing and wine-making.
Templom tér and around
From Fő tér or Rákóczi utca, you can ascend an alley of steps to gain a lovely view of Szentendre’s rooftops and gardens from Templom tér, where craft stalls plying their wares are regularly set up under the acacia trees to help finance the restoration of the Catholic parish church. Of medieval origin, with Romanesque and Gothic features, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style after falling derelict in Turkish times; the frescoes in its sanctuary were collectively painted by the artists’ colony. Across the square, the Czóbel Museum (Czóbel Múzeum; Tues–Sun: March–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb 10am–4pm; 500Ft) exhibits paintings of brooding nudes by Béla Czóbel (1883–1976) and his wife Mária Modok (1896–1971), whose fierce brush strokes challenged the Neoclassical trend of the Horthy era.
A minute’s walk north of Templom tér, the burgundy spire of the Orthodox episcopal cathedral, Belgrade Church (contact the Serbian museum if you wish to visit – see below), rises above a walled garden off Alkotmány utca – the entrance to the grounds is from the corner of Alkotmány utca and Pátriárka utca. Built during the late eighteenth century, it has a lavishly ornamented interior with icons, painted by Vasilije Ostoic, depicting scenes from the New Testament and saints of the Orthodox Church. There are many old tombstones in the churchyard with Cyrillic inscriptions. If the church is closed, ask over at the Serbian Ecclesiastical History Collection in the episcopal palace (Szerb Egyháztörténeti Gyüjtemény; Tues–Sun: May–Sept 10am–6pm; Oct–April 10am–4pm; 500Ft), whose outstanding hoard of icons, vestments and reliquaries comes from churches in Hungary that fell empty after the Serbs returned to the Balkans and the last remaining parishioners died out. The museum also houses various relics from Serbia including a pair of wedding crowns donated by the Karadjordjević dynasty in 1867. If you fancy attending a service you can do so at 6pm on Saturdays and 10am on Sundays during the summer and at 5pm on Saturdays and 10am and 4pm on Sundays during the winter.
From the Belgrade Church you can follow Alkotmány utca back down towards the main square. Just before you get there, you pass two more museums hiding in Hunyadi utca on your left. The Vajda Lajos Museum at no. 1 (Lajos Vajda Múzeum; Tues–Sun: March–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb 10am–4pm; 500Ft) commemorates the work of a Szentendre painter who died in the Holocaust. Vajda’s early work reveals Cubist and constructivist influences, while his later charcoal works seem to foretell the approaching torment. Although the museum is housed in a wealthy bourgeois villa, the artist himself was poor – as you can see from the materials he worked with. Downstairs is an excellent display of works by artists of the “European School”, including Bálint Endre and Jenő Barcsay. This group formed after the war but was quickly stopped by the Communists. On the other side of Hunyadi utca, a few steps further along, is the Szántó Jewish Memorial House and Synagogue (Szántó Emlékház és Zsinagóga; April–Oct Tues–Sun 10am–4pm; donations accepted), set up by the grandson of a Holocaust victim, Lajos Szántó, who lived in the town. Most of Szentendre’s Jewish community, which never numbered more than 250, were deported and killed during the Holocaust. The documents and relics are few, but they make a moving display.
Bogdányi utca
Heading northeast from Fő tér, Bogdányi utca is packed with stalls, attended by shop assistants dressed up in folk gear. The Wine Museum at no. 10 (Bormúzeum; daily 10am–10pm; 200Ft, plus 2200Ft for wine tasting) is really there to lure people into the Labirintus restaurant, but otherwise does a fair job of describing Hungary’s wine-making regions using maps, wine-bottle labels and other artefacts. Next door at no. 10b a painterly couple is commemorated by the Ámos-Anna Museum (Tues–Sun: March–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb 10am–4pm; 500Ft); the museum contains works from the last years of Imre Ámos’s life, including Self Portrait with Angel from 1938 and the disturbing Apocalypse series of 1944, the year he died in a Jewish labour camp. Downstairs, his wife Margit Anna’s works are split into two periods: the warm, mellow pictures from before the Holocaust to the right of the entrance, and to the left the uncomfortably bright, sometimes grotesque images that she produced after the war.
A little further along, Bogdányi utca opens onto a square at the far corner of which stands the Lázár Cross, a small iron cross that’s easy to miss behind the parked cars that fill the square. It honours King Lázár of Serbia, whom the Turks beheaded after the battle of Kosovo in revenge for the death of Sultan Murad. His body was brought here by the Serbs and buried in a wooden church. When the relic was taken back to Serbia in 1774, the place was marked by a cross in his memory.
Beyond the square, and the welter of tourist shops and stalls, is the ArtMill (Müvészetmalom; daily 10am–6pm; 1000Ft), a contemporary art centre constructed out of the remnants of an old sawmill. Realized with considerable local government support, this impressive exhibition hall holds a varied collection of paintings by local artists, plus a smattering of international ones, and also serves as the focus for community-based art projects and events. A few steps on at no. 36, the Kovács Blue Dye Shop (daily 9am–6pm) showcases a traditional style of folk dyeing: everything – pillow cases, skirts, oven cloths, you name it – is blue, and there’s a small display to show how it is done.
The Preobraženska Church, a few steps further along Bogdányi utca, was erected by the tanners’ guild in 1741–76, and its embonpoint enhanced by a Louis XVI gate the following century. Though its lavish iconostasis merits a look, the church is chiefly notable for its role in the Serbian festival on August 19, when it hosts the Blessing of the Grapes ceremony (recalling Szentendre’s former role as a wine-producing centre). This is followed by a traditional procession round the church and further celebrations in the town square and elsewhere. At the far end of Bogdányi utca, five minutes’ walk further on, is another cross, the Vinegrowers’ Cross, raised by a local guild and fittingly wreathed in grapevines.
Eating and drinking
Many of Szentendre’s restaurants tend to be tourist-oriented, particularly those on or around Fő tér which are crowded with tour groups during the summer; there are, though, more agreeable alternatives away from the main square, with an unusually good selection of ethnic restaurants to choose from.
Likewise, there are some choice drinking options on the fringes of the centre, and during warmer weather a string of cafés along Dunakorzó open up their terraces. Café Adria at Kossuth utca 4 is a lovely Greek-themed café by the Bükkös stream, featuring a colourful, playful interior with square wooden tables and cushioned, pew-style seating, and in the summer there’s a small outdoor terrace; while Avakum, a cool cellar café near the Belgrade Church at Alkotmány utca 14, is a good place to escape the heat and enjoy a refreshing cup of tea or glass of wine. For good coffee and sumptuous cakes, take a break at the bright and breezy Szamos Cukrászda, Dumtsa Jenő utca 14.
Restaurants
Aranysárkány Alkotmány utca 1a. A popular tourist haunt, the “Golden Dragon”, a minute’s walk up from Főtér, is a smart, upscale Hungarian restaurant with a/c – useful as it’s got an open kitchen. A good option is the tourist menu which, for 3000Ft, gets you a fairly substantial three-course meal.
Corner Dunakorzó 4. Enjoyable and informal Serbian restaurant with typically meaty and filling dishes such as pljeskavica and čevapi, lamb and beef burgers and meatballs served in thick soft pittas.
Görög Kancsó Görög utca 1. One of several restaurants down by the river, this is a stylish establishment serving predominantly Greek dishes (and wines). There’s plenty to keep veggies happy too, with tasty spanakopita (cheese and spinach pie) and dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with various fillings).
Mathias Rex Kossuth utca 16. Cool, good-looking cellar restaurant in the pension of the same name, with a slightly more imaginative menu than most places in town, such as trout with walnut and crispy goose with apple; excellent meat platters too. Closed Mon.
Palapa Dumsta Jenő utca 14a. Brilliant Mexican restaurant/bar that’s got it all; a vibrant and colourfully decorated interior, terrific dishes and snappy service. Add to this regular live music in the courtyard and some fine cocktails and you’ve got the most enjoyable place to eat in town.
Rab Ráby Kucsera utca 1a. Housed in an eighteenth-century smithy just across from the Peter-Paul Church, this atmospheric old restaurant is similar to the Aranysárkány but more traditionally Hungarian in style and a touch cheaper.
Hungarian Open-Air Museum
The Hungarian Open-Air Museum (Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum; March–Oct Tues–Sun 9am–5pm; 1200Ft, 1600Ft on festival days; www.skanzen.hu) on Sztaravodai út, 4km to the west of town, is easily the most enjoyable local attraction. Hungary’s largest open-air museum of rural architecture (termed a skanzen, after the first such museum, founded in a Stockholm suburb in 1891), it will eventually include “samples” from nine different regions of the country – seven have been finished so far – and the remains of a Roman villa. The museum is accessible by buses running roughly every hour from the bus terminal; get off when you see the spires in a field to the right; the entrance is 100m off the road. You can get an excellent book on the contents of the museum, which guides you round building by building, and has maps both of the layout of the museum and of the villages. Each building also has its warden, who can explain everything in great detail, though usually only in Hungarian.
Downhill to the right from the entrance is a composite village from the Upper Tisza region in northeast Hungary, culled from isolated settlements in the Erdőhát. The guide points out the finer distinctions between the various humble peasant dwellings scattered among the barns and woven pigsties. As you walk towards the church, the houses move up the social scale, as even the fences show, going from rough wickerwork to a smart plank fence. The first house, a poor cottage from Kispalad, has mud floors, which the warden sprinkles in the traditional way to stop the dust rising, and a rough thatch. Further down is a house with wooden roof tiles and wooden floors. Rural carpenters produced highly skilled work, examples of which are the circular “dry mill” from Vámosoroszi, the wooden bell-tower from Nemesborzova, and the carving inside the Greek Catholic church from Mándok (on a hilltop beyond).
