Insight Guides Hungary (Travel Guide eBook) , livre ebook

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Hungary, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Hungary. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Hungary are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Hungary. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2020 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd




Table of Contents
Hungary’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s Choice
Introduction: A nation of nomads
Decisive Dates
The making of a state
Árpdás to Angevin
Turks and Habsburgs
Habsburg rule
The dual monarchy
The people’s republic and a new democracy
The peoples of Hungary
Folk art and traditions
Insight: Hungarian architecture
Literature
Hot springs and spas
Food and drink
Insight: Bathhouses
Introduction: Places
Budapest
Around Budapest
Insight: Food and festivals
The Danube
Gates to the West
Around Lake Balaton
Northeast Hungary
Insight: Lake Balaton
The Great Plain
Going East
The Puszta
Southwest Hungary
Travel Tips: Transport
Travel Tips: A–Z
Travel Tips: Language
Travel Tips: Further Reading


Hungary’s Top 10 Attractions



Top Attraction 1



Budapest. Straddling the Danube and essentially two cities in one, Budapest has something for everyone, including Turkish baths, Art Nouveau architecture, river islands, top-drawer restaurants and exciting nightlife. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 2



Danube Bend. One of the most enchanting stretches of the River Danube sweeps its way up from Budapest before dramatically twisting through a forested valley towards Slovakia.
For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 3



Fertod Palace. Once one of the most opulent palaces in Europe, and one-time home of the Estherházy family, this 18th-century Baroque and Rococo masterpiece remains the most impressive in the country. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Top Attraction 4



Hortobágy National Park. Hungary’s largest national park and Unesco World Heritage Site, this outstanding natural landscape offers the quintessential puszta experience – don’t miss the rodeo shows. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Top Attraction 5



Hollókö. Nestling in the heart of the Cserhát Hills, a visit to this delightfully preserved village is a must for its vernacular architecture and long-standing folk customs. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 6



Folk and gypsy music. Don’t pass up the chance to experience the wild, irrepressible sounds of Hungarian folk and gypsy music, whether that’s at a concert in Budapest or a local restaurant. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 7



Lake Balaton. Escape the heat of the city and head to the ‘Hungarian Sea’, where you can chill on the beach, swim in shallow waters, or try your hand at windsurfing or sailing. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 8



Pécs. After Budapest, this is Hungary’s most appealing city, featuring a magnificent cathedral and packed with one of the most important collections of Turkish buildings in this part of Europe. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 9



Wine cellars. Don’t leave Hungary without visiting one of its famous wine cellars, the best of which are located along the Villány-Siklós wine road and in the Tokaj region. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 10



Pannonhalma Monastery. Designed in an unusual blend of architectural forms, this grand-looking Benedictine Abbey is Hungary’s most impressive monastery; the Empire-style library is a real highlight. For more information, click here .
iStock


Editor’s Choice




Széchenyi Thermal Bath.
iStock


Best baths

Gellért, Budapest . One of the oldest, and still the most traditional, of the city’s bathhouses, the Gellért is the one to head to if time is limited. For more information, click here .
Héviz. Bob on the water in rented rubber tubes in Europe’s largest outdoor thermal baths, where temperatures never drop below 30°C. For more information, click here .
Széchenyi, Budapest. The city’s largest open-air baths is a maze of hot and cold pools – 16 in fact. For more information, click here .
Hajdúszoboszló. This vast complex of pools and steam rooms also incorporates Hungary’s largest water park – which make this a great place for kids. For more information, click here .
Király, Budapest. An atmospheric Ottoman bathhouse is distinguished by four copper cupolas and centred on a magnificent octagonal pool. For more information, click here .



Budapest’s New York Café.
iStock


Best wine regions

Tokaj . Hungary’s most celebrated wine region is known above all else for its sweet Aszù dessert wines, such as the utterly lovely Furmint. For more information, click here .
Villány-Siklós. Hungary’s first wine road consistently yields both fine-quality reds and whites, with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet France particularly treasured. For more information, click here .
Balaton. Lake Balaton boasts five different wine regions around its lakeshore, where white varieties dominate; look out for Légli and Szeremley. For more information, click here .
Eger. One of the biggest wine regions in the north, Eger is famous for its red Egri Bikavér, otherwise known as “Bull’s Blood”. For more information, click here .
Szkeszard. It may be one of the country’s less heralded wine areas, but the reds are fantastic, especially the Kadarka. For more information, click here .



Winery in Balaton.
Shutterstock


Best Budapest Food and drink treats

Great Market Hall . You’ll find plenty of cheap, filling and tasty Hungarian food in Budapest’s grandest market place – as well as loads of great produce for a picnic. For more information, click here .
Ruszwurm Pâtisserie . Head to this family-run spot for a traditional sweet treat, served over a 200-year-old cherry wood counter and enjoyed in a 19th-century dining room. For more information, click here or here .
New York Café. Majestic Art Nouveau coffee house dating back to 1894 that still doles out some of the city’s best coffee and cake today. For more information, click here or click here .
Goulash. This distinctively coloured, famous Hungarian dish is available in different forms from establishments all over the city. For more information, click here .



The Great Synagogue.
iStock


Best buildings

Cifra Palace, Kecskemét . A wonderful