As you walk up past the Calvinist graveyard, where the grave markers from four villages include the striking boat-shaped markers from Szatmárcseke in eastern Hungary, signs point you to the remains of the third-century Roman village, and on to the Western Transdanubia section. The thatched houses from the Orség region are often constructed of wood and covered in adobe. The school from the village of Kondorfa has its old benches with slates for writing on, a towel and basin for washing, and behind the door the children’s little home-spun bags. The teacher’s living quarters are at the other end of the building, separated by a kitchen with an apron chimney, where the smoke goes out of a hole in the roof. At one end of the L-shaped house from Szentegyörgyvölgy dating from the nineteenth century, a small hen ladder runs up to the roof for the poultry, and in the open end of the attic you can see large woven straw baskets for storing grain. By contrast, the next section, originating from the ethnic German communities of the Kisalföld (Little Plain) in Northwest Transdanubia, seems far more regimented. Neatly aligned and whitewashed, the houses are filled with knick-knacks and embroidered samplers bearing homilies like “When the Hausfrau is capable, the clocks keep good time”. The next region is The Great Hungarian Plain, featuring a house from Süsköd which has a beautiful facade on the street and a visitors’ room or “clean room” laid out for Christmas celebrations with a Nativity crib and a church-shaped box. In the fields of the Great Plain region stands a windmill from Dusnok, built in 1888 and with its sails still operating.
Located near the hilly part of the museum to the north is the Bakony and Balaton-Uplands section. The constructions here are some of the most interesting in the museum, with several communal buildings on display including a fire station, a working watermill and a Catholic church. The four neatly aligned stone dwelling houses reflect the varying financial standings of those living in the region during the early twentieth century. The two newest sections are Southern Transdanubia, whose dwellings are mostly either timber-framed, thatched wooden structures, or houses of sturdier construction built with solid stone walls (typically those near the Danube); and the Upland Market Town, represented here by the local traditions of stone-built architecture, such as the dwelling with a panelled stove and kitchen with central oven, and downstairs, a press house with a wooden ceiling.
Demonstrations of folk dancing and traditional crafts such as weaving, pottery and basket-making take place at the museum most Sundays as well as on public holidays, but check on the museum website or at the Tourinform office in town for precise dates of events. Local festivals are also celebrated here, such as the wine festival in mid-September, when folkloric programmes and grape-pressing take place. The huge Jászárokszállás restaurant (daily 10am–10pm) inside the museum serves up dishes and wines from the various regions. Shops outside the museum entrance sell snacks and ice creams as well as local crafts, including beautiful handmade paper from the Vincze paper mill.
Szentendre Sziget
Across the water from Szentendre is the sparsely populated Szentendre Sziget (Szentendre Island), stretching from below Szentendre up almost to Visegrád. Its open expanses have escaped the holiday-home development seen on the road north of Szentendre, and the villages here give you the feeling that time has passed them by. Access to the island is poor, with only one bridge connecting it to the mainland at Tahitótfalu, 10km north of Szentendre. Buses run from the Budapest Árpád híd bus terminal to Tahitótfalu, and ferries from each main settlement on the bank go across to the island. There’s also one car ferry connecting Vác on the east bank with the road to Tahitótfalu.
The island makes excellent terrain for horseriding, and one of its best riding schools is Bodor Major, near the ferry terminal to Vác on the eastern side of the island (2500Ft for 50min, 3000Ft for 1hr cross-country; 26/585-020, info@bodormajor.hu); in summer it also puts on horse shows. It’s also got a smart little pension, the Lipiscai (€46–55/11,501–14,500Ft), on site. Better still, towards the southern tip of the island in the settlement of Szigetmonostor, there’s the Rosinante Fogadó (26/722-000, www.rosinante.hu; €71–85/18,501–22,500Ft), a delightful, country-style inn with elegantly furnished rooms, spa facilities and an à la carte restaurant – it’s a ten-minute walk from the ferry dock for passenger boats arriving from Szentendre.
One of the more curious local events, and one which befits an island covered in strawberry fields, is the Eperfesztival (Strawberry Festival), which takes place during the first weekend of June. Staged on the mainland by the bridge, the festival involves various shows and concerts, the highlights being a monumental tug-of-war across the bridge between the two communities and a competition to see who has, amongst other things, the biggest, smallest and fattest strawberries.
Visegrád and around
When the hillsides start to plunge and the river twists, keep your eyes fixed on the mountains to the west for a first glimpse of the citadel and ramparts of VISEGRÁD, 23km north of Szentendre. The citadel is almost as it appeared to János Thuroczy in 1488, who described its “upper walls stretching to the clouds floating in the sky, and the lower bastions reaching down as far as the river”. At that time, courtly life in Visegrád, the royal seat, was nearing its apogee, and the palace of King Mátyás and Queen Beatrice was famed throughout Europe. The papal legate Cardinal Castelli described it as a “paradiso terrestri”, seemingly unperturbed by the presence of Vlad the Impaler, who resided here under duress between 1462 and 1475.
Tucked in between the hills and the river as the Danube flows north, Visegrád is a compact town, with most local activity centred around the ferry and the church. The three main historical sites all lie north of the centre: the Royal Palace and Solomon’s Tower down near the river, and the citadel perching on top of the hill above. All the river sites are within easy walking distance, but unless you’ve got your own wheels, the climb up to the citadel (there’s no public transport) is fairly taxing. While here, you can also visit the surrounding Visegrád Hills, boasting gorgeous views, and providing an unexpected but appropriate setting for several works by the visionary architect Imre Makovecz. Though the ruins can be visited on a flying visit, the hills require a full day and a fair amount of walking, with the option of longer hikes or pony-trekking.
Arrival and information
Boats from Budapest and Esztergom land at Visegrád just below Solomon’s Tower, little more than fifteen minutes’ walk north of the centre. Ferries to and from Nagymaros dock to the south of town opposite the Sirály restaurant. Buses make two stops in Visegrád – there is no bus station here – by the ferry and boat stations. You can also travel by train from Nyugati Station to Nagymaros-Visegrád on the Szob line, and then catch one of the hourly ferries across to Visegrád.
With no Tourinform here, you’ll have to rely on Visegrád Tours, located in the reception of the Hotel Visegrád, for information, though they’re next to useless. The post office is at Fő utca 77 (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm).
Accommodation
Visegrád has just about the right amount of accommodation for a town of its size and most of its hotels are pretty good value. In addition, Bauer, Fő utca 46 (daily 9am–5pm; 26/397-127, travel@bauerreisen.hu), can help in finding private rooms (€16–25/4001–6500Ft). You’ll also see plenty of Zimmer frei signs along Fő utca and Széchenyi utca.
The nearest place to camp is at Kék Duna Camping (26/398-102; May–Sept), located within the extensive grounds of the Haus-Honti Panzió. Not so easy to reach is Jurta Camping near Mogyoró-hegy (Hazelnut Hill; 26/398-217; May–Sept), though it’s in a lovely rural setting and there are some fine views.
Haus-Honti Panzió Fő utca 66 26/398-120, http//:ohm.hotelhonti.hu. Good-value, family-run place comprising older but perfectly adequate rooms in the pension overlooking a stream, and larger, airy rooms with balconied terraces in a newer, hotel-style building facing the Danube. Triples available in both. €46–70/14,501–18,500Ft
Mátyás Tanya Fő utca 47 26/398-309. Along from the Royal Palace, this mid-range option is set down in a restful location by the river with large gardens and spacious, if uninspiring, rooms furnished with dark wood. €36–45/9001–11,500Ft
Hotel Silvanus Fekete-hegy 26/398-311, www.hotelsilvanus.hu. If it’s a bit of seclusion you’re after, this upmarket hotel just beyond the citadel is just the ticket; first-rate rooms, most with splendid views of the Danube, alongside comprehensive wellness and sporting facilities. €86–100/22,501–26,000Ft
Hotel Vár Fő utca 9 26/397-522, varhotelvisegrad@axelero.hu. Formerly a hunting lodge, this handsome riverfront hotel has large, warm rooms, with some nice touches such as colourful floor rugs and wood-framed pictures of old Visegrád on the walls. €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft
Hotel Visegrád Rév utca 15 26/398-160, www.hotelvisegrad.hu. Thoroughly modern outfit near the riverfront with polished, burgundy and brown coloured rooms, all with wi-fi – some rooms face the Danube, some the castle. €71–85/18,501–22,500Ft
The ruins of Visegrád
The layout of the ruins of Visegrád (whose Slavic name means “High Castle”) dates back to the thirteenth century, when Béla IV began fortifying the north against a recurrence of the Mongol invasion. Its most prominent features are the citadel on the hill and Solomon’s Tower near the riverside below, part of the fortification that forms a gate over the road that you pass through arriving from Budapest. The Royal Palace itself is inconspicuously sited, further inland and 500m south of Solomon’s Tower. As Visegrád fell into dereliction after the Turkish occupation, mud washing down from the hillsides gradually buried the palace entirely, and later generations doubted its very existence. In 1934, however, the archeologist János Schulek made a breakthrough. While at a New Year’s Eve party, after he had been in Visegrád for some time hunting for the lost palace without success, the wine ran out and Schulek was sent to get some more from the neighbours. An old woman told him to go down to the wine cellar, and there he found clues in the stones that convinced him the palace was here, later unearthing one of the palace vaults.
The Royal Palace
Now largely excavated and partially reconstructed, the Royal Palace, ten minutes’ walk from the centre at Fő utca 27–29 (Királyi palota; Tues–Sun 9am–5pm; 1100Ft), spreads over four levels or terraces. Originally founded in 1323 by the Angevin king Charles Robert, the palace was expanded by subsequent kings, the largest development occurring in the reign of Mátyás Corvinus.
Walking up from the entrance, you pass the kőtár (lapidarium) on your left, with its collection of excavated stones from Roman to medieval times, before arriving at the palace proper. Here you enter the cour d’honneur, which was constructed for Charles’s successor, Louis, and provided the basis for subsequent building by Sigismund and, later, Mátyás Corvinus. Much work on this inner courtyard has been completed in recent years, with pristine reconstructions of the pilastered Renaissance loggia, the cloistered walks and the surrounding rooms, which now contain a voluminous display of exhibits, mainly ceramic vessels, weaponry and glazed stove tiles. One room holds the red marble Hercules Fountain which would spout wine during important events; although far from complete, a good proportion of the original parts, including the foundation, were discovered and subsequently pieced together, hence it now stands like an impossible jigsaw.
Legend has it that Mátyás was eventually poisoned by his wife Beatrice, who wanted to rule on her own. The chalice containing the fatal potion may well have passed between the royal suites that once stood beneath an overhang on the third terrace, separated by a magnificent chapel. Now also renovated, the royal suites remain mostly bare, save for some superb-looking dark green ceramic tile stoves. Reportedly, the finest sight at this time was the garden on the fourth terrace, embellished by the Lion Fountain. A perfect copy of the original (carved by Ernő Szakál) bears Mátyás’s raven crest and piles of sleepy-looking lions, although, unlike the original, it’s not fed by the gutters and pipes that channelled water down from the citadel. The original pieces are displayed in Solomon’s Tower. From this elevated position there are lovely views down to the palace’s fragrant fruit garden.
Back across towards the entrance is the wine cellar, where the Hungarian, Czech and Polish kings signed the closing document at the Visegrád Congress of 1335. Called to discuss the growing Habsburg threat, they failed to agree on any concrete steps, but nevertheless managed to consume 10,000 litres of wine and vast amounts of food in the process. In February 1991, Visegrád played host to another less extravagant summit, when the prime ministers of Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia met here to put together a joint strategy for trade and EC membership in the post-Communist era. Again the setting for signing the final document was the cellar, and again the results were limited – although it did mean that a display of stonework from the age of King Mátyás was put together so that the cellar would not be totally empty. Work has begun on creating an entrance at ground level into the cellar, but this is taking some time to realize.
Each year, usually the second weekend in July, the grounds play host to the International Palace Games, a series of rousing medieval pageants with jousting and archery tournaments intended to re-create the splendour of Visegrád’s Renaissance heyday; in addition there are crafts workshops and lots of eating and drinking. For more information contact Tourinform in Szentendre.
Solomon’s Tower
Five minutes’ walk north along Fő utca, just after it rejoins the main highway, you can take a right onto Salamon torony utca, which climbs up through the gate of the old castle fortifications to reach Solomon’s Tower (May–Sept Tues–Sun 9am–5pm; 650Ft), a mighty hexagonal keep, buttressed on two sides by unsightly concrete slabs, and named after an eleventh-century Hungarian king. The Mátyás Museum on the ground and first floor of the tower exhibits finds from the palace, including the white Anjou Fountain of the Angevins; the original pieces of the Lion fountain, together with a reconstruction of the child Hercules struggling with the hydra; and the red marble Visegrád Madonna, a Renaissance masterpiece that shows many similarities to the works of Tomaso Fiamberti nearby. The next two floors present the history of Visegrád up to the Turkish occupation. It’s worth climbing to the top for the view of the lines of fortification running down from the citadel on both sides, meeting at the Water Bastion by the river. However, neither this, nor the ruined Roman fort to the north, atop Sibrik Hill, is worth a special detour, so you might want to save your energy for the climb to Visegrád’s citadel.
The citadel
Dramatically sited on a crag directly above Solomon’s Tower and commanding a superb view of Nagymaros and the Börzsöny mountains on the east bank, Visegrád’s thirteenth-century citadel (Fellegvár; daily mid-March to mid-Oct 10am–6pm; rest of year 10am–4pm; closed when it snows, as the battlements are too slippery; 1500Ft) served as a repository for the Hungarian crown jewels until they were stolen by a treacherous maid of honour in the fifteenth century. Following the last major rebuilding work later that same century, the castle was occupied by the Turks, then the Habsburgs, before falling into decay. Its restoration began in the late nineteenth century, after an eager local priest brought the government’s attention to the dire state of the place, and work still continues slowly. Its condition before the work began in 1870 is shown inside in a photograph in the exhibition on the history of the castle, which includes a hologram of the crown and drawings of how the castle looked at different periods. Elsewhere, there’s a ridiculous waxworks display of various characters frolicking at a medieval banquet and, in the innermost courtyard, an exhibition on hunting and fishing and a stash of ferocious-looking weaponry. As lame as these displays are, it’s worth paying the expensive entrance fee for what are some of the finest views of the Danube anywhere along its stretch.
You can reach the citadel from the centre of town via the “Calvary” footpath (signposted Fellegvár and marked by a red cross on the way), heading up to the left off Nagy Lajos Király utca, 50m behind the church. It takes its name from the calvary of reliefs that you follow on your way up. Alternatively, you can start from Solomon’s Tower and walk through the top gate and uphill, looking out for signs up to the right after ten to fifteen minutes. Both routes involve around forty minutes of steep walking; the latter track is slightly tougher. Alternatively, if you have your own wheels, you can take the scenic Panorama Route up to the citadel.
The Visegrád Hills
Thickly wooded and crisscrossed with paths, the Visegrád Hills are a popular rambling spot. From the car park near the citadel, it’s a 500-metre walk up the main road to another car park; from here you can follow a signposted path off to the left, which leads to the Nagy-Villám observation tower (kilátó; 10am–5pm: April–Oct daily; Nov–March Sat & Sun; 100Ft). Sited at the highest point on the Danube Bend, it offers wonderful panoramas of Szentendre Sziget and the Bend and, on a clear day, views as far as Slovakia. You can also hike from here over into the Pilis range. The Nagyvillám (closed Nov–Feb) on the way up is a good spot to stop for a moderately priced meal with fine views. You can also visit the collection of wooden buildings designed by Imre Makovecz at Mogyoró-hegy (Hazelnut Hill), 1km north of the observation tower (see below). Back down by the car park is the Summer Bobsleigh Course (Nyári Bob), where you can race down a one-kilometre run (350Ft for one run, 1800Ft for six; daily: April–Oct 9/10am–6/7pm; Nov–March 11am–4pm; 26/397-397), except on rainy days when the brakes are rendered ineffective.
If you feel like hiking, you could try the twelve-kilometre trail marked with blue stripes running from the tower, via Paprét (Priest’s Meadow), to Pilisszentlászló, which takes two to three hours. Although Visegrád itself has nowhere to swim, there is a salubrious terraced strand and natural warm-water pool 4km away at Lepence, at the Pilisszentlászló turn-off towards Dömös. A series of pools has been cut into the hillside overlooking the Danube, making it one of the most spectacular open-air pool complexes in Hungary – it is, however, currently closed pending construction of a spa hotel.
Imre Makovecz at Visegrád
Imre Makovecz was a promising architect in the Kádár years, but was branded a troublemaker for his outspoken nationalism, banned from teaching, and “exiled” to the Visegrád forestry department in 1977. During this time he made many of the wooden buildings which can be seen at Mogyoró-hegy in Visegrád. Over the next decade he refined his ideas, acquiring a group of student followers for whom he held summer schools. Employing cheap, low-technology methods in a way he branded as specifically Magyar, he taught his students how to construct temporary buildings using raw materials such as branches and twigs. The Cultural House near Jurta Camping in Visegrád is an excellent example, with a turfed roof and a light homely interior that has worn well.
Now one of the most influential architects in Hungary, Makovecz’s buildings can be found all over the country. They include the community centres in Sárospatak, Zalaszentlászló and Szigetvár, churches at Paks and Siófok, and the oesophagus-like crypt of the Farkasréti cemetery in Budapest. Makovecz also designed the much admired Hungarian Pavilion at the 1992 Expo in Seville, with its seven towers representing the seven Magyar tribes. He has won a considerable amount of praise abroad, with strong support from Prince Charles, for whom his anti-modernist, back-to-nature style has a strong appeal. However, his generous use of wood does not appeal to all environmentalists, and his dabbling in right-wing politics turns his whole idea of a return to the “real” Hungarian style of building, once a righteous tool against the old regime, into something less appealing.
Eating and drinking
Visegrád has a healthy stock of restaurants, and whilst some are inclined towards large tourist groups, there are some decent possibilities elsewhere. With nowhere really specific to drink, most consumption tends to take place in these same restaurants.
Restaurants
Don Vito Fő utca 83. By far the town’s most enjoyable eatery, this stylish pizzeria, featuring three brightly decorated rooms (the no-smoking one has lovely squishy brown seating) and a long wooden bar, offers fabulous stone-baked pizzas. It’s also the best place in town to drink and there’s live music at weekends during the summer.
Gulyás Csárda Nagy Lajos király utca 4. The “Goulash Inn” is a fairly low-key restaurant located just up from the church, but it’s a well-established place and serves all the Hungarian standards at very reasonable prices.
Patak Fogadó Mátyás király utca 92. Pleasantly isolated about 1.5km north of town on the road to the citadel, and with a lovely terrace overlooking a stream, the Patak offers a varied menu, with hunter’s stew and roast venison alongside fish and pasta dishes.
Renaissance Fő utca 11. Top tack here in this seriously touristy, but fun, restaurant, where you can feast on suckling pig or roast deer while wearing a cardboard crown, and be serenaded by a pantalooned man with a lute.
Sirály Rév utca 15. Attached to the Hotel Visegrád, this sprawling, rather clinical place is essentially geared up for large groups, but the food – there’s a standard and à la carte menu – is a mix of both Hungarian and international specialities.
Esztergom
Beautifully situated in a crook of the Danube facing Slovakia, ESZTERGOM, 25km on from Visegrád, is dominated by its basilica, whose dome is visible for miles around. The site is richly symbolic, since it was here that Prince Géza and his son Vajk (the future king and saint Stephen) brought Hungary into the fold of Roman Catholic (not Orthodox) Christendom, in the nation’s first cathedral. Even after the court moved to Buda following the Mongol invasion, Esztergom remained the centre of Catholicism until the Turkish conquest, when the clergy dispersed to safer towns and it became an Ottoman stronghold, besieged by Christian armies. While the town recovered in the eighteenth century, it wasn’t until the 1820s that it became the Primal See again, following a nationwide campaign. As part of the ancien régime, the Church was ruthlessly persecuted during the Rákosi era (though the basilica was well maintained, allegedly because the wife of the Soviet leader Khrushchev liked it). From the 1960s onwards, however, the Communists settled for a modus vivendi, hoping to enlist the Church’s help with social problems and to harness the patriotic spirit of the faithful. The avowedly Christian government elected in 1990 did its best to restore Church property and influence, and, while this process slowed down after the Communists returned to power, their concordat with the Vatican in 1997 eased fears of it going into reverse.
Esztergom combines historic monuments and small-town charm in just the right doses, with a summer festival as an inducement to linger. The town’s layout is easily grasped and most of the pensions and restaurants are within walking distance of the centre.
Arrival and information
If you arrive by bus from Visegrád, it’s best to get off near Basilica Hill or in the centre rather than travelling on to the bus station on Simor János utca, where services from Budapest terminate. From the train station, 1km further south, buses #1 and #5 run into the centre. Ferries from Budapest tie up on the Danube embankment of Prímás Sziget, fifteen minutes’ walk from the centre. Slovakia is only just across the Mária Valéria Bridge; you can walk or drive there and back quite easily, but remember to carry your passport with you.
The only source of information, albeit limited, is the Gran Tours agency at Széchenyi tér 25 (Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat 9am–noon; 33/502-001, grantours@freemail.hu), who can also arrange private rooms and concert bookings. The post office is at Arany János utca 2 (Mon–Fri 8am–7pm, Sat 8am–noon).
Accommodation
During July and August, the cheapest option is a college dorm bed (€15/4000Ft and under), bookable through Gran Tours, who can also organize private rooms (€15/4000Ft and under–25/4001–6500Ft). Of the two campsites, Gran-Tours Camping, 500m south of the Mária Valéria Bridge on Prímás Sziget (33/402-513, fortanex@t-online.hu; pension €26–35/6501–9000Ft, 4-person chalets €36–45/9001–11,500Ft; May–Sept), has better facilities (including a pool, tennis courts and restaurant) and is far more conveniently located than Vadvirág Camping, 3km along the road to Visegrád near the tail end of the #6 bus route (33/312-234; May–Sept), with grassy tent space and two-person chalets (€15/4000Ft and under).
Alabárdos Panzió Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca 49 33/312-640, www.alabardospanzio.hu. Attractive, Mediterranean-style villa on an alley off the main road, midway between the upper and lower town, with rooms (all with wi-fi) in two adjacent buildings, each one priced according to size and view. €36–55/11,501–14,500Ft
Bazilika Panzió Batthyány utca 7 33/520-685, www.bazilika.eu. Just around the corner from the Alabárdos, this fabulous place is more boutique hotel than pension; gorgeous rooms painted in cream and beige tones beautifully offset with splashes of burgundy. Sauna and jacuzzi included in the price. €71–85/18,501–22,500Ft
Hotel Esztergom Helischer utca, Prímás Sziget 33/412-555, www.hotel-esztergom.hu. Despite its faceless 1970s concrete exterior, this pleasantly located hotel has a reasonable mix of older and newer rooms, the latter with balconies facing the Danube. €71–85/18,501–22,500Ft
Ria Panzió Batthyány utca 11–13 33/313-115, www.riapanzio.com. Just along from the Bazilika, this is a comfortable, welcoming pension with spotless, lime-green rooms in two buildings, one of which is wheelchair accessible. There’s also secure parking, a pocket-sized garden and bikes for rent. €56–70/14,501–18,500Ft
St Anna Vendégház Erzsébet Királyne utja 2 33/404-050, sztanna@vnet.hu. Delightful guesthouse about 800m south of the centre (just beyond Hősök tere), with a selection of cosy rooms (unusually, with tea-making facilities) positioned around a pretty, flower-filled inner courtyard. €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft
St Kristóf Panzió Dobozi Mihály utca 11 33/414-153, www.szentkristofpanzio.com. Good-quality pension on the Visegrád road, 10min from the basilica, with spacious, a/c rooms and apartments, a lovely garden and a good restaurant. €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft
The Town
The main focal point of the town is Basilica Hill, whose landscaped slope appears on maps as Szent István tér. After seeing the basilica and the castle remains here, you’ll probably want some refreshment before heading downhill to the Víziváros, where art buffs can get stuck into the Christian Museum and others will be drawn to the shady korzó, a weeping-willow-lined promenade beside the Kis-Duna, separating Prímás Sziget from the lower town. In the lower town, the emphasis is on enjoyment, with cafés and bars, and an outdoor thermal pool.
The basilica
Built on the site of the first cathedral in Hungary, where Vajk was crowned as King Stephen by a papal envoy on Christmas Day, 1000 AD, Esztergom’s Neoclassical basilica (Bazilika; daily 7am–6pm; free) is the largest in the country, measuring 118m in length and 47m in width, and capped by a dome 100m high. Representing a thousand years of faith and statehood, it was begun by Pál Kühneland and János Packh in 1822, and finally completed by József Hild in 1869, thirteen years after its consecration, once the dome was in place. Liszt’s Gran Mass was composed for the occasion (Gran being the German name for Esztergom). In 1991, the church hosted two events symbolizing its triumph over Communism: the reburial of the exiled Cardinal Mindszenty and the first papal visit to Hungary.
The exterior of the basilica is unadorned except for the primates’ coats of arms flanking the great bronze doors that are only used on special occasions. Its nave is on a massive scale, clad in marble, gilding and mosaics, while its main altarpiece was painted by the Venetian Michelangelo Grigoletti, based on Titian’s Assumption in the Frari Church in Venice. The basilica’s most impressive architectural feature stands to the left of the entrance, the lavish red and white marble Bakócz Chapel, whose Florentine altar was salvaged by Archbishop Tamás Bakócz (1442–1521) from the original church. To the right lies the treasury (kincstár; daily: March–Oct 9am–4.30pm; Nov & Dec 10am–3.30pm; 600Ft), an overpowering collection of bejewelled croziers, chalices, vestments and papal souvenirs – the most prized exhibit here is the thirteenth-century oath cross, traditionally used for the coronation of Hungarian kings.
Towards the nave are two stairways, the first leading to a crypt (krypta; daily 9am–5pm; 200Ft), which is like a set from a Dracula film, with seventeen-metre-thick walls to support the enormous weight of the basilica, and giant stone women flanking the stairway down to gloomy vaults full of entombed prelates. Though several other mausolea look more arresting, it is the tomb of Cardinal Mindszenty that transfixes Hungarians. The other stairway ascends for over three hundred steps to the stiflingly hot interior of the cupola (kupola; May–Oct daily 9am–5pm; 300Ft), though any discomfort is forgotten the moment you step outside and see the magnificent view of Esztergom, with the Slovak town of Ștúrovo across the water.
The Castle Museum and around
On slightly higher ground, a few paces from the basilica, are the red-roofed, reconstructed remains of the palace founded by Prince Géza in the tenth century, now presented as the Castle Museum (Vár Múzeum; Tues–Sun: April–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–March 10am–4pm; 800Ft). A royal seat for almost three hundred years, it was here that Béla III entertained Philip of France and Frederick Barbarossa on their way to the Third Crusade. After Buda became the capital, Hungary’s primates lived here, and the Renaissance prelate János Vitéz made it a centre of humanist culture, where Queen Beatrice spent her widowhood. Although the palace was sacked by the Turks in 1543 and twice besieged before they were evicted in 1683, enough survived to be excavated by Leopold Antal in the 1930s – indeed, it is more impressive than the remains of Buda’s royal palace.
Traces of the frescoes that once covered every wall in the palace can be seen in the vaulted living-hall from Béla III’s reign (1172–96), whence a narrow stairway ascends to the study of Archbishop Vitéz – known as the Hall of Virtues after its allegorical murals of Intelligence, Moderation, Strength and Justice. Beyond lies the royal chapel, whose Gothic rose window and Romanesque arches were executed by craftsmen brought over by Béla’s two French wives; its frescoes of saints and the Tree of Life reflect his Byzantine upbringing. A spiral staircase leads to the palace rooftop, offering a panoramic view of Esztergom and the river, and a fresh perspective on the basilica.
Held within another of the castle’s brick vaulted rooms is a lapidarium, showcasing some superb stone monuments and fragments garnered from the original palace as well as other churches that stood on the hill at one stage or another; mullion windows and vaulted ribs stand alongside late Gothic and Renaissance keystones and capitals, and pieces of red marble gravestones, which were particularly fashionable in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
During June and July, plays and dances are staged in the Rondella bastion, whose exit is guarded by a giant statue of a warrior. As you descend the hillside, notice the monumental Dark Gate: a tunnel built in the 1820s as a short cut between church buildings on either side of the hill and later exploited by the Soviet army, which maintained a base there until 1989. The former primate’s wine cellars, next door, have been converted into the Prímás Pince restaurant.
The return of Cardinal Mindszenty
When the much travelled body of Cardinal József Mindszenty was finally laid to rest with state honours in May 1991, it was a vindication of his uncompromising heroism – and the Vatican realpolitik that Mindszenty despised. As a conservative and monarchist, he had stubbornly opposed the postwar Communist takeover, warning that “cruel hands are reaching out to seize hold of our children, claws belonging to people who have nothing but evil to teach them”. Arrested in 1948, tortured for 39 days and nights, and sentenced to life imprisonment for treason, Mindszenty was freed during the Uprising and took refuge in the US Embassy, where he remained for the next fifteen years, an exile in the heart of Budapest.
When the Vatican struck a deal with the Kádár regime in 1971, Mindszenty had to be pushed into resigning his position and going to Austria, where he died in 1975. Although his will stated that his body should not return home until “the red star of Moscow had fallen from Hungarian skies”, his reburial occurred some weeks before the last Soviet soldier left, in preparation for the pope’s visit in August of that year. Nowadays the Vatican proclaims his greatness, without any hint of apology for its past actions.
The Víziváros and Prímás Sziget
Leading down from the ramparts of the basilica, the Cat Stairs (Macskalépscő) are cut into the side of the hill and it’s an unrelenting, but breathtaking, climb down to the Víziváros (Watertown), a small district of Baroque churches and seminaries where practising choirs are audible along the streets. Turning left at the bottom of the steps brings you to Mindszenty tér and the Primate’s Palace at no. 2, which now houses the Christian Museum (Keresztény Múzeum; Wed–Sun: May–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–April 11am–3pm; 750Ft), Hungary’s richest hoard of religious art. Here you can feast your eyes on the largest collection of Italian prints outside Italy, Renaissance paintings and wood carvings by German and Austrian masters, fourteenth-century icons from Venice, and the unique “Lord’s Coffin of Garamszentbenedek” – a wheeled, gilded structure used in Easter Week processions, from around 1480. The museum’s wide-ranging collection also includes some sprawling tapestries, a stash of decorative artwork, and Orthodox icons from Russia and Serbia. Next door to the museum stands the Italianate Baroque Víziváros Parish Church.
Turning into Pázmány utca, you come to the Bálint Balassi Museum at no. 13 (Tues–Sun 9am–5pm; 200Ft), which mounts temporary historical exhibitions rather than dwelling on the romantic poet Bálint Balassi (1554–94), who died trying to recapture Esztergom from the Turks. This half-crazed philanderer was famous for sexually assaulting women and then dedicating verses to them – behaviour that resulted in him being beaten unconscious on several occasions.
Back down by the parish church, you can cross a bridge onto Prímás Sziget (Primate’s Island), a popular tourist spot with a campsite, restaurants, spa centre and other sporting facilities. A little way south of the landing stage for ferries to Ștúrovo is the reconstructed Mária Valéria bridge that connects the two towns. Blown up by retreating Germans at the end of World War II, the bridge was left neglected until, after years of wrangling and protracted negotiations between Hungarian and Slovakian ministers, an intergovernmental agreement to rebuild the bridge was finally signed in 1999.
The lower town and Szent Tamás-hegy
While Rákóczi tér, with its supermarkets and banks, is the de facto centre of the lower town, its most attractive feature is the Kis-Duna sétány, a riverside walk lined with weeping willows and villas, popular with promenaders. Inland, civic pride is manifest in the brightly painted public buildings on the main square, Széchenyi tér, none more so than the town hall, distinguished by Rococo windows that once belonged to Prince Rákóczi’s general, János Bottyán, whose statue stands nearby. The old part of town extends as far south as the City Parish Church, built on the site of a medieval monastery where Béla IV and Queen Mária Lascaris were buried. To the right of its gateway is a plaque showing the level of the flood of 1832.
The taming of the river is one of the themes of the Museum of the Danube at Kölcsey utca 2 (Duna Múzeum; Mon & Wed–Sun: May–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–April 10am–4pm; 500Ft). Count Széchenyi was the prime mover of the plan to curb flooding and improve navigation on the Danube, using the labour of thousands of Hungarian navvies and technology imported from England – including the steam-dredger Vidra, a model of which can be seen. Very much an educational facility, there’s plenty to keep kids entertained, including touch screens, a large walk-on flood protection map and a water play area.
To end with an overview of the lower town, walk up Imaház utca past a flamboyant, Moorish-style edifice that was once Esztergom’s synagogue and is now a science and technology house, or Technika Háza. Shortly afterwards you’ll find a flight of steps leading to Szent Tamás-hegy (St Thomas’s Hill), a rocky outcrop named after the English martyr Thomas à Becket. A chapel was built here in his honour by Margaret Capet, whose English father-in-law, Henry II, prompted Thomas’s assassination by raging “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” Even after her husband died and Margaret married Béla III of Hungary, her conscience would not let her forget the saint. The existing chapel (postdating the Turkish occupation) is fronted by a trio of life-size statues representing Golgotha.
Eating and drinking
Esztergom has a reasonable selection of restaurants, with solid Hungarian fare dominating the menus. If you’re catering for yourself, there’s a daily outdoor market on Simor János utca. The best of the pavement cafés are in the vicinity of Rákóczi tér, particularly the Központi Kávéház, on the square itself, and the colourful Múzeum Cukrászda, on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca next to the Alabárdos Panzió, both of which have a tempting selection of cakes. The most vibrant night-time venue is the Gambrinus Maláta Bar at Vörösmarty utca 3 (Mon–Thurs & Sun 1pm–1am, Fri & Sat till 2am), an intimate tangle of varnished branches with dance music on the jukebox.
Anonim Berényi utca 4. Housed in an old town house opposite the Cat Stairs, this is a fairly old-fashioned, low-key place, but it’s very welcoming and the Hungarian food is top drawer.
Csulök Csárda Batthyány utca 9. True to its name, the popular “Knuckle Inn” offers the full gamut of dishes (roasted lamb knuckle, knuckle of ham pancake, bean soup with knuckle), alongside poultry, game and fish – with dining in the cosy brick cellar or on the outdoor terrace.
Mediterraneo Helischer utca 2. Just a stone’s throw from the Mária Valéria Bridge, this good-looking restaurant is right on the mark with its varied and appealing menu featuring the likes of butterfish fillet, roast duck and creamy noodles.
Primás Pince Szent István tér 4. Heavily frequented by busloads of tourists, the cavernous bowels of the former primate’s wine cellars – all brick-vaulted ceilings, thick pillars and neat rows of tables laid out like a school dining room – are an enjoyable place to tuck into solid national grub.
Széchenyi Széchenyi tér 16. Nicely situated on the main square, this is the most agreeable of the lower town’s restaurants, a friendly, stylish place serving delicacies such as fish skewers, boiled trotters and goose with cabbage, in addition to cheap noodle dishes.
Entertainment
Summer is the time for concerts in Esztergom, with an annual programme of choral and organ music in the basilica and the Víziváros parish church, plus an internationally oriented Guitar Festival during the first half of August in odd-numbered years (www.guitarfestival.hu); further details of both can be obtained from Gran Tours. There are plenty of opportunities to swim here, either at the Aqua Sziget indoor spa centre (Mon–Fri & Sun 10am–8pm, Sat 10am–9pm; 2650Ft for a day ticket) on Prímás Sziget, or the outdoor pool with saunas and steam rooms (May–Sept daily 6am–7pm; Oct–April Tues–Sat 6am–7pm, Sun 8am–4pm; 600Ft), between Kis-Duna sétány and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca. Elsewhere, you can work up a sweat in the sports centre (daily 8am–10pm) or on the tennis courts near Gran-Tours Camping.
The Pilis range and around
Whether you describe them as mountains or hills, the Pilis range (Pilis hegység), behind the west bank, offers lots of scope for hiking amidst lovely scenery. The beech and oak woods on these limestone slopes are most beautiful in the autumn, but there’s a possibility of sighting red deer or wild boar at any time of year. Ruined monasteries and lodges attest to the hermits of the Order of St Paul and the royal hunting parties who frequented the hills in medieval times.
Pilisvörösvár and Pillisszánto are directly accessible by bus from Árpád híd terminal in Budapest, as is Pomáz, from where buses go on to Pilisszentkereszt and on up to Dobogókő. Buses to Pomáz frequently make the short trip from Szentendre. There are no direct buses from Esztergom. You can also catch the HÉV train to Pomáz (near Szentendre) from Budapest’s Batthány tér, or you can hike up from the Nagy-Villám Tower at Visegrád. If you’re planning any walking, buy a map of the Pilis in Budapest or the Danube Bend towns, which shows the paths (turistaút/földút), caves (barlang), and rain shelters (esőház) throughout the highlands.
Pomáz
POMÁZ, on the HÉV line between Budapest and Szentendre, is an excellent place from which to step off into the Pilis, with regular buses leaving from the HÉV station, on the eastern edge of town, to Dobogókő, 18km northwest of Pomáz. Before doing so, though, it’s worth exploring the town, most of which is fairly recent, though the Roman sarcophagus outside the town hall on the main street indicates that people have been living and dying here for quite some time. Serbian immigrants fleeing from the Turks arrived in the late seventeenth century, and by the nineteenth century there was a flourishing German community here too.
The first point of interest you come to as you walk up to the town from the HÉV station is the ethnographical collection of folk costumes and embroidery (Magyar Néprajzi Gyűjtemény; Tues & Thurs 1–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm; 400Ft), behind the colourful Transylvanian gate at József Attila utca 28b. It was put together by private collector János Hamar and covers four regions of Hungarian-speaking communities; every spare centimetre of furniture here is covered with decoration. The Community History Collection at Kossuth Lajos utca 48 (Község Történeti Gyűjtemény; mid-April to mid-Oct daily 10am–6pm; 200Ft), a ten-minute walk up the road just past Hősök tere, on the left of the main road, offers something more local. It re-creates homes in Pomáz belonging to the Serbian and German communities, and includes a very nice enamel stove which also served as a boiler, with a tap on one side to let out the hot water. The Swabian community, originally from Germany, was mostly deported back there after World War II, and links with the deported families have only been officially re-established over the last decade or so.
Pomáz’s Serb community has been shrinking steadily during the last century, although you can still hear old ladies chatting to each other in Serbian on street corners, and the town is proud of its traditional Serbian dance group which has won prizes in Belgrade. Ten minutes further up Kossuth Lajos utca, at Szabadság tér, is a Plague Cross erected in 1792. Five minutes’ walk up to the right along the suitably named Szerb utca stands the church of St George, which holds Masses for the small community at 10am on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Your best chance to look around the church is to go in just before the service starts. The church’s main annual celebration is the feast of its patron saint on May 6. The square behind the church, Vujicsics tér, takes its name from the Serbian composer Tihamer Vujicsics (1929–75), who was born in the street beyond; a plaque on Plébánia utca marks the spot. The Vujicsics Ensemble, which preserves his memory, started in Pomáz in 1974 (it’s now based in Szentendre) and is now one of Hungary’s foremost folk ensembles, performing both nationally and internationally on a regular basis (see Folk music).
If you wish to stop over, there’s the Kara Hotel at Beniczky utca 63 (26/325-355, www.karahotel.hu; €26–35/6501–9000Ft), ten minutes’ walk up the main road past the Plague Cross, which has simple clean rooms (including several triples), while its cordial cellar restaurant, the Rákospince, is the best place to eat in town. All buses from the HÉV terminal pass by here.
Dobogókő and Dömös
Standing in the shadow of 756-metre-high Pilis-tető, DOBOGÓKŐ has been a hiking centre since the late nineteenth century, when one of Hungary’s first hostels was established here, and is still the best base for walking in the Pilis. The most popular way to see the area is to take the bus up to the resort, and then to walk down the Rám precipice – a four- to five-hour hike that’s not advisable in wet weather – to Dömös, which offers fabulous views down to the river.
The hostel building at Dobogókő, just up through the trees from where the buses turn round, is now home to the small Museum of Rambling and Nature Tourism (Thurs, Sat & Sun 9am–2pm; 200Ft). Exhibits include old photos of the area, showing that there was hardly a tree around the village a hundred years ago, and some old equipment, including skis with a strip of seal fur on the bottom to prevent the ski from slipping downhill. Behind the museum is an observation point which affords lovely views of Szob and Zebegény on the other side of the Danube.
The Eötvös Loránd Tourist House (26/347-534; dorm beds 1500–3000Ft), next to the museum, offers the cheapest accommodation around, whilst, with permission, tents can be pitched on the grassy area in front of the house. Campers can use the Tourist House’s bathroom and restaurant, which serves strudels and other snacks during the week, and lunch at weekends from noon to around 6pm. Just down from here is the Hotel Nimród (26/547-003, nimrodhotel@t-online.hu; €56–70/14,501–18,500Ft), a fairly average place swamped in heavy brown decor, although boasting a couple of pools, sauna and solarium. There's another possibility on the main road leading up to Dobogókő, about 1km from the top of the hill, where the Platán Panzió (26/347-680, platanpanzio@t-online.hu; €36–45/9001–11,500Ft) has bright, wood-furnished rooms and an attractive restaurant.
Aside from the hotels, for food there is the Ízek Háza, opposite the Hotel Nimród, or the Bohém Tanya by the car park at the bus terminus, both serving solid Hungarian fare; or for a filling bean goulash or toasted sandwiches head 300m down past the Hotel Nimród to the Zsindelyes Csárda, a wooden construction by Imre Makovecz, which also houses the engine house of the ski lift. At busy times of year you may also find some steaming stew cooking over a fire, or an impromptu grill set up on the ends of the trails, at the edges of the bus terminus.
Walking up to Dobogókő from the river, the best starting point is DÖMÖS, 7km west of Visegrád, where buses between Visegrád and Esztergom stop off. Inconspicuous wooden signposts near the stream in the centre of the village indicate the start of trails into the hills, where raspberries abound in early summer. Follow the Malom tributary for 2.5km and you’ll reach a path that forks right for the Rám precipice (3hr) and Dobogókő (4–5hr), and left for the Vadálló Rocks (3hr) beneath the towering “Pulpit Seat” – a 641-metre crag that only the experienced should attempt to climb.
The east bank
Compared to its western counterpart, the Danube Bend’s east bank has fewer monuments and, consequently, fewer visitors. Vác, the only sizeable town, has a monopoly on historic architecture, styling itself the “city of churches”. Not far from the town is the beautiful botanical garden at Vácrátót, while further north you can view some of the finest scenery in the Danube Bend at Zebegény and Nagymaros, which, like other settlements beneath the Börzsöny range, mark the start of trails into the highlands.
Starting from Budapest, you can reach anywhere along the east bank within an hour or two by train from Nyugati Station, or by bus from the Árpád híd terminal. The slower alternative is to catch a boat from Budapest’s Vigadó tér pier to Vác (2hr 30min), or on to Nagymaros and Zebegény. There are also regular ferries from the west bank.
Vác and around
The town of VÁC, 40km north of Budapest, has a worldlier past than its sleepy atmosphere suggests, allowing you to enjoy its architectural heritage in relative peace. Its bishops traditionally showed a flair for self-promotion, like the cardinals of Esztergom, endowing monuments and colleges. Under Turkish occupation (1544–1686), Vác assumed an oriental character, with seven mosques and a public hammam, while during the Reform Era it was linked to Budapest by Hungary’s first rail line (the second continued to Bratislava). In 1849 two battles were fought at Vác, the first a victory for the town over the Austrian army, followed a few months later by a defeat in July 1849 when the town was captured; the battles are commemorated by a bright green obelisk by the main road from Budapest, shortly before you enter the town. More recently Vác became notorious for its prison, which has one of the toughest regimes in the country and was used to incarcerate leftists under Admiral Horthy and “counter-revolutionaries” under Communism. Though Vác’s legacy of sights certainly justifies a visit, it’s not worth staying unless you’re planning to visit Vácrátót or Zebegény, or are coming especially for the annual festival at the end of July.
Arrival and information
From the train station, at the northern end of Széchenyi utca, it’s a ten-minute walk down to Március 15 tér, while the bus station, on Szent István tér, is a few minutes closer to the main square. Disembarking at the landing stage for ferries from Budapest, you can see the prison and triumphal arch to the north; head south along the promenade and the town centre is on the left, up Eszterházy utca as you reach the wharf for ferries to Szentendre Sziget (hourly; 400Ft for passengers, 1400Ft for a car; last ferry leaves around 9pm). From the ferry you can walk across the island to Tahitótfalu (4km), or take the waiting bus.
The super-helpful Tourinform, at Március 15 tér 17 (July & Aug Mon–Fri 9am–7pm, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm; rest of year Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 10am–noon; 27/316-160, www.tourinformvac.hu), has all the information you need, both on the town and other attractions along the east bank. The post office is at Posta park 2 (Mon–Fri 8am–7pm, Sat 8am–noon) and there’s internet access at Matrix, Rév Köz 2 (daily 9am–10pm, Fri & Sat 9am–midnight).
Accommodation
For a reasonably large town, Vác has surprisingly little accommodation, so you might wish to opt for a private room (€16–25/4001–6500Ft), bookable through Dunatours at Széchenyi utca 14 (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm, Sat 8am–noon; 27/310-950, info@dunatours.com). The only hotel in town is the Vörössipka, a ten-minute walk east of Március 15 tér at Honvéd utca 14 (27/501-055, www.vorossipkahotel.hu; €56–85/18,501–22,500Ft), which has slick, heavily wood-furnished rooms, all with wi-fi, each priced according to size and whether they’re street facing (which are quite noisy) or not. Otherwise, two very comfortable and extremely friendly places are the four-room Alt Vendégház, Tabán utca 25 (27/316-860, altvendeghaz@invitel.hu; €36–45/9001–11,500Ft), and the Fónagy Walter Vendégház at Budapest fő út 36, ten minutes south of the main square (27/310-682, fonwal@freemail.hu; €36–45/9001–11,500Ft), with its own wine cellar and leafy courtyard restaurant where you can taste and buy Hungarian wines.
The Town
The heart of town is Március 15 tér, a beautiful, wide open square containing numerous buildings of architectural interest and a fascinating museum. From here narrow streets and steps on one side lead down to the river, ferries and the riverside promenade, with the prison and Triumphal Arch to the north, while to the south stands the town’s enormous cathedral.
Március 15 tér and around
One of the most eye-catching squares in the entire country, Március 15 tér is a perfect triangular wedge framed by a handsome melange of sunny, pastel-coloured Baroque and Rococo buildings. At its heart are the recently excavated ruins of St Michael’s Church (Szent Mihály temploma), which had developed piecemeal since its thirteenth-century origins. What you see now – foundation walls, sections of nave and parts of a crypt – dates mainly from the eighteenth century; the crypt itself can be visited in summer (May–Sept Tues–Sun 10am–5pm; 300Ft). The Baroque style evolved into a fine art here, as evinced by the gorgeous decor of the Dominican church (Fehérek temploma) – also known as the White Friar’s Church – on the south side of the square. During renovation work in 1994, the church crypt was rediscovered, unearthing some remarkable finds, not least 262 corpses (166 of which were positively identified) which had been preserved in a state of mummification owing to the crypt’s microclimatic conditions. Three of the mummified corpses (a male, female and infant) – dating from the eighteenth century – are now on display in a chilly medieval cellar located opposite the church at no. 19, otherwise known as the Memento Mori Museum (Tues–Sun 10am–6pm; 1000Ft); also retrieved from the bodies were an immaculately preserved assortment of clothes and other burial accessories (including crucifixes, which were traditionally placed in the hands of the deceased), alongside their colourfully painted wooden coffins – typically, the adult coffin would be painted brown or dark blue, and the child’s coffin green and white.
Elsewhere on the square, at no. 6 stands the original Bishop’s Palace, converted into Hungary’s first Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in 1802. It was Bishop Kristóf Migazzi (1714–1803) who erected Vác’s cathedral and the Baroque Town Hall across the square, its gable adorned with two prostrate females bearing the coats of arms of Hungary and of Migazzi himself. During his years as Bishop of Vác (1762–86), this ambitious prelate was the moving force behind the town’s eighteenth-century revival, impressing Empress Maria Theresa sufficiently to make him Archbishop of Vienna.
There’s a colourful and lively market (Mon–Sat 8am–2pm) selling flowers, fruit and vegetables in the side street behind the Dominican church, and further down, at Káptalan utca 16, the Hincz Museum (Tues–Sun: April–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–March 10am–4pm; 500Ft) gives a brief overview of the town’s history, including some excellent photos. You will also find works by the local artist who gives his name to the museum upstairs on one side of the entrance, and temporary displays on the other side.
The cathedral
A short walk further down Káptalan utca brings you to the back of Vác’s cathedral (Székesegyház; March–Nov Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 1.30–6pm, Sun 7.30am–7pm) on Konstantin tér. Chiefly impressive for its gigantic Corinthian columns, Migazzi’s church is a temple to self-esteem more than anything else. Its Neoclassical design by Isidore Canevale was considered revolutionary in the 1770s, the style not becoming generally accepted in Hungary until the following century. Migazzi himself took umbrage at one of the frescoes by Franz Anton Maulbertsch, and ordered The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, above the altar, to be bricked over. His motives for this are unknown, but one theory is that it was because Mary was depicted as being pregnant. The fresco was only discovered during restoration work in 1944. From the cathedral you can head along Múzeum utca to Géza király tér, the centre of Vác in medieval times, where there’s a Baroque Franciscan church with a magnificent organ, pulpits and altars.
Along the waterfront to the prison
From the Franciscan church you can follow the road down to the riverside promenade, József Attila sétány, where the townsfolk of Vác walk on summer weekends and evenings. The northern stretch of the promenade, named after Liszt, runs past the Round Tower, the only remnant of Vác’s medieval fortifications. Beyond the dock for ferries to Budapest and Esztergom rises the forbidding hulk of the town’s prison. Ironically, the building was originally an academy for noble youths, founded by Maria Theresa. Turned into a barracks in 1784 – you can still see part of the older building peering awkwardly above the blank white walls of the prison – it began its penal career a century later, achieving infamy during the Horthy era, when two Communists died here after being beaten for going on hunger strike to protest against maltreatment. Later, victims of the Stalinist period were imprisoned here, but in October 1956 a mass escape occurred. Thrown into panic by reports from Budapest where their colleagues were being “hunted down like animals, hung on trees, or just beaten to death by passers-by”, the ÁVO guards donned civilian clothing and mounted guns on the rooftop, fomenting rumours of the Uprising among prisoners whose hopes had been raised by snatches of patriotic songs overheard from the streets. A glimpse of national flags with the Soviet emblem cut from the centre provided the spark: a guard was overpowered, locks were shot off, and the prisoners burst free. Edith Bone was an inmate at the time, an English journalist who had been accused of spying and imprisoned for fifteen years in 1949. Robert Maxwell was also imprisoned here during World War II, accused of spying, then using his original name of Ludvik Hoch.
The Triumphal Arch (kőkapu) flanking the prison was another venture by Migazzi and his architect Canevale, occasioned by Maria Theresa’s visit in 1764. Migazzi initially planned theatrical facades to hide the town’s dismal housing (perhaps inspired by Potemkin’s fake villages in Russia, created around the same time), but settled for the Neoclassical arch, from which Habsburg heads grimace a stony welcome.
Eating, drinking and entertainment
Whereas the medieval traveller Nicolaus Kleeman found Vác’s innkeepers “the quintessence of innkeeperish incivility”, modern visitors should find things have improved. The town’s best restaurant is the Remete Pince, at Fürdő utca 16, an elegant brick-vaulted cellar with candle-topped tables and wrought-iron chairs, while the flower-bedecked terrace is lovely in warmer weather. On Március 15 tér, Aredo is a contemporary restaurant whose varied meat dishes (filet mignon, saddle of lamb, venison stew in red wine) are superb – the two-course set lunch (700Ft) is very good value; and, in a cellar down some steps in the very centre of the square, the Barlang is a neon-lit place with red leather seating serving pizza. Down by the river, at Tímár utca 9, is Momo, where you can dine on baked and grilled fish on one of the restaurant’s three levels of terracing.
You’ll find few, if any, lively drinking spots in town, but do check out the exquisite Choco Café (open till 8pm), next to the Aredo restaurant, where you can mull over a long menu of chocolate drinks in every conceivable flavour, such as almond, cinnamon, and orange and nutmeg; and the Mihályi László Cukrászda, a tiny, salon-like place at Köztársaság út 21 (open till 6pm) with a toothsome selection of the most perfectly formed cakes.
Vác’s major annual festival is the three-day Váci Világi Vigalom (literally, the Vác Secular Entertainment, though why secular no one seems able to say) at the end of July, which includes folk, rock and pop music and exhibitions, and takes place on Március 15 tér and down by the river.
Vácrátót
VÁCRÁTÓT, 35km from the centre of Budapest in the hinterland of Vác, has one of Hungary’s best-known botanical gardens (Botanikus kert; daily: April–Oct 8am–6pm; Nov–March 8am–4pm; 700Ft; www.botkert.hu). Founded in the 1870s by Count Vigyázó, it was subsequently bequeathed by him to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Complete with waterfalls and mock ruins, the garden contains thousands of different trees and shrubs from around the world, covering 2.3 square kilometres and taking a good two hours to walk round. On some Saturday evenings in the summer, concerts are held on the lawns in front of the former manor house, with a backdrop of tall copper beeches on one side and a lake on the other. Tickets (around 2000Ft) are available from Tourinform in Vác
Motorists can reach Vácrátót from Budapest by turning east off Route 2, north of Sződliget (about 5km before Vác). Although the village is accessible by train from Nyugati Station in Budapest, the station is 3km away from the gardens and connecting coaches can be unreliable. Hourly buses from the northern end of the blue metro (Újpest) in Budapest and from Vác stop directly outside the gardens.
Nagymaros and Zebegény
The north bank of the Danube gradually becomes steeper as you head towards two settlements, Nagymaros and Zebegény, both of which merit attention for their atmosphere and as starting points for reaching the Börzsöny hills.
Nagymaros
Twenty kilometres west from Vác along the bank of the Danube, NAGYMAROS, the home of nobles in the age of royal Visegrád, is a quietly prosperous village with an air of faded grandeur. The village lies across the river from Visegrád, with a superb view of the latter’s citadel: “Visegrád has the castle, but Nagymaros has the view”, as the locals have always boasted.
The railway line cuts the village firmly in two; above the line, whitewashed houses straggle up the hillside, while below is the main road, and beyond that the river and ferry to Visegrád (passengers 400Ft, cars 800Ft). From the Nagymaros-Visegrád train station, duck under the bridge and walk past the Mátyás Király Restaurant to the main road, Váci utca; 100m to the right is the leafy main square, Fő tér, itself bisected by Váci utca. At the bottom half of Fő tér, in a renovated building near the river, is an exhibition (Sat & Sun noon–6pm; 500Ft) honouring the renowned Hungarian explorer and biologist, Kálmán Kittenburger (1881–1958). Born in Léva (in present-day Slovakia), Kittenburger repeatedly visited Africa where he amassed thousands of items including many new animal species. Although a handful of items are on show here – including, somewhat bizarrely, an elephant’s foot that has been forged into a small drinks holder – most of the exhibits are personal effects, such as rifles, chests, boots and walking sticks.
At the top of Fő tér, on the other side of the rail line, is a Gothic church, parts of which date back to 1509 – although it’s usually closed, take a look at the fine stone portal presaging the nave, and the rib-vaulted ceiling with frescoes. After 1500m, the path divides at a car park – one fork heads south to Hegyes-tető, where you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Bend, while the other heads up into the Börzsöny, towards Törökmez, a five-kilometre walk away along a footpath marked with red signs.
If you’re looking to stay over, the Szent István Fogadó, 300m south of the ferry dock at Váci utca 36 (27/594-090, info@szentistvanfogado.hu; €46–55/11,501–14,500Ft), is a smart eight-room guesthouse with fresh, air-conditioned rooms. Otherwise, you’ll likely find some private accommodation by wandering the streets in search of Zimmer frei signs, or you can head up through the beech woods to the unassuming but picturesquely located Törökmező Hostel (27/350-063; dorm bed 2000Ft). Although it looks rather undistinguished from the outside, the red-brick Maros restaurant, right next to the ferry dock, has good Hungarian food and pizzas, and terrific river views from its terrace.
Zebegény
At ZEBEGÉNY, 5km further along the bank of the river, where the Danube turns south, the excellent light and the magnificent view of the Bend have lured painters for years. Most of this exceptionally pretty village lies to the east of the rail tracks. From Route 12 you pass under the train station and immediately come to the distinctive Catholic Church (1908–14), the only one in Hungary to be built in the National Romantic style, an amalgam of Art Nouveau and folk art, designed by Károly Kós. Inside, frescoes by Aladár Körösfői Kriesch depict Emperor Constantine’s vision of finding the Holy Cross in Jerusalem with his mother, St Helena. Five minutes’ walk behind the church over the stream and down to the right brings you to one of Zebegény’s curiosities, the so-called Sailing History Museum at Szőnyi utca 9 (Hajózástörténeti Múzeum; April–Oct daily 9am–6pm; 600Ft), housing the bizarre private collection of Captain Vince Farkas, who has sailed the world and amassed some nifty carved figureheads in the process (though how tigers and totem poles fit in is a puzzle). Following Szőnyi utca for another ten minutes brings you to Bartóky utca, where, at no. 7, you’ll find the István Szőnyi memorial house (Szőnyi István Emlékmúzeum; Jan–Oct Tues–Sun 10am–4pm; 400Ft), home of the eponymous artist for much of his life. Szőnyi (1894–1960) initially honed his artistic skills under the tutelage of Károly Ferenczy in Budapest, before settling in Zebegény where he worked on graphics, etchings and oil paintings. Each summer, the house hosts an international art school.
There’s a good sprinkling of accommodation here; crossing the bridge behind the church, take a left along Kossuth utca for ten minutes, then another left, to reach the Malomkerék Vendégház at Malom utca 21 (27/373-010; €26–45/9001–11,500Ft), which has well-kept rooms and a couple of equally pleasant apartments; it also acts as the information office for the village, in addition to having bicycles and canoes available for rent. Twenty minutes’ walk further on, turn right at the end of the village to get to the Almáskert Panzió at Almáskert utca 13 (27/373-037; €16–25/4001–6500Ft), whose timber-balconied rooms overlook a neat lawn. Around 1km to the south of the village, on the main road to Vác at Dózsa György út 26, is the Kenderes Hotel (27/373-444, kendereshotel@invitel.hu; €36–45/9001–11,500Ft) which, though a little tired, is decent enough and has rooms overlooking the Danube. Both the Almáskert and Kenderes have decent restaurants, the latter serving some Balkan and Transylvanian dishes.
The Börzsöny range
The Börzsöny range, squeezed between the Danube and Slovakia, sees few visitors despite its scattering of hostels and forest footpaths, and its abundance of rabbits, pheasants and deer is watched only by circling eagles. It’s feasible to camp rough here, though most of the places covered below offer some form of accommodation. Would-be walkers should buy Cartographia’s Börzsöny-hegység map of the hills (available at the Tourinform office in Vác or from map shops), which shows paths and the location of hostels (túristaház).
Mount Csóványos (939m) is the highest peak in the Börzsöny, and also the most challenging. Hikers usually approach it from the direction of DIÓSJENŐ, a sleepy mountain village that’s accessible by bus or train from Vác. Diósjenő’s campsite (35/364-134; May–Sept), at Petőfi Sándor utca 61, lies just over 1km from the village and 2km from the train halt. Close by, at no. 73, is the Play Panzió (35/364-466, info@play-panzio.hu; €26–35/6501–9000Ft), with simple, bright rooms, and there’s a pizzeria here too.
An alternative route into the mountains begins at Kismaros, 12km up the Danube from Vác. From here narrow-gauge trains trundle to KIRÁLYRÉT (April–Oct 5 daily; Nov–March 4 daily Sat & Sun only; 55min), with connecting trains to and from Budapest from the main-line station across the road. Close to the station is the Fővárosi Önkormányzat Üdülője, a hostel with cheap beds (27/375-033; dorm bed 2500Ft), and you can eat cheaply at the local restaurant. Supposedly once the hunting ground of Beatrice and Mátyás, this “Royal Meadow” has paths going in several directions. One trail, marked in green, goes across to the village of Nógrád with its ruined castle, 5km from Diósjenő on the Diósjenő–Vác railway line. Another, marked in red, leads to the Magas-Tax peak about ninety minutes’ walk away, with another cheap hostel, the Magas Tax Turistaház (60/346-150; dorm bed 2500Ft). The path goes on to the “Big Cold” peak, Nagy Hideg Hegy, which has excellent views, and branches out to Mount Csóványos and the villages of Nagybörzsöny and Kóspallag; use the Börzsöny-hegység map to guide you.
Nagybörzsöny, Kóspallag and Márianosztra
From Nagy Hideg Hegy, a trail marked by blue squares leads westwards to NAGYBÖRZSÖNY. You can also get here by bus from Szob and make this your starting point for walking east. A wealthy town during the Middle Ages, Nagybörzsöny declined with the depletion of its copper, gold and iron mines in the eighteenth century, and is now a mere logging village with an overdose of churches – four in all. The walled thirteenth-century Romanesque Church of St Stephen, on the left as you enter the village, was left stranded as the cemetery chapel when the village moved closer to the mines in the fifteenth century. If you are walking from the centre of the village, stop in at Petőfi utca 17 en route to ask for the gigantic church key, as the church is normally closed. Just across the road from the house is the Gothic Miners’ Church, some of whose features have survived later alterations; again, if the church is closed, ask at Petőfi utca 17. Just below the church, an exhibition of folk costumes, home furnishings and mining accessories can be found at the Mining Museum at Petőfi utca 19 (Tues–Sun 10am–4pm; 200Ft), with explanations in Hungarian and German only, but you get the general feel anyway. Just up from the main square, where the bus terminus is located, you will find the village’s still-working, nineteenth-century watermill (vizimalom; Tues–Sun 10am–4pm; 100Ft). For accommodation, there are basic doubles (shared bathrooms) at the Butella Vendégház (27/378-035; €16–25/4001–6500Ft), just above the main road near the Romanesque church; or a ten-minute walk along the track past the wine bar leads down to the Nagybörzsöny Község Vendégház, by a fishing lake – a rather out-of-the-way site where you can get a room (27/377-450; €16–25/4001–6500Ft). Otherwise it is worth asking in the village about private rooms.
The other trail from Nagy Hideg Hegy (marked with a blue horizontal line) runs south down to KÓSPALLAG, another prosaic village, notable only as a place to catch buses to Vác (6 daily; last bus at 3pm). However, pursuing the path onwards, things improve beyond the Vác–Szob road junction below the village, where the path wanders through beech woods to a lovely open meadow graced with a solitary tree and the first view of the Danube. Cutting southwest across the meadow puts you back on the path to the Törökmező Hostel. The path divides by the exercise camp in the woods, and heading west along the path marked with green signs you come down to Zebegény (5km). Alternatively, you can head on another 4km along the blue path, past the hostel, to a car park at the junction of paths to Hegyes-tető (Hilly Peak) and Nagybörzsöny.
If you take the road from Kóspallag to Szob, you come to MÁRIANOSZTRA, a place of pilgrimage 9km from Szob and served by hourly buses. These pilgrimages take place on the second Sunday in May, and on the Sundays preceding August 15 and September 14. The Baroque church in the centre of the village (now in the courtyard at the entrance of a men’s prison) dates from 1360, and retains some original fragments. One curiosity is the copy of the Black Czestochowa Madonna, the original of which was taken to Poland in 1382 by Hungarian monks sent to found the monastery there. An hour’s walk north from the village takes you to Kopasz hegy (Bald Hill), which affords some of the best views in the region.
Into Slovakia
The main claim to fame of Szob, the last town on the Hungarian north bank of the river, is as the border crossing for trains to Slovakia. Crossing into Slovakia by road is either unnecessarily long or overcomplicated depending on how you choose to do it: you can either take the ferry from Szob across the Danube to Basaharc, travel 12km up the road to Esztergom, and there catch another ferry back across to Slovakia; or you drive 30km north to Parassapuszta on the Ipoly River, which demarcates the frontier. The neighbouring village of Drégelypalánk, 7km away, is on the Vác–Diósjen–Balassagyarmat train line (trains roughly every 2hr). The crossing at Letkés/Salka can be used only by Hungarians and Slovakians.
Travel details
Trains
Esztergom to: Budapest (hourly; 1hr 30min); Komárom (4 daily; 1hr 30min).
Vác to: Balassagyarmat (10 daily; 2hr 10min); Budapest (every 30min; 45min); Diósjenő (12 daily; 50min); Nagymaros (every 30min–1hr; 20min).
Vácrátót to: Aszód (5 daily; 30min); Budapest (hourly; 1hr 10min); Vác (hourly; 15min).
Buses
Esztergom to: Budapest via the Bend (every 30–40min; 1hr 15min) or via Dorog (every 30min; 1hr); Komárom (5 daily; 1hr 30min); Szentendre (hourly; 1hr 30min); Visegrád (hourly; 40min).
Pomáz to: Dobogókő (Mon–Fri every 30min–1hr, Sat & Sun hourly; 40min).
Szentendre to: Budapest (every 30min–1hr; 30min); Esztergom (hourly; 1hr 30min); Pomáz (every 20–30min; 10min); Visegrád (hourly; 40min).
Szob to: Nagybörzsöny (hourly; 35min).
Vác to: Balassagyarmat (hourly; 1hr); Budapest (every 30min–1hr; 30min); Diósjenő (Mon–Fri 8 daily, Sat 2 daily; 1hr); Kóspallag (Mon–Fri 6 daily, Sat & Sun 2 daily; 90min); Vácrátót (Mon–Fri hourly, Sat & Sun 2 daily; 45min); Nagymaros (hourly; 20min).
Visegrád to: Budapest (every 30min–1hr; 1hr); Dömös (hourly; 15min); Esztergom (hourly; 40min).
Ferries
The following ferries operate April to September.
Basaharc to: Szob (hourly; 10min).
Esztergom to: Budapest (1 daily; 4hr 30min); Ştúrovo, Slovakia (hourly; 10min); Szentendre (2 daily; 1hr 25min); Vác (1 daily; 2hr 30min); Visegrád (1–2 daily; 1hr 25min).
Kismaros to: Kisoroszi (every 30min–1hr 30min; 10min).
Leányfalu to: Pócsmegyer (every 30min–1hr; 10min).
Nagymaros to: Visegrád (hourly; 10min).
Pilismarót to: Zebegény (hourly; 10min).
Szob to: Basaharc (hourly; 10min).
Tahitótfalu to: Vác (hourly; 10min).
Vác to: Budapest (1 daily; 1hr 20min); Esztergom (1 daily; 2hr 30min); Tahitótfalu (hourly; 10min).
Visegrád to: Budapest (1 daily; 3hr 30min); Esztergom (1–2 daily; 1hr 45min); Kisoroszi (2 daily; 20min); Nagymaros (hourly; 10min); Vác (1 daily; 45min); Zebegény (1–2 daily; 50min).
Riverboats
Unless otherwise stated, the following riverboats operate a daily service June through August, with a Saturday and Sunday service in May and September.
Esztergom to: Budapest (4hr); Vác (2hr 15min); Visegrád (1hr 30min).
Szentendre to: Budapest (May–Sept Mon–Fri 1 daily, Sat & Sun 2 daily, April & Oct Sat & Sun 1 daily; 1hr 30min–2hr); Visegrád (May–Aug 1 daily, April & Sept–Oct Sat & Sun 1 daily; 2hr).
Vác to: Budapest (1hr 45min); Esztergom (2hr 15min); Visegrád (45min).
Visegrád to: Budapest (2hr 30min); Esztergom (2hr); Szentendre (May–Aug 1 daily, April & Sept–Oct Sat & Sun 1 daily; 1hr 30min); Vác (45min